Clarification - The Name of the iPod Game

I was very pleased to see that ACD over on 'Sounds and Fury' had taken the time to read our blog on live music/iPods, and direct them our way.

There seems to be a certain amount of 'clarification' going on all over the place.
So now it's my turn.
I was neither agreeing nor disagreeing with ACD really.
Just putting my point across from another perspective. That of a musician.

Robin loves to hear music played live, whether he is attending a concert, or, performing it.
He also loves to hear music on whatever format that it is available.
There are times when we have to revert to cassettes/albums/DAT and even reel to reel, but you quickly adjust your hearing to cope with whatever distractions are playing alongside the music.
For long deleted pieces it's just great to be able to hear them.

I then went off at somewhat of a tangent, although not completely unrelated, to point out the differences for a musician between performing live and recording.
Basically there's a different mindset required for both these activities and both are rewarding in their own way.
I think there's probably a whole individual blog in there waiting to come out.
So I hope we are all clear now...

Meanwhile, business as usual here, or as usual as it can ever be.
Last night a private function in a Masonic Hall, tonight, another private function for the Prince's Trust.
At least life's never dull.

Have We Moved On From The Wax Cylinder?

I've been thinking about the iPod/mp3 debate that is going on around the blogosphere at the moment.
My thoughts were prompted by a post by Ben over on Classical Convert.
Initially Ben took on the mighty ACD about comments he had made on Sounds and Fury regarding iPods. The initial post is here, and this is the update.

Classical Convert's first post has since been revised with many comments that I was going to discuss today.
You can read Ben's update here.

The points I was going to make are these.
Nothing can replace the experience of hearing and seeing music performed live.
A skilled musician not only has to perform well musically, but, also has to be able to relate to and entertain his/her audience. It's all part of the experience and one that generally improves over time as the musician gains more confidence.
For me the best concerts I have seen have always been ones when the artist has obviously engaged well with the audience. It makes it a special occasion for all concerned.
Robin has always maintained that he has the best seat in the house when performing with an orchestra as a soloist.
As he sits before this mighty instrument he relishes the sound - until he remembers why he's there, and how many notes he has to play, in front of a very discerning audience...

It's very difficult to capture the concert experience in its entirety on a recording, as the visual cues are missing, along with any verbal introductions that are made.
Therefore the musician's task is to try to relay the essence and spirit of the piece by their playing alone.

If they manage to capture the energy and expression they want to portray, then this will be heard by the listener, whether it's on mp3s or wax cylinder.
Our ear adjusts to the sound we are hearing and 'allows' for technical development at the time of recording. Within 10 seconds or so we start focusing on the musical content and interpretation rather than the sound.
I'd far sooner hear an early recording of Segovia or Heifetz, complete with crackles and excessive background noise, than not hear them at all.

Whilst we may not like mp3s or their equivalent they are a symbol of our times and one we have to adjust to.
It can be seen in a very positive light though.
It has never been easier to get hold of music than it is today.
Many times Robin would have to give up large chunks of time, travel to the nearest city, Manchester, to try and find a particular recording.
Usually it would have to be ordered which would mean a second trip to collect it.
Only the very keen would bother to go to these lengths.
Now, well, a click of a button and more often than not, you have what you are looking for.
This has got to help with promoting classical music in general which can only be a good thing.

On another subject, we were very sad to hear of the death of 'Mr.Manchester', Tony Wilson.
Whilst our paths didn't cross regularly, back in the late 1970's, Tony Wilson chose one of Robin's songs, 'Celebration', to win a 'Battle of the Bands' competition.
As he gave him the prize he told Robin that the judges also wanted to give him 'Best Guitarist' award, for his performance with 'Force 10', but felt the same person couldn't get both prizes!
Tony Wilson was a huge influence on the music scene and Manchester will miss him.

Crowd Control at the Proms...

As always I've been listening to a lot of BBC Radio 4.
Two items caught my attention.
Today on 'You and Yours' with Liz Barclay and John Waite, they were discussing a project to get young people interested in classical music.
I have mentioned this before. It's a scheme headed by the Bournemouth Symphony, along with many other orchestras and conductors, who want to provide free concerts for young people.
They recognise the importance of trying to involve children and young adults in the world of classical music.
They even took along a group from a local 6th form college to hear Beethoven at the Royal Albert Hall.

Prior to the concert the youths thoughts ranged from, 'classical music is too long', 'not cool' and 'boring'.
Obviously we have a lot to do in improving the image of classical music. But that's not all.
Why a generation that can spend hours glued to a playstation would find it 'too long' is beyond me. I feel some work is needed in the area of increasing the attention span of our youth. I realise that to play computer games there's a level of interaction taking place, so we need to get more children playing instruments, and therefore feeling involved.
However, post concert, the comments were more positive.
They seemed to have genuinely enjoyed it, felt that seeing the musicians at work was good, but some had felt intimidated by the silence of the audience.
Some also said that they would like to return and would bring a friend if that friend was already interested in classical music.
Clearly more work is needed in the promotion of the whole area.
Lets hope this project takes off.
I was also delighted to hear that Liz Barclay is a 'guitar' fan, and the Spanish guitar has the ability to bring her out in 'goose bumps'!

The other item I listened to was yesterday's 'PM' with Eddie Mair.
There was a very interesting discussion taking place between Norman Lebrecht and Nicholas Kenyon. This had been prompted by a spontaneous round of applause, between movements, on Wednesday evenings performance of Mahler's 9th Symphony at The Proms.

Now this is an area I have mentioned many times on the blog and debated at some length over on Sounds and Fury forum.
Whilst both Lebrecht and Kenyon made their points very succinctly I must say I fall down on the side of Nicholas Kenyon.
He actually made many of the same points that I have in the past. Whilst it shouldn't be encouraged, if applause occurs in the wrong places, well, just enjoy the fact that you've moved an audience and that they bothered to attend in the first place.
It's also possible for a soloist or conductor to 'help' the audience understand where and when they can applaud, by using their body language.
Given that the conductor Ilan Volkov wasn't put off by this occurrence, and that one of the things preventing a new generation from attending concerts is that they feel intimidated by the situation, then this is an area we need to address.

It's not just the audience though.
You have to keep your eye on the musicians.
Back in 1953 the cellist Ambrose Gauntlett smuggled a camera into the Queen's Coronation, kept it in his cello case and remotely took an unauthorized picture of the proceedings.
To read the full story by Luke Salkeld click here.

Joyce Hatto and Other Musicians

I read a few interesting points made by A.C.Douglas over on Sounds and Fury about the pianists whose recordings were used on the Hatto CDs and their apparent inability to recognise their own work.

There may be other factors in play.
A lot of musicians don't actually like listening to their own recordings after the last take has been made. In an interview, Paco de Lucia once said, that he 'never listens to his music after recording it as he would always hear things he would like to change'.
If that is the case for the pianists, then they may well not have identified the Hatto 'version' as their own, as they certainly wouldn't have been expecting to hear themselves.
To highlight the point, Robin was once staying at his parents' house, enjoying a relaxing bath whilst they had the radio on in another room.
In the distance he heard 'Canarios' by Gasper Sanz and thought, 'That sounds great'.
Next came J.S.Bach's 'Gavotte' from the 4th Lute Suite followed by 'Bach Prelude in D Minor'. All of which he enjoyed and decided he really must work on those pieces if he was to attain the standard of performance of whoever had made this particular recording.
It was then announced that they had all been performed by Robin Hill! Robin nearly swallowed the loofah at this point...
He had previously recorded an album for the BBC library which was regularly played on Radio 3 and 4. At the time he didn't have a copy, so hadn't heard it since it had been recorded some years earlier.
He was, of course, delighted, but it does show that a musician may not always identify their own performance - until told...