Michael Hauben TU5000 Music Paper Professor Taylor December 11, 1995 Music Performance, Recording and Communication "Often when I was wrestling with obstacles of every kind, when my physical and mental strength alike were running low and it was hard for me to persevere in the path on which I had set my feet, a secret feeling within me whispered: 'There are so few happy and contented people here below, sorrow and anxiety pursue them everywhere; perhaps your work may, some day, become a spring from which the careworn may draw a few moments' rest and refreshment,'" (p. 117 Music and the Mind, Anthony Storr , from Rosemary Hughes, op. cit. p. 193) There are many ways to communicate between people of different cultures and backgrounds. A common form of communication is mediated through the use of language, in both spoken and written forms. However, this might be the most difficult method to use when the parties in question do not speak the same languages. Other forms of communication prove more universal. I recently returned from my first visit to Japan. The experience was valuable, but difficult because of the language barrier and the freshness of the experience. I went with a bare minimum knowledge of some vocabulary, and no knowledge of the Japanese grammar and various written scripts. I found it difficult to communicate with people, even though many of the Japanese people I met had more education in English than I had in Japanese. I was mostly around people who had good knowledge of English; for a few individuals, their spoken English was so good that I sometimes forgot that Japanese was their native language. However, it was unavoidable to be in situations where people spoke and understood little or no English. The English teachers in Japanese schools were said to not be able to speak the language they taught. The visit demonstrated the difficulties of relying on spoken language to successfully communicate because of a mutual lack of knowledge. Sometimes I was able to successfully communicate using maps and hand movements. The day after I arrived back in the United States, I attended the choral performance by the Riverside Choir and Riverside Orchestra of Benjamin Britten's "A Ceremony of Carols," J.S. Bach's "Magnificat" and J.S. Bach's Motet "Singt Dem Herrn" at Riverside Church. What was most striking, was that while coming back to the United States from Japan was very much a culture shock for me, the concert was immediately recognizable. While I was not exposed to much Japanese music on my visit, traditional or popular, there was no problem feeling at home with this choral concert. I was told that in Japan American popular music such as rock 'n roll was immensely popular despite the language difference. One night of my visit I did go to a karoke bar with some of my new friends. I met some of the people before, but had not gotten to speak to most of them yet. Even if we did not share a common language, the experience at the karoke bar helped to unite us. This karoke bar was relatively low~-tech. The proprietor would load a laserdisc on the karoke machine, and the singer would follow the lead on the video screen. This bar was thus limited in the amount of music customers could chose from. Other newer karoke bars would be linked to a central database through ISDN telecommunications links. This would greatly expand the range of song selection. While it was hard to talk in the karoke situation, the shared experience brought us closer together. I sang two songs during this evening. One was the Beatles' "Yesterday" and the other was a popular Japanese song with the refrain of "Diane, Diane." While I could not follow the prompted Japanese characters on the screen, others sang along and enjoyed my impromptu performance. That evening there were a variety of people. There were some who only knew Japanese, some who only knew English like myself and some who understood both. The common appreciation and experience of music helped to make the evening a successful one, despite the obvious language barriers. Later in the week I attended a tribute to the 150th Anniversary of Gabriel Faure's birth. Featured was chamber music, songs, Piano nocturnes and his Piano Quartet in C minor, Opus 15, No. 1 from 1879 at Columbia University's Miller Theater. This concert made an interesting contrast to the Riverside Choral performance since it had a mixture of vocal and instrumental works. The Riverside performance focused mainly on the vocal music, but the Bach pieces also utilized instrument orchestration. When thinking about music as a form of communication, and the forms that music can take, several questions can be raised. While the content of spoken and written communication is highly recognizable, the knowledge of similar languages is not universal. With the composing, creation, and performance of music, the communication is more universal, but the message different people understand might not be the same. I acquired a recorded version of Britten's "Ceremony of Carols" on compact disc. The recorded version was of course different from the live concert in several ways. The live performance took place in a church which was designed to present the performed music and performers in an appealing and full way. Similarly, the CD I listened to was recorded in a church chapel. The CD misses much of the performance aspect of the live experience. The audience in Riverside Church witnessed a processional. An all women segment of the chorus entered from the back through the sides while singing the procession of Britten's piece. This added to the enjoyment of watching the singers and the conductor interact. The social element of the Riverside concert was minimal, as people seemed more annoyed at others for making too much noise than in mutual appreciation of the experience. Also missing was much communication between the performers and the audience. However, the Faure concert saw more communication and appreciation between the audience and performers. At the Riverside concert, the singers had to concentrate on their sheet music. While at the Miller Theater concert, the featured soprano, Benita Valente, was very familiar with the Faure' songs she sang. Her familiarity allowed her to make eye contact with the audience. She very much enjoyed her role, and the audience picked up her enjoyment and added through applause and heavy concentration. In addition some of the instrumentalists were very familiar with their pieces. As a contrast, Miller Theater holds fewer people than Riverside Church's Christ Chapel. There was a common link between the two sets of music for me. Benita Valente sings on my recording of the "Cememony of Carols", and I witnessed her singing Faure's songs. The concert experience, along with the recorded music, span international boundaries and cultures. The emotions might be shared, or might differ. However, the emotions and experiences can equally be enjoyed. As the evening in a karoke bar proved to me, music, live or recorded, is a step towards universal international communication. Work Cited Storr, Anthony. (1992). Music and the Mind. New York: Ballantine Books ========================================================================