Do performers need to analyse the music they play?

[m19834]

Whether or not a performer needs to anaylze a piece depends on the purpose behind the analysis, and the purpose behind the performance.  The idea of interpretation and the idea of artistry, what are they really ?  Well, they are what they are, but only to the extent that they serve a distinct purpose.  In the case of language, for example, there are decisions and choices to be made :

i n e v e r y d a r k a n d h i d d e n p l a c e a r t i s t i c l i f e a w a i t s i t s b l o o m a s o n g a p o e m a b l e n d i n g o f c o l o r a l l s p r i n g i n g f r o m a s i n g l e s o u r c e

Any able "reader" and able "speaker" can sound out and "recite" this string of letters as just that.  The result would be a bunch of sounds in a monotone fashion.  And, if that were the only requirement to giving the text some meaning, sounding them out would be adequate.  There may be some audience members of this recital that would be willing to pay money and sit through that, but I am not one of them.  As an audience member, I would at least like to have these letters grouped together into words :

in every dark and hidden place artistic life awaits its bloom a song a poem a blending of color all springing from a single source

This grouping together of letters into words is at least more illuminating.  It is still fairly monotone to my ears and it still only holds as much meaning as the words themselves do and whatever the imagination of me as the audience member has.  I guess I could be satisfied for having paid money and spent my precious time sitting there to hear somebody recite words, but I am just not satisfied with that !  Punctuation, please !
 
In every dark and hidden place, artistic life awaits its bloom.  A song, a poem, a blending of color, all springing from a single source.

Ahhhh ... it's getting better to my ears !  It is starting to develop some meaning and some vocal inflections are beginning to occur because of the punctuation.  Thanks !  There are some stretches in time and some stresses that I did not hear before.  Very nice.  Is there more ?

In every dark and hidden place,
artistic life awaits its bloom.
A song, a poem, a blending of color, All,
springing from a single source.


Ohhhhh ... !  Form !  Does that change the way it sounds ?  Well, it at least changes the way the reader reads it, doesn't it ?  So, yes, it does change the sound.  And, even if I, as a listener, do not know the precise structure in the same way as the reader, my experience as a listener is changed because of the knowledge of the reader.  I would like poetry, not just words !  Anybody can say the words, anybody can sound out the letters. 

Understanding the grouping of the letters and the structure of the poem has not hindered the poetry in and of itself, it has actually aided in the communication of it.  However, there is not one, single way to interpret (group) the original string of letters that I put at the beginning.  They theoretically could be grouped differently (forming different words that would not necessarily make any sense !), but that would already dramatically change their effectiveness as words, and that very thing would also dramatically change the overall affect of the entire piece.  Something very simple like how the letters are grouped together would change the punctuation, it would change the form, it would change the presentation.  But, the point is, there are choices and the decisions an individual makes, based on the material being worked with, is precisely where artistry comes in.  Some choices are better than others, depending on the basic criteria and reason to make that choice.  However, a person is not really making any decision at all (other than to not make any decision) -- let alone any "artistic decisions"--  if the reader doesn't truly know the material they are dealing with.  Very similar aspects apply to music and the performance/interpretations of it.

Knowing what the motifs are of a piece, knowing what the harmonic structure and formal structure are of a piece, these types of things are like the difference between a string of letters and a group of words.  Knowing where cadences and phrases start and end, and how they work together, these things give us the "punctuation" of a piece of music.  And, similarly to language, the punctuation may imply certain inflections (which can be changed, depending on what they are supposed to imply).

Knowing as much as possible about the piece being played does not put limitations on the performance or on the performer, it rather gives the performer infinite choices.  In reading a poem, a slight variance in something like a simple voice inflection may change the meaning of the text/communication.  If the reader knows the material they are working with really well, they know that the option of making that change exists, and they know what meaning their voice infelction will imply.  A master of the material knows these options and knows how and when to use them.  A person who does not know their material is extremely limited in their choices.  Who would I rather listen to ?  Well, if I know the material quite well myself, I would much prefer to listen to the one who has it so well learned that they have so many choices at hand, hopefully illuminating a new aspect of a great work !  Of course, not all audience members know the material that is being recited, and that can make a pretty big difference !  This is part of where the reason behind the choices a person makes will come in.  If I am the reader of a poem, and I am giving an 'introductory to poetry course' to a bunch of people whom have never even heard of poetry before, the purpose of my recitation is going to be much different than if I am a shakespearian actress on the stage of a famous shakespearian theater, reciting to a bunch of people whom have travelled there from all around the world because they already love the material that much !

There is nothing truly mandatory about analyzing a piece of music; it is a choice.  But, to a discerning audience that choice will be heard.

[ramseytheii]

A wonderfully articulate post!

Walter Ramsey

[m19834]

Thank you, Walter Ramsey

[ramseytheii]

Just for fun, here's another poem, by Lord Alfred Douglas, that has similar sentiments to the one you used:

   
Think how the hidden things that poets see
In amber eves or mornings crystalline,
Hide in the soul their constant quenchless light,
Till, called by some celestial alchemy,
Out of forgotten depths, they rise and shine
Like buried treasure on Midsummer night.




Walter Ramsey

[m19834]

hmmmm ... how fun .  Let me post a bit more of the one I used above :

What life a light will know,
should the doors be swung wide open ;
those hiding treasures, perfected,
within a shroud of coal.

[pianowolfi]

hmmmm ... how fun .  Let me post a bit more of the one I used above :

What life a light will know,
should the doors be swung wide open ;
those hiding treasures, perfected,
within a shroud of coal.

hmm perhaps even more? I think it reminds me of some certain writer, but I can't remember which one...

[bipabew]

The way I was taught to analyze pieces was not so much for intellectual understanding but rather to understand phrasing better.  And that helped me play the pieces so much better.