This reminds me of something I once saw on the TV when Yehudi Menhuin met an
aged traditional Shetland fiddler.
The aged fiddler listened to Yehudi play the tune (as dictated by the dots)
and then showed him how to play it.
YM also said of his work with Stephan Grappelli that he envied his (GS's)
feel for the violin and that, although he (YM) \could play the dots, he was
unable to reach the depth of "feeling" that he (SG) put into his music.
SG said much the same about the "perfection" of the performance by YM.
I think that's the same thing that you are saying (I hope).
Two masters of the violin but with totally different outlooks on their music
and what a violin should sound like and be played. Both right of course.
Colin Hill
----- Original Message -----
From: "Arle Lommel" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: <[email protected]>
Sent: Friday, February 08, 2008 11:55 AM
Subject: Re: [HG] on making simple hurdy gurdies
Susan, what you say is certainly true to some extent, but it raises a
fundamental question: what does "perfect" mean? Knowing whether something
is "perfect" means knowing whether it's what was aimed for and whether
that aim was met. If we go in an apply a standard that was never intended
(a modern standard, or a standard from another tradition), we'll hear
something as imperfect in ways that are unfair and inappropriate to that
tradition.
Think of it another way: find a truly great singer in a "folk" tradition
(Woody Guthrie for American, Marta Sebestyén for Hungarian, Kongar-ol
Ondar for Tuvan music, etc.) and ask that person to sing a Puccini aria.
What are you going to get? I'm willing to bet it won't sound right at
all. Now ask Placido Domingo to sing the songs that these singers are
known for. It won't sound right either. It's not that any of them are not
masters of their art, but rather that even at the heights of mastery
there are fundamental differences in what is aspired to.
Or perhaps more directly analogous, in Bach's time vibrato was not
aspired to, while today most singers can't turn it off. In some cases
Bach has very fast notes for which modern singers used to fairly heavy
vibrato cannot define the pitch because there simply isn't time to get in
enough vibrato to define the pitch that was intended. So these singers,
considered masters today, would likely have sounded incredibly sloppy in
Bach's time. Similarly, for audiences who expect vibrato, performances
without it would sound somewhat dull. It's not that they are not aiming
for something other than perfection in either rase, it's that, in the old
phrase "other times, other fashions." Or, as another example, we no
longer know how the earliest operas (serial operas) were meant to sound,
and there is an open question about how to perform them now without them
sounding very strange.
There have always been artists who placed a high value on "perfection"
within their framework and absolutely meant it to be perfect. Others may
not have cared at all. But the recordings I am talking about that sound
bad today are specifically ones played by folks recognized as great
masters in their own time, ones who are still held up today as models for
players. But we now use them as selective models, because, quite frankly,
some of what they thought of as perfection sounds like garbage to us, so
we take some elements (buzzing bridge style, ornamentation) and leave
others (tone, tuning). Similarly, if we could send our best recordings
back in time they would no doubt be appalled at some of the aesthetic
choices we make and wonder why we are doing what we are doing.
So I don't know that we should assert that they were aiming for a "lower"
standard (one not so flattering and somewhat unfair way of reading your
statement) but rather that we often don't know what standard they were
aiming for so we are no longer able to accurately assess their playing.
We can no longer understand it as they did, so we can no longer recognize
perfection...
Best,
Arle
On Feb 7, 2008, at 7:26 PM, Susan wrote:
I don't often weigh in on discussions, especially if they get technical,
but I do have an opinion on this issue. I think it is all to easy, in
this day and age of high fidelity musical perfection, to lose sight of
the fact that music doesn't have to be, and isn't meant to be, perfect.
It is meant to be personal, with all the interesting imperfection that
entails. People can get awfully snobby about it, but for me it all
comes down to playing your instrument (even if it is from a kit!) and
having fun. Viva lo fi! Suze
