Thoughts about music from conductors [3]

This is part 3 of the series I began here with part 1 and here with part 2 . . . .

A third conductor Hilary Hahn interviewed was Grant Cooper. She asked him,

HH: What kept you with it?

GC: I think that comes back to communication. I really find that we musicians communicate on so many different levels (one-on-one, in larger ensembles with other musicians, with the public, etc.) and in so many different ways: unspoken, mysteriously even, and through shared experiences.

Two points to be drawn from this:

1. There are at least three different levels of communication that a musician might experience while performing. First, if there are only two musicians, communicating with only one other artist. Second, if there are more than two musicians, communicating with a collective of other artists (which is different than interacting with only one). And third, communicating with the audience. Each level of communication goes in both directions. Note, only two of these levels may take place simultaneously (for the first and second cannot happen together by definition).

2. There are a variety of ways in which interactions among fellow performers and between performers and audience happen. Many are non-verbal, mysterious, spiritual, subtle and yet powerful, deeply human, almost telepathic. It is almost as though one were wordlessly passing momentary impressions and emotions back-and-forth to each other, one heart directly to another. As the feeling is passed and becomes shared it gains additional qualities. A poignant and deeply human moment is first privately alive in one's self, then comes to life among a communion of persons. These "moments" happen briefly, like a succession of waves rushing upon a beach. Some are small and delicate, others large and strong. And when things are going especially well and the muse of music visits, there is a sense within those who are most plugged-in to the shared experience that they are somehow, both "in time" and "beyond time."

I think it may be the case that the above points apply more to music than to other art forms. For music, uniquely, is a living art form. It moves dynamically through time, even though it can be represented statically in the form of ink on paper. Music is not fully itself unless being performed. And as it is performed, it is alive. Like a human life, it cannot be captured in or reduced to a single point in time.

By sharing the reality of a musical performance we are given a means to experience communion with each other in a way that is both meaningful and unique; and hopefully it may also be revelatory, insight-bestowing, and wisdom-enriching--in a word, humanizing.

[For more on similar themes see my comments and the videos of Hilary Hahn in two earlier posts here and here.]

Music as Communion; Violinist Hilary Hahn on Audience Interaction

Here is an interesting short clip from an interview with the incredibly talented classical violinist, Hilary Hahn.

She touches upon one of the things that is so wonderful about music as it is performed live. For the musicians, a live concert can be a powerful experience of human communion in at least two different modes simultaneously: musicians-with-musicians, and, musicians-as-a-group with the audience-as-a-group. Each type of communion is unique and they both bring a special thrill to the performers during a live event. I want to highlight that these are deeply human thrills--experiences that are especially of the realm of the human person.

When both types of communion are happening at a high level in a given performance it makes for a very special event. I would say music is, at least in some ways, the highest art form that man can engage in. It involves exquisite, living realities of some of the highest aspects of human communion that can be experienced in this life. Music can plunge a listener's soul incredibly deeply into the heart of the musicians-as-a-group and of the composer as well. It can be a form of wordless unity--and full of meaning--that has great power and poignancy, capable of communicating with astounding immediacy, subtlety, and directness, while also revealing the alluring, tantalizing mystery of human life as mystery--secrets of the human soul that no words could capture.

Praise God for the great gift of the human person's ability to create music!