Eastman School of Music - Score Yearbook (Rochester, NY)

Page 51 text:

Q Qi 1 ith meaning, rich is some. arning a new - like being 1 end to end. en blind men .e visualizing elephant. is a very suc- ages through mely dodeca- .irect musical lraditional. ln re are two sterous and nent, a very ititled Malin- oerhaps a lit- w on a first 5 on a theme. E external ef- avant-garde 5 the wood of rse Bartokian Ve anything a. He uses the 9 instrument ment very hand, sees Wie' and de- .fial for soUf1d5 q uite ary. I to 3 Very bout the Ile ig 3 'oy Play' O em tic of g to k .t 3 nd excite' WI ZEITLIN The first movement is traditional as to form in that two contrasting thematic elements are introduced, developed, and returned. As the movement title, 'Dia- logue', suggests, there is a constant in- terchange between the two instruments. The 'Malinconia' is meant to provide a complete contrast to the boisterous qual- ity of the first movement. lt is slow mov- ing throughout except for a few mea- sures which offer some relief to the mel- ancholy. The tive 'Variations' of the last movement grow out of the interval ot the seventh and its inversion into seconds and ninths. All but the tourth variation are fast. There is no attempt to write effects. l am more interested in such things as singing qualities, colors, techniques, and rhythmic-percussive interplay. Verne Reynolds

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ON LEARNING A NEW PIECE I don't think I've ever played a violin sonata with more notes than the Verne Reynolds Violin Sonata - an average of sixteen notes per second, the average in- terval between notes a seventh, and sometimes a ninth - which accounts for a very calisthenic summer of 1971 during which I learned the piece. When you learn a new work and come across a very difficult spot, the first tendency is to try to cut corners and find a simpler way to do it - or even perhaps to complain to the composer. My experi- ence has taught me that with enough -g-ul ! practice and study in depth, almost with- out exception, the Composer is right. To interpret music is a grave responsi- bility and one in which professional mu- sicians are sometimes found wanting. They learn the notes and are satisfied with a more or less perfunctory rendi- tion. I-Iowever agonizing and excruciat- ing, it is far better to try to look for the inner spirit of the work, for there is nothing more satisfying than the mo- ment when you feel the music begin to come to lifeg when things that seemed unintelligible suddenly become urgent - even inevitable, when things that were CU Yerne Reynolds, Barry Snyder, Zvi Zeitlin 1i - ii-11 if Q commonplace are charged with meaning. It has to do with that which is some- times the most elusive in learning a new piece: the whole structure - like being able to see a rainbow from end to end. Qtherwise it is like the seven blind men with the elephant, each one visualizing just part of the body, as the elephant. The Sonata by Reynolds is a very suc- cessful work in that he manages through a much maligned idiom, namely dodeca- phony, to convey a very direct musical message. The form is quite traditional. In the first movement there are two contrasting subjects, Iboisterous and lyricalj. The second movement, a very lyrical and moody one, is entitled Malin- conia. The last movement, perhaps a lit- tle more difficult to follow on a first hearing, is a set of variations on a theme. Reynolds avoids the use of external ef- fects such as are used by avant-garde composers: he doesn't bang the wood of the instrument, he doesn't use Bartokian pizzicatos, not that. I have anything against Bartokian pizzicatos. I-Ie uses the most lyrical aspects of the instrument and treats the instrument very traditionally. Reynolds, on the other hand, goes back to the early classical style, and de- spite using the same material for both violin and piano, the work sounds quite idiomatic and not at all arbitrary. Barry Snyder and I came to a very sympathetic mutual feeling about the piece and were really able to enjoy play- ing it. This is another characteristic of the work, the more we got to know it, the greater our involvement and excite- ment in playing it. zvl ZEITLIN

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for most musicians and music lovers in Rochester there was only one RPO concert that was truly deeply musically inspiring this year. The audience sat frozen, silent, totally absorbed in the performance of this great man. Raising the RPO's performance to new heights, this fantastic musician helped reassure musicians and music lovers alike that live music is not dead. It shall be a long time before we forget the magic of the playing of Rostropovitch. gf Besides - - Pf0vid1ng des perateb' needed Orchestral experience and its subsequent financial rew fe SOme of the m ore fortunate and b a le Students Of the Eastman School the Rochester Phi PfOvides an O . . PPOrtunity f side lives Que or us as student f - of the more O S O music to be t f Pportune cha PHY O an audience to see how the 0 mes to do thls fh1S year was with PDQ Bach Music dents havin ' 8 the edge on the la Yman, got all the inside jokes and had a welcome break in the 6 activities with P , D mmert d U Q S Performance, Qu the Sedo ' us S142 David Zinman presented some inspi S urin 3 the year for the listeners, 48 Q WM. X ttmxcawfvl ' 'awww 'Wk