"Touching" the Audience : Whose responsibility is it ?

[m1469]

Here is another topic that is simply overflowing from me.  I am just hungering deeper these days.   

As I was sitting in a chair, looking out the window, listening to one of my students perform for me during her lesson, suddenly everything around me and outside of the window became about the music she was playing.  As one of my friends has put it before, "the music becomes the context".  I think that's what happened in this case.  Suddenly the music was describing the very moments we were living and everything within my perception of those moments.  I felt like I was in Heaven.

What is interesting to me, and what caused me questions, is that for my student there was a much different experience.  She was very nervous to be playing for me and she was having fumbles here and there.  The piece of music itslef is not something a "Master" would pick as any kind of repertoire, and there are probably many things she could improve on in terms of shaping, colours and so on. 

My point is that, I had a transporting experience even when so many things for the performer were not considered to be in place at the time.  Also, I was not necessarily expecting to have this experience at this time in the same way I might look for it in a concert with a professional, so I feel like it was not necessarily my own expectations that brought this experience to me.  Admittedly, I have also had similar experiences while listening to masters, but not nearly as often as I would wish.  Somehow, I think that is one of the main points in performing, and providing the audience with the opportunity to be transported is a distinct reason I myself enjoy performing.

But, this experience caused me to question whose responsibility it is to be "touched" or "transported".  I realize clearly right now that these experiences are not limited to master performances.  And, sometimes in master performances I don't experience these things. 

Is that because I am not receptive to it ?  So, is it the audiences responsibility to be "transported" ?  I had always thought it was the performer's responsibility to draw this out of the audience.

Maybe it is a joint responsibility and there is not only one correct answer.  But, I find this important to think about.  Any thoughts you might like to share would be much appreciated.



Thanks,

m1469



ps- there can be something astoundingly beautiful to me about the god-awful scraping of a beginner-child's rendition of some exercise on the violin.

[Torp]

Maybe it is a joint responsibility and there is not only one correct answer.

Communication requires a sender and a receiver.  The message that is sent is not always the message that is received.

Jef

[m1469]

Communication requires a sender and a receiver.  The message that is sent is not always the message that is received.

Jef

Yeah, I guess I have known this to some degree all along.  But right now it has a startling colouring to me.  It completely alters what I have thought my "job" as the performer may be.  I mean, not only that, but I am now seeking a whole new concept of what it is I am doing up there when I am performing.  I suppose some of that will be defined through the experiences themselves.  Perhaps it has wholly to do with the simple act of expression itself.  But, to whose benefit ? 



Life is *nothing* without living it,
m1469   


*goes and practices* 

[Torp]

Perhaps it has wholly to do with the simple act of expression itself.  But, to whose benefit ? 

Yes, that's it.  Express yourself honestly and truly.  You will benefit from that expression.  Whether the receiver benefits from it is out of your control.

I think about this in terms of some photographs I've made.  I don't make them because I want someone to like them or to receive a specific message.  I make them because I like it and because it means something to me.  I always try and convey what I was feeling when I made the photograph.  However, I am often amazed at how other's receive a different message, or receive no message at all, while some receive the message that prompted me to make the photo in the first place.

All I can do as an artist is to continue to work on my craft in hopes that my communication skills are the best they can be to express myself.

Jef

[spirithorn]

As one of my friends has put it before, "the music becomes the context".  I think that's what happened in this case.  Suddenly the music was describing the very moments we were living and everything within my perception of those moments.  I felt like I was in Heaven.

Music, being an aural art, is only "expressed" as it is heard.  And hearing only occurs "in the moment".  It seems possible to me that, in the experience you described, you were "truly hearing" and truly "in the moment".  Had this not been the case, it could have been a Horowitz who was playing rather than your student, and the experience would have been missed, despite the "superior" playing and more "advanced" piece.

Anyway, just some thoughts on a very intriguing topic.  Hope you have many more of these experiences.

[m1469]

Yes, that's it.  Express yourself honestly and truly.  You will benefit from that expression.  Whether the receiver benefits from it is out of your control.

I think about this in terms of some photographs I've made.  I don't make them because I want someone to like them or to receive a specific message.  I make them because I like it and because it means something to me.  I always try and convey what I was feeling when I made the photograph.  However, I am often amazed at how other's receive a different message, or receive no message at all, while some receive the message that prompted me to make the photo in the first place.

All I can do as an artist is to continue to work on my craft in hopes that my communication skills are the best they can be to express myself.

Jef

Wow, okay.  This just has a whole new meaning to me now and feels like a great thing to focus on.  It also seems to resemble a very tastey challenge to myself.  This is a very important life lesson and I can surely see some places in my life where I have had opportunities to learn this lesson.  I guess one can be grateful for these opportunities.  

Thanks for your thoughtful responses,

m1469



*Thinks teachers are geniuses*

[m1469]

Music, being an aural art, is only "expressed" as it is heard.  And hearing only occurs "in the moment".  It seems possible to me that, in the experience you described, you were "truly hearing" and truly "in the moment".  Had this not been the case, it could have been a Horowitz who was playing rather than your student, and the experience would have been missed, despite the "superior" playing and more "advanced" piece.

Anyway, just some thoughts on a very intriguing topic.  Hope you have many more of these experiences.

Yeah, I guess that's what I started wondering.  If it is mainly up to the listener to be in the moment and so on as you describe.  Because, as you have said, it could have been anybody with superior everything and had I not been in the moment, the opportunity would have been missed.  I am happy you like the topic 


m1469

[spirithorn]

Because, as you have said, it could have been anybody with superior everything and had I not been in the moment, the opportunity would have been missed. 

In the event (probably rare) that BOTH the performer and listener are "in the moment" and truly hearing, I would think there was the potential for magic (in the best sense of the word).

[xvimbi]

Yeah, I guess that's what I started wondering.  If it is mainly up to the listener to be in the moment and so on as you describe. 

I have wondered about this very often myself, mostly from the listeners point of view (ehem, point of hearing). In particular, when I rush to a concert after a long day at work, I always feel like I'm not giving the performer a fair chance. Perhaps, s/he is putting out extremely well-conceived vibes, but I can't receive them properly, because I'm grumpy or tired, and thus I am unable to get into the zone. This is why I often prefer recordings, although something is clearly missing, but at least I can make sure that I am ready.

When people say "I didn't like this pianist, because he didn't touch me", I always wonder whether this says something about that listener, rather than about the performer. In the end, it's both, of course, but I do think that the listener indeed has a great responsibility for what constitutes a satisfying or even transporting musical experience. Perhaps even more so than the performer, as evidenced by your own experience, because you were able to get into the zone, although the performance wasn't that great from a purely technical point of view (ehem, point of playing).

[lisztener]

Hi.
I like this discussion, and I came to think about when I go to pianoconcerts. I live in the swedish bush and therefor the concerts doesn't appear too frequently...     But i've realized that that is actually a great thing; the lesser the concerts, the more magic they get. 
I listen a lot at clasical music on the radio, and in the beginning that was also great, but I became more and more tired of it the more I listened..  But no matter how tired I get at listening to the radio, I love to go to concerts!  I often find myself smiling as I watch the performers, even though their skills can vary.   I agree with the persons who said that the technical point of views becomes less important in those magic moments.   

Take care /  lisztener

[dorfmouse]

Suddenly the music was describing the very moments we were living and everything within my perception of those moments.  I felt like I was in Heaven.

What you describe sounds like an experience I have, very occasionally, and completely out of the blue.  It last happened whilst walking down a very ordinary workaday sort of street, quite a down-at-heel road actually. It was a pleasant sunny autumn day.  Suddenly I am awash with an intense feeling of pleasure; it's as if I'm transfixed in a moment of time feeling the energy of the world.  (No connection with drugs, alcohol or anything rude!!)  The feeling itself lasts probably a couple of minutes, I can recall it and enjoy the memory but not, unfortunately, summon it up at will even when, say, looking at a beautiful scene or listening to a piece of music I love.

Similary when I'm truly touched by music it is mostly unexpected and not necessarily when I'm specially relaxed, or by a top notch performance. For example I was very moved by a piece posted in Auditon Room, a fairly simple piece played robustly and straightforwardly, by an amateur I imagine. (I won't quote it in case I'm wrong there!) Something about the pace it was played, the timbre of the piano, and the music itself of course brought a lump to my throat and transported me to far places in my mind.  I have that piece on a CD, a much more beautifully crafted performance, but had hardly noticed it before.

Perhaps the listener can only be "responsible" to a certain extent by being open minded and receptive which will enhance their experience in general, but these special moments can't be willed and are just occasional, wonderful gifts.

[Torp]

wonderful gifts.

How right you are!

[rc]

I'd never thought of it like this before either. I'd always known a listener could be more or less receptive to the music, but had always taken it upon myself as performer to "show" the listeners what's great in the music. If there was no connection, I figured that I just didn't do a good enough job.

Though we can't control how receptive the audience is, we can control the context to a degree. Like Xvimbi being worn out after work, it could be a matter of timing whether most of the audience is fresh off work or not. For me performances are limited to friends and family, where it's easier to control the timing and tell whether the listeners might be more receptive.

Perhaps the listener can only be "responsible" to a certain extent by being open minded and receptive which will enhance their experience in general, but these special moments can't be willed and are just occasional, wonderful gifts.

Well put!