I have tried to keep this blog free of overt discussion of my personal political views, feeling - often rightfully - that politics are a hotbed that can stifle other discussions about music and education. I am changing that today by posting the following letter - with permission - from Dr Jerry Young. Dr Young is a Professor of Music at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire. You can read his bio here; this letter was not written lightly, and he has a long history in the field of education and music to back up his writing. (It is slightly edited to remove a few more personal items.)
Protests on Thursday at the Wisconsin Capitol, via the Huffington Post
The on-going political battle in Wisconsin is spreading to Ohio and other states, where governors are trying to eliminate collective-bargaining rights for state unions, using the guise of balancing the budget as a reason. This affects state workers, including teachers, university police officers, mental health employees, among many, many others.
The Wisconsin debate has a lot of nuances. Please take the time to read the following letter, and stay up to date on the debate. Madison.com & Channel3000.com are two good local news sources, but this has been publicized far-wide, in the New York Times, The Guardian, the BBC, and on Al Jazeera English.
If you choose to comment, please keep the debate civil. The protesters - on both sides - have been lauded for the civility of this discussion. Any offensive comments will be removed immediately.
21 February 2011
My Dear Friends,
I’m writing to you today relative to the state of affairs in Wisconsin brought about by the budget repair bill submitted by Governor Scott Walker. I’m sending this letter to just a few studio alums from the various generations of students over the past 28 years in hopes that it will be posted on Facebook accounts and spread in that fashion. I just randomly selected names of folks who I think check e-mail from time to time. No, I still don’t have a Facebook account because I’m still overwhelmed with e-mail and snail mail and all the other facets of my 60 to 70 hours weeks that I know many of you face, too. I am establishing a new e-mail account specifically to deal with correspondence relative to activism on this matter. I’m sure that those of you who are educators realize that we are not to use our school e-mail accounts for political activism. I would prefer that you contact me at the new address for any discussions relative to this issue.
First, I am devastated by the financial impact that this bill is going to have on most of you and your families who are teaching in Wisconsin. Most of all I hope that some compromise can be reached. I am sending correspondence, attending meetings, and participating in demonstrations to try to bring that result. I hope that you are all doing the same. It’s certainly frightening to look at a combined $9,000 hole in the budget at our house, but I can’t imagine how those of you who are in dual (or even single) public employee households are going to navigate that kind of loss. Let’s hope that it doesn’t come to that, but just hoping isn’t enough. I am encouraging you to join me in contacting legislators and reminding them that we are the heart of the middle class tax-paying public, and that we expect the progressive tradition in Wisconsin to be upheld. Further, although I know this can be uncomfortable in some instances, talk to your community friends and your immediate and extended families. I’m discovering that so many people, even people who I have known for years, have no idea relative to how much money I make or the kind of hours that go into my job. The same is probably true for those of you who are teachers. Many people think that we’re on the gravy train with our salaries and even more so with our benefit packages. When I have asked the question relative to how much my salary is, the typical response is $80,000 to $100,000. When I tell them that my current take home pay is less than $45,000 per year and that my work week is generally between 60 and 70 hours (and that I’m unemployed in the summer with no paycheck), they’re in shock. Any taxpayer can go to the Wisconsin Red Book and find out your salary anyway – it’s a matter of public record. So don’t be shy about sharing your story with the numbers
Second, don’t forget that “the bottom line” on this entire controversy is NOT about the budget deficit. It is about denying the right to collective bargaining, and the implications go far beyond our immediate circumstance. At this point, the Governor is not even remotely denying his motive. He doesn’t care if we all say, “okay, put a large hole in our family budgets and devastate the economy of Wisconsin – increase our contributions to our family health insurance and pensions.” That offer has been put forward at least three times, and he refuses to come to the table and discuss it. Tell your friends and family about the things that are negotiated in your contracts that directly affect your work load and time with your family, both things that require extra time for which you need to be compensated, as well as the things that have nothing to do with money. They won’t know if we don’t tell them.
Third (and this is critically important for those of you who live in Wisconsin), know that the Eau Claire City Council and the Eau Claire County Board have passed resolutions condemning the legislation because they indeed want to preserve collective bargaining and because it works. The Eau Claire School Board will, in all likelihood, pass a similar resolution this evening (Monday, February 21). It is my understanding that other cities across the state feel similarly and plan to pass similar resolutions. We need to encourage our cities, counties, and (maybe most important) school boards to band together with these resolutions and see to it that they get into the media. Governor Walker says that he is meeting a mandate from the cities of Wisconsin with this legislation. This is simply untrue, and he has to be called on this. It is NOT something that he wants to hear, but he must be forced to listen. We have several staunch Republicans on our City Council here in Eau Claire, and they were part of a unanimous vote to support the resolution. At its root, this is not a partisan Democrat/Republican issue. I know that political views in our studio family vary widely. My circle of friends, both inside and outside of the music and music education professions, also represent many varied political views, but this issue is uniting them – even some folks who want us to pay more for our benefits.
Fourth, don’t fear talking to your representatives about ideas and solutions for dealing with the budget deficit in the next biennium. (Remembering that there was no budget deficit for the current biennium until last month.) The legislature is looking for alternatives, so let’s provide them. Anything ranging from a progressive tax program (which needs not be permanent) to further negotiated and temporary financial give backs from both public employees and institutions can be on the table. And I’m sure that there are more ideas from you, as well as from people who know much more about the inner workings of government budgets than do you or I. But I know first-hand how bright you people are! Maybe a solution to this circumstance lies in your minds.
Thanks for considering these thoughts. If you have ideas to share, please pass them on. While I’m interested to hear about your ideas and to pass them on to folks here in Eau Claire, be sure to let your representatives know, and talk to them directly whenever possible. If we don’t speak up now, we well may lose our voice in the future. To those of you who are out-of-state, keep a close eye on developments in Wisconsin and on the situation in your own state. It’s no secret that the nation is watching, and there are those in your state who have similar designs or who are in the process of developing them. We must support each other.
In the Spring of 2003 I had an independent study that focused on JS Bach's Goldberg Variations. In anticipation of Bach's birthday in March, and to contribute a little to the #BachChat discussions on Twitter, I will be posting some items from my final paper.
Part of my project was interviewing several people deeply connected with the Goldberg Variations. Below is an interview conducted, via mail, with Dr Rosalyn Tureck. It was done in March, 2003, three months before Dr Tureck passed away.
I have annotated the interview to clarify some points. These annotations are from 2003, and can be found at the bottom of this post (via the numbers in brackets, ie [3]).
I haven't read this interview since probably 2004, and I'm just as intrigued by her answers today as I was then. I hope you feel a similar way. Please share your thoughts and comments on the interview below.
There are several YouTube videos of Dr Tureck playing the Goldberg Variations, but some of the best cannot be embedded. They are available here - from shortly before her death - and here - from 1995.
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via www.discogs.comRosalyn Tureck is known as one of the foremost J.S. Bach scholars and performers in the world. Born in Chicago in 1914, she first performed the Goldberg Variations from memory at the age of 23. In addition to performing Bach, Dr. Tureck has focused on pieces by 20th-century composers, although her repertoire has covered every major composer. Additionally, she studied with Léon Thérémin in her teens, made her Carnegie Hall debut, at the age of 17, on a Thérémin instrument, and has performed on various electronic instruments. She has recorded and performed the complete Goldberg Variations numerous times. Dr. Tureck founded the Tureck Bach Institute in New York City in 1967, and in 1993 she founded the Tureck Bach Research Foundation, based in Oxford, England. Dr Tureck passed away on July 17, 2003. [1]
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Knowing that you have performed Bach since a youth, has your interest in Bach ever waned?
No.
Can you explain what new technique you developed in studying and performing Bach’s music? Do you feel that the focus on structure, although hindering the time it took to learn a piece, ever hindered your performance abilities, or have you always seen it as a positive thing? [2]
It helped and never hindered me; I’d learn a new fugue by memory in 20 minutes. [3]
You’ve recorded the Goldberg Variations numerous times. Have you approached them differently each time, applying new scholarly information? What approach do you take with the Goldberg Variations when you record or perform them – do you try for something different than you’ve done in the past?
I don’t try – I study and I grow.
Many artists, including Leonard Bernstein and Glenn Gould, are known for rerecording pieces at slower tempi and with different interpretations as they age, saying that they are searching to bring more of the music out. Have you experienced this phenomenon as well? Do you listen to your previous recordings and think of things that you would have changed if you had the chance, or do you see them as an image of who you were at that time?
I do not search for new interpretations. They grow and grow in scholarship and artistic insight.
The last fifty years or so has seen an increase in scholarly output concerning performance practices of all music periods. You have been a part of this, becoming an expert on period instruments and practices. What do you feel about the debate concerning Bach and his keyboard music: if it’s meant for the harpsichord or piano, what ornamentations are proper, what tempi and dynamics to use, etc.? [4]
András Schiff and Vladimir Feltsman are known for their attempts to emulate the harpsichord in their performances and recordings of the Goldberg Variations by changing octaves on the repeats in the variations. Have you considered this? Do you see it as an accurate representation of what a harpsichordist would do in a performance?
No, it is not. The idea is naïve. It is not appropriate to try to imitate the harpsichord on the piano. This subject is deeper than they are perceiving.
You are known as the “high priestess of Bach,” but you also have performed and recorded a wide array of 20th century pieces, including recitals on the Thérémin. Do you see a connection between J.S. Bach’s music and the more modern music you’ve performed?
YES, this will be explained in detail in my forthcoming publications.
You’ve said that the Goldberg Variations are central to your life, and also that, to quote, you “don’t play this work as a tour de force, as a dazzling display of technique – I play it as a life experience.” What is it about the Goldberg Variations that initially attracted you to them, and why do you perceive this as one of the most important pieces you’ve performed?
Like Mt. Everest: it is there! [5]
Glenn Gould cited you as an influence for his 1955 recording of the Goldberg Variations. Do you see any similarities between his first recording of this work and your performances of the same time period? What was your initial reaction to Gould’s infamous recording?
Only a good deal of my influence and of imitating literally what I do, without knowledge of why I do, or adequate attention to what Bach is doing in the structure of his music.
There has been scholarship on Bach’s music concerning symbolism, including Lutheran and Christian symbolism and numerology. Have you discovered a lot of symbolism in the Goldberg Variations? If so, have these discoveries influenced your performances of the Goldberg Variations?
Many can be found, but this practice should not be overdone or become dogma.
You are well-known not only as a performer, but as a philosopher. Your essay, “A Philosophy of Performance: Performance as an Art” concisely outlines your beliefs on performance and interpretation. What you say in there seems to be implied material: “The composer comes first, the performer second. The performer does not create a composition anew.” Have you had many encounters with people that disagree with this statement?
Some people can always be found who disagree with anything.
Also, what does this idea do to the notion of transcriptions or arrangements – do you feel that people are “damaging,” to use perhaps too strong of a word, the composer’s original ideas?
Some damage: a few don’t. This is like the work of translation.
Or do you see them as a way to spread music beyond the sphere it maintains?
Yes – sometimes necessary in the 19th century – NOT today.
What do you feel of treatments of Bach by Busoni and others? [6] Have you heard contemporary arrangements of the Goldberg Variations by pianists Jacques Loussier and Uri Caine? If so, what are your thoughts on them?
He (Jacques Loussier) is very clever and amusing – but these are not representative of great art.
Have you found it difficult to combine the individual variations into a complete whole? Has it been difficult to perfect the gestalt of the piece?
Never – this is the whole point of integrating a composition.
Are there any recordings or editions of the Goldberg Variations that you prefer?
Bach-Gesellschaft and Neue Bach-Ausgabe but I study Bach’s autographs or where they are lost, the best copies by the most reliable copyists of his time.
Many artists don’t like to listen to their recordings once they are finished with the process. Do you feel the same way, or do you review prior recordings before rerecording a piece?
It depends. I rely mostly on J.S. Bach! and not on opinions.
[1] John Ardoin, Great Pianists of the Twentieth Century: Rosalyn Tureck II, Philips Compact Disc 456 979-2; Jeremy Siepmann, Goldberg Variations, Deutsche Grammophon Compact Disc 289 456 599-2.
[2] In her response, Dr. Tureck underlined this section and the section in a later question. It is assumed that she did this to save her the time of rewriting those sentences, and that the underlined section is her answer to that question.
[3] “Just before my 17th birthday I had an experience which changed my life. I … was continuing to learn three (Bach preludes and fugues from the Well-Tempered Clavier) each week … when I suddenly lost consciousness …. When I came to, I had a whole new insight into Bach’s music. I suddenly understood that the realization of Bach’s structures in performance required a whole new way of thinking musical form and structure. I realized at that very same moment … that a totally new performance technique had to be created” (as quoted by Siepmann, p. 10).
[4] Dr. Tureck did not answer this question. Much has been written by and about Dr. Tureck and this debate. She has said “In respect to Bach and the performance media, Bach’s own practice was so often to recast the settings of his music for entirely different media …. I aim to embrace a more holistic Bach ….” (as quoted by Siepmann, p. 11).
[5] This is similar to the remark that Mrs. Nanette Lunde, a UW-Eau Claire music faculty member, made when I interviewed her about the Goldberg Variations.
[6] While studying with Jan Chiapusso at the age of 14, Dr. Tureck studied and compared the transcriptions of Busoni, Cortot and Liszt with Bach’s originals, although “neither Chiapusso nor I was interested in the virtuoso arrangements by Liszt” (as quoted by Siepmann, p. 10).
via www.venturebeat.comIf you didn't watch the shows or read news clips, Watson won over the course of two episodes, against the two highest-scorers in Jeopardy!'s history. In some ways, and in some people's opinions, this is scary. If a computer can do this, how far away are we from artificial intelligence, from HAL? We're probably not as far away as some people may think.
But let's be honest: computers already rule our lives. Aside from the increasingly-rare species of Luddite, most people will check their email, Twitter feed, or Facebook at least once a day. Smart phones are becoming the norm instead of the exception they were only a few short years ago. Cars are now being produced that not only can locate you and assist you if you're in an accident, but can read your Facebook news feed aloud to you as your driving.
And then there's Michael Kaiser's article. The title says a lot, but unfortunately the column is light on substance: "What Is Wrong With the Arts?" I don't think anything Mr Kaiser wrote after that would have satisfied even a simple majority of the people. The answers to "what is wrong with the arts?" are diverse and often well thought-out, but it seems that there are many answers to the problem as there are people asking the question.
I've gotten involved in arts arguments. I've contributed my two cents about what needs to be done to "save" classical music, or the arts in general. I'm getting a little tired of it. Sometimes the pessimist in me feels that this is at least partially a manufactured crisis. But that's a topic for a different post.
What I want to propose here is a simple idea about how we can continue to develop the arts, how we can persuade Obama to avoid cutting funding for the NEA (and Republicans cutting funding for NPR and PBS), about how we can continue drawing audiences into our events, concert halls and museums: by reminding people that art is a human function. A concert is a chance to turn off your electronic devices and become absorbed in something created by humans, for humans, and performed by and for humans. A walk through an art museum offers us an escape from the world of email notifications and the din of the television set.
I'm not perfect. If you ask my partner or my parents, they'll readily tell you that I'm attached to my iPhone. I'm typing this on my MacBook, hoping to send this out into the World Wide Web. I'm a frequent Tweeter. Even a lot of today's art is made using computers, but it's still directed by a human.
But as I'm writing this I'm listening to Maria Schneider's Concert in the Garden and I'm thinking back to seeing her conduct Bolería, Soléa Y Rumba at the UW-Eau Claire Jazz Festival, and how her passionate conducting and her beautiful music moved me to tears. Art has a human connection that, no matter how hard "he" would try, Watson cannot duplicate.
One of my favorite professors in undergrad defined art as
any human creation which contains an idea other than its utilitarian purpose.
I don't agree with this 100% anymore, but it's one of arts' greatest selling points. Art is human, and is unlike so many other human endeavors. We need to remind people of this fact, even more so in our increasingly electronic times.
We might not be able to stop the progression of technology, but we can balance it with art advocacy, education, and enjoyment.
Single Petal of a Rose was written by Duke Ellington as part of his Queen's Suite in the late 1950s. Recorded in 1959, only one was copy was pressed, and given to Queen Elizabeth II. The recording was later released to the general public. (If I'm not mistaken, it was released after Ellington's death, but I can't find any confirmation on that.)
This was originally a duet for piano and bass, but is often played by a solo pianist. (The bass part adds to the overall piece, but is basically sustained notes during the two louder sections, with the flourishes in the right hand.)
I first played this piece as a freshman in college - November of 1999, on my first collegiate jazz concert. It was sort of a test piece my jazz band director, Robert Baca, gave to his pianists. I fell in love with it almost immediately (the great feedback from my first performance of it didn't hurt, either!). And while I love Duke, his music, his band, and his playing, my personal favorite recording of this piece is that done by Sir Roland Hanna:
I wanted to make a video of this for a long time (for both my mother, and at the request of one of my former students). I got a little time in one of the classrooms on campus tonight (and last night - hence my Shostakovich video), so voila!
