In Reply to: Technique - don't knock it! posted by Chris from Lafayette on August 20, 2014 at 23:38:39:
I notice these delightful words were written before 1905, probably well before. Victorian and Edwardian English literature is another of my interests, and this wonderful short paragraph, though nonfiction and no doubt cropped from an ancient newspaper (I see Johnstone wrote music criticism for the Manchester Guardian) is a gem of that age. Thank you for it!It was also the age before the dawn of commercial recording. I've argued that recording has changed our tastes in and expectations from music. This would apply to all sorts of music, but it's especially interesting to see it in classical music, where the identical pieces performed in the 19th century are performed today. I think we have very different ideas of what constitutes virtuoso technique than did the audience for this music in the 19th century.
The experiences of Arthur Rubinstein, a famous musician who straddled these eras, has long fascinated me. He dismissed acoustic recording as a novelty item, but when confronted with electrical recording at the age of 40, had to overhaul his technique.
Edwin Fischer was considered one of the young Rubinstein's greatest rivals, but can you listen to Fischer's Well Tempered Clavier today without at least occasionally wincing? Even harder to listen to is Shostakovich, a capable pianist who reportedly refused to allow his mistakes to be edited out of recordings, playing his own preludes and fugues.
The 19th century virtuosos created the illusion of superhuman technique while remaining profoundly human and fallible. Great technique means something different today, and in my opinion, something less magical -- and less human.
Edits: 08/21/14 08/21/14
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Follow Ups
- RE: Technique - don't knock it! - rbolaw 07:29:31 08/21/14 (21)
- I can't tell you how many times I've winced listening to Edwin Fischer's recordings! [nt] ;-) - Chris from Lafayette 12:08:58 08/21/14 (18)
- RE: I can't tell you how many times I've winced listening to Edwin Fischer's recordings! [nt] ;-) - pbarach 18:07:01 08/21/14 (17)
- Well, at least we agree about Richter! [nt] ;-) - Chris from Lafayette 20:14:05 08/21/14 (16)
- RE: Well, at least we agree about Richter! [nt] ;-) - Analog Scott 09:50:29 08/22/14 (15)
- I agree - hope I didn't imply otherwise [nt] - Chris from Lafayette 11:30:16 08/22/14 (14)
- RE: I agree - hope I didn't imply otherwise [nt] - Analog Scott 09:57:47 08/23/14 (0)
- RE: I agree - hope I didn't imply otherwise [nt] - Old SteveA 12:50:44 08/22/14 (12)
- RE: I agree - hope I didn't imply otherwise [nt] - Analog Scott 09:56:11 08/23/14 (10)
- RE: I agree - hope I didn't imply otherwise [nt] - Old SteveA 12:04:06 08/23/14 (9)
- RE: I agree - hope I didn't imply otherwise [nt] - Analog Scott 13:36:31 08/23/14 (8)
- RE: I agree - hope I didn't imply otherwise [nt] - rbolaw 15:11:55 08/23/14 (4)
- Why on earth would you pick this example? - Analog Scott 20:25:50 08/23/14 (3)
- The Moravec Chopin Nocturnes are superb, imo. - rbolaw 20:52:11 08/23/14 (2)
- RE: The Moravec Chopin Nocturnes are superb, imo. - Analog Scott 22:00:43 08/23/14 (1)
- Yup, it's all a matter of taste. - rbolaw 07:45:19 08/24/14 (0)
- RE: I agree - hope I didn't imply otherwise [nt] - Old SteveA 14:40:40 08/23/14 (2)
- RE: I agree - hope I didn't imply otherwise [nt] - Analog Scott 20:19:14 08/23/14 (1)
- RE: I agree - hope I didn't imply otherwise [nt] - Old SteveA 08:14:04 08/24/14 (0)
- Ain't that the truth. ;) nt - rbolaw 13:10:12 08/22/14 (0)
- RE: Technique - don't knock it! - Analog Scott 09:59:19 08/21/14 (0)
- I don't know when it first manifested itself, but Shostakovoch had ALS. - John Marks 07:42:28 08/21/14 (0)