Thought for the day: Expressive musicmaking

by carlos_lorenzo (CC)

My governing philosophy on making music is that one must always have opinions and options, thus allowing flexibility so every performance can be unique and personal.  Ever-inspiring music blogger Greg Sandow takes this idea and translates it for instrumentalists with tips like “tell stories,” “improvise,” and “work with a stage director…to work out the flow of feelings in your performance.” The best musicians already know this, either by instinct or intellect; how exciting if young up-and-comers would take this to heart and revitalize the business of classical music!

Robert Schumann: Du ring an meinem Finger (Thou ring on my finger)

by darklyseen (CC)

Robert Schumann’s song cycles Frauenliebe und –leben (The loves and lives of women) and Dichterliebe (The poet’s love) hold almost universal appeal among listeners and singers young and old, new and seasoned, amateur and professional. Not only are the real-life scenarios of love and love lost easy to grasp, but Schumann also sets them with heart-rending effectiveness.

In Du Ring an meinem Finger, we witness a private moment where a newly-engaged woman marvels in the beauty of a ring that somehow makes tangible the intangibility of love. Something about the rising and falling motion of the vocal line and the tenderness of the accompaniment is strikingly intimate. The middle section of the piece borrows heavily from the second song in the cycle, (Er, der Herrlichste von Allen, a song all about the wonders of the man whom she loves) with the text “I will serve him, live for him, belong to him entirely.” The piece finally returns to the revelry of the initial rocking melody.

• Video (Elly Ameling) – YouTube
• Text (Adelbert von Chamisso) and Translation – recmusic.org
• Accompaniment – YourAccompanist.com
• IPA Transcription & Translation – ipasource.com
• Score (Entire cycle) – IMSLP

Charles Gounod: Le vallon (The Valley)

Vallon de Rechy by maurice_perry (CC)

I was at a freshman faculty meeting this morning, discussing the balance of teaching and scholarly activity in academia. While I have been doing a good job balancing performing and teaching, my writing has not been as consistent or as regular as I’d like it to be. I brought up whether or not blogging is considered publication or just simply something interesting a faculty member does in their spare time. Frankly, the thought that the time and effort I put into writing these posts may not be considered an important contribution to academia is discouraging. Maybe that’s an excuse for not writing more, but it’s always in the back of my mind. Prof Albrecht (another member of my freshman “class”) and I are going to have coffee soon and chat about this and about why faculty should blog.

So, on this French Friday, I present a song I found in the New Imperial Bass Songs Anthology (a poor scan is also available at the University of Rochester). I have a sophomore bass-baritone working on this story-song, and I’m sure he’s glad Gounod didn’t set all sixteen verses of Lamartine’s poem.

Gounod begins the song heavily and slowly, suggesting the desperation of the singer, who asks the valley of his youth to “give respite as I await death.” The poem alternates dark sections with moderately less dark sections until the singer begins to think of “a heart full of hope.” A new melody appears in the piano, suggesting the valley has a happy personality of its own. The song concludes with the words, “When everything changes, nature remains the same. Yes, the same sun gives light all your days.”

• Audio (Lorna Windsor) – LiederSoundArchive.org
• Text (Alphonse Marie Louis de Lamartine) – recmusic.org