Physical Organization And Musical Content - Directly Related

Yesterday in our lesson I wasn’t happy with the left hand of Jovan’s Winter Wind etude (Chopin Op. 25 #11) – it lacked a real desperation of expression. His left hand was good and bold, singing well, but it wanted that incredible intensity of emotion and phrase line that makes this etude sound great. I noticed that as he played the repeated chord, there was a little “air space” between one chord and the next. You could see the keys in their non-depressed position for a moment in time. “Imagine that you are in a sailing accident, you’ve got your brother by the arm and if you let go, he’s going to drown. But your hand is getting tired; it WANTS to let go and rest, even though your spirit is screaming ‘NO! NO, HANG ON!’ Think of that scene from the film Ordinary People… Now with that chord, try hanging on to the keys the same way you would hang on to your brother’s arm. When you release the chord, grab it again immediately! DON’t let me see the keys up even for an instant! ‘Pretend that just as you’re letting go of the chord, your brother’s arm is slipping away from you and you have to grab it again before it’s gone!” Lo and behold, the change in Jovan’s physical strategy brought the emotional component fully into the sound. There was a direct correlation between what he was doing physically and the expressive content of the music. And this perhaps is a good illustration of what I am trying to do in general – to cultivate the profound relationship between physical organization and musical content by examining the question: are we really doing what we intend musically? How might we do so if we’re not already? Fascinating how my simply having Jovan get rid of that air space between the chords led to a complete change in their emotional tone. I didn’t tell him to play with more desperation, or to feel more desperate, I simply had him DO something that made it happen.

It sounds so better and so desperate now!I didn't know how to do that untill you told me the story about two brothers.It's amasing how phisical approach helps you to express yourself. Thanks,i am looking forward to play you again!

Of course, we needed many more lessons, many more investigations of the underlying physical organization needed for that emotion to come to life, before Jovan could integrate it fully. Lately we've been working a lot more with the whole body - I notice that even when the student understands well the organization of the hand, he or she will not be able to maintain it unless the whole body supports it. The pelvis must be free and moving, the body erect in unstable equilibrium, for the hands to do their job well... AFF