tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1484180326012950400.post8627667962658390218..comments2024-03-27T23:55:17.673-07:00Comments on Flogging Babel: The Single Best Thing I Was Ever Told About Classical and Early MusicMichael Swanwickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18389836784776252022noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1484180326012950400.post-57485439344410462652009-06-30T10:29:59.056-07:002009-06-30T10:29:59.056-07:00The comment about not making faces is hilarious. ...The comment about not making faces is hilarious. I don't know how many times I've had losing arguments about music being a aural art and not a visual one. That said, I'm kinda indifferent to Hahn's playing. <br /><br />However, her accompanist Valentina Lisitsa, is phenomenal. She is one of the more accomplished musical minds performing today on any instrument.Chad Hullhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17774092046594256969noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1484180326012950400.post-46673366904142332172009-06-30T08:12:23.960-07:002009-06-30T08:12:23.960-07:00The Philadelphia Inquirer has a critic who consist...The Philadelphia Inquirer has a critic who consistently gives violinist Hillary Hahn poor reviews because her playing is "not emotional." I asked Tom how anybody who heard her play could possibly think that, and he said, "What he means is that she doesn't make faces as she plays."Michael Swanwickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18389836784776252022noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1484180326012950400.post-8323150218005472992009-06-29T07:36:33.846-07:002009-06-29T07:36:33.846-07:00"
Nowadays, I simply listen to the stuff. It ..."<br />Nowadays, I simply listen to the stuff. It sounds good. I enjoy it.<br /> "<br /><br />Good for you. I think that is the spirit in which a lot of classical music should be taken. It's great if you can follow things more closely and understand all the compositional techniques being used, but too often that understanding is forced or presented to the listener upfront. <br /><br />A lot of folks miss out on basic enjoyment because they were too busy searching for deeper subtleties.Chad Hullhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17774092046594256969noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1484180326012950400.post-17192625330757981922009-06-26T07:57:59.798-07:002009-06-26T07:57:59.798-07:00That's a great observation about classical mus...That's a great observation about classical music. The famous (possibly apocryphal) Buxtehude story I was told by my grade school piano teacher was that Bach was so into the man's organ stylings that he left his church job and walked several hundred miles to study with him. The (possibly more apocryphal) part this story that I didn't know until I read Christoph Wolff's excellent Bach biography was that the precondition to becoming Buxtehude's apprentice was that Bach had to marry Buxtehude's daughter. Bach demurred. Interestingly, though, Buxtehude seemed to have gotten his job as organist by marrying the daughter of his predecessor. Maybe it was a custom? A strange (though convenient) sort of package deal, that.Johnhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01895596838418378113noreply@blogger.com