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A new blog to contain answers to prompts |
| Prompt: "If a composer could say what he had to say in words he would not bother trying to say it in music." Gustav Mahler What is Mahler trying to say, in your opinion? And is music more expressive than words? What do you think? ----------- I guess it is the melody, harmony, and rhythm that does it...such as, a single chord progression awakening sadness, joy, or tension. Then, there is that power of performance, also. With the violin, for example, Jascha Heifetz's or Itzhak Perlman's out-of-this-world performances come to my mind. On the other hand, if you didn't want to hide and plug your ears when your child started his first violin lessons, I would call you a saint. Another aspect of performance has to do with sight more than the sound. A live performance can offer emotion by using not only sound but also body language, and energy and interaction with the audience. With me, however, this on-stage-overacting thing never sat well. Oldies like me will remember Elvis Presley's antics on stage. I hated that part of his performances but I did love his songs when on the radio or on LPs and later on tapes and such. In fact, some of his songs are among my favorites. This is because with music, I like to listen to it without my other senses getting in the way. Yet, as much as I like listening to music, I hated playing it. Then, this may be why: In my earliest days, I took years of lessons to learn to play the piano and I did advance well enough and could, after close to ten years of lessons, play the most complicated pieces. But the feeling wasn't there. I was always concerned with hitting the right note at the right time and intensity, which took away from the emotion thing for me. So, I dropped out, to never touch those keys again. In hindsight, I'm wondering if it was the strict teacher that I had in the beginning, for he would mostly stand up behind me with a long ruler in hand and touch my fingers with it as he yelled at me when I couldn't reach a key or hit a wrong note, and as an eight-year-old, in the beginning, I felt even more confusion, fright, and frustration. Later on, I had a teacher who was less strict, but still, I wonder if those earliest negative emotions were being easily stirred up whenever I sat at the piano-bench, so when and as soon as I could, I dropped the whole piano-playing thing in my late teen-age years. On the other hand, I could always lose or, maybe, find myself in a book, since I had learned to read when I was a four-year-old. A book and its words would be so enchanting that I wouldn't hear people talking to me unless they touched me to get my attention. Still, some say that words have fixed meanings and music is universal. It is true that we do communicate in different languages, but then, each word may suggest a different meaning at times, too. This may be because words have their own strengths, and especially when used well, they can articulate complex ideas and stories with precision. Also maybe, as a consequence of my personal experiences, I ended up favoring the word-arts, which doesn't mean I don't appreciate music. In fact, I love it, and especially when I am sad or emotional in some way, music has a way of lifting me up and carrying me over my own stumbling blocks. It may just be that music does better with fine and raw emotional impact. |
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