Making Music

227 Pages·1995·9.853 MB·English

by  John T. Partington

MAKING MUSIC
JOHN T. PARTINGTON
j
Carleton University Press
Copyright © John T. Partington and Carleton University Press, 1995
Canadian Cataloguing in Publication Data
Partington, John T. Oohn Thomas), 1936-
Making music
ISBN 0-88629-271-9
1. Music-Perfomance-Psycological aspects.
2. Musicians-Psychology. I. Title.
ML3830.P37 1995 781.4'3111 C95-900806-3
Front cover art, "Six on Stage," oil on canvas, 5 x 7 inches, 1995,
is by Martha Markowski.
Cover concept: Carleton University Press.
Typeset by Xpressive Designs, Ottawa.
Printed and bound in Canada.
Carleton University Press gratefully acknowledges the support extended
to its publishing programme by the Canada Council and the financial
assistance of the Ontario Arts Council. The Press would also like to thank
the Department of Canadian Heritage, Government of Canada, and the
Government of Ontario through the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and
Recreation, for their assistance.
DEDICATION
According to Webster, the verb, "inspire," denotes various actions includ
ing-to infuse (life into) by breathing; to stimulate or impel to some creative
or effective effort, and to cause, guide, communicate, or motivate by divine
influence, as, God inspired the scriptures. Synonyms include, animate, cheer,
enliven, exhilarate, and encourage.
The twenty-one musicians who speak to us in this book, and many
others like them in Canada and abroad, dedicate each day of their lives to
"breathing life" into inanimate notes printed in their scores in order that the
sounds of their music-making may enliven us.
In gratitude for this miracle I dedicate this book to:
Those who inspire.
·
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I want to thank some excellent people for enabling me to complete this
book. I was first drawn into the study of performance by my friend and Uni
versity of Ottawa colleague, Terry Orlick. We learned a lot together by lis
tening carefully to some of Canada's finest athletes. I should also mention
that my attention was directed toward a study of musical performance by the
fortuitous request of Diane Campagna to be her honours thesis advisor at
Carleton University.
In that early stage, correspondence with Dale Reubart, author of
Anxiety and Musical Performance, proved very helpful, as were consultations
with Cynthia Floyd, Director, School of Music, University of Ottawa, and
Verna Jacobson, Director, Performance Studies, Carleton University. Their
support galvanized me to apply for research funds to the Social Sciences and
Humanities Research Council. Anne Burgess, Graduate Studies and
Research Office, Carleton University, and Marion King, Director, Research
Grant Division, SSHRC, were particularly helpful in determining the appro
priate funding source. The resulting grant, #410-89-089°, made it possible
for me to undertake the study on which this book is based.
The greatest challenge in this project was to gain access to expert
performers. The crucial social network for contacting members of the Mon
treal Symphony Orchestra (MSO) started with my friend, Tom Ryan, Aca
demic Vice-President, Carleton University, who introduced me to his friend,
Andre Gervais, Q.C., Member, MSO Board of Directors, who connected me
with helpful people in upper management including Zarin Mehta and
Madeleine Panaccio, who succeeded in getting me permission from mem
bers of the orchestra committee to contact principal players for the study.
Michael Carpenter, MSO Personnel Manager, facilitated this last step. I was
also assisted in this process by Christopher Deacon, General Manager, and
Peter Webster, Personnel Manager, of the National Arts Centre Orchestra
(NACO), as well as by members of the orchestra committee, who released the
list of performer's names.
lowe my biggest debt of gratitude to the following performers who
generously gave their time and tried to share their wisdom: Ian Bernard;
Louis Charbonneau; Gerald Corey; Robert Cram; Cynthia Floyd; Roland
Floyd; Daniel Gress; Richard Hoenick; Tim Hutchins; Anton Kuerti; Jane
Logan; Dennis Miller; Allan Molitz; Walter Prystawski; Richard Roberts;
Janet Roy; Simon Streatfield; Doug Sturdevart; Kimball Sykes; James
Thompson, and John Zirbel.
Barbara Jamison struggled through my first scribbled interview tran
scripts to produce clean, typed copies for review by the interviewees; Car
leton University granted me sabbatical leave to work on the book; and
Morag Watson, despite illness, stuck by me through the long and tedious
typing and re-typing of the manuscript.
My most recent debts are to Gail Pyke and reviewers at Creative
Bound Publishers; to Ann Logan for preparing a clean draft; to Dean
Wtlkinson and Associate Dean Louise Heslop for an eleventh-hour injection
of funds; to the excellent copy-editing by Maggie Keith; to John Flood,
Director and General Editor, Carleton University Press; their reviewer, and
especially to Suzanne Stott, Administrative Assistant, Carleton University
Press, who put all the pieces together.
Most of the people acknowledged above held the positions men
tioned at the time of my research and mayor may not hold those same titles
at the time of publication.
Throughout all of this, my friend and life-partner, Gail, patiently
put up with the mess of notes allover the house, and served as a model of
confidence and sanity for me.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
PART I ORIENTATION
I Introduction 3
2 Background and Career Development I5
Early Prerequisites I5
Familial Factors I6
Personal Dispositions I9
Teachers and Teaching 24
Effective Teachers 24
Personal characteristics 25
Quality of relationships 26
Pedagogical style 27
Goalr and Methods ofE ffective Teachers 29
Physical/technical searching 30
Emotional expression 33
Mental imaging 35
Problematic Teaching 38
Developments Throughout the Career 43
Diverse dimensions for growth 43
Critical turning-points 48
Stages in career development 50
Current status 54
Chapter Highlights 6I
PART I I PERFORMANCE PREPARATION
3 Learning and Artistic Preparation
General Approach
Preparation plan
Orchestral context
Technical Preparation and Learning 76
Technical preparation 76
Learning 78
Re-learning and maintaining 81
Building confidence 83
Architecture 84
Self-imposed challenges 85
Technical reminders 87
Performance simulation 88
Rebuilding confidence 88
Artistic Preparation 89
Interpretation 89
Musicality 94
Audiation and imagery 100
Chapter Highlights 103
4 Practicing 105
Readying for Practice 105
Planning 106
106
Optimalwork~nditiom
Practice setting 106
Warm-up 107
Prerequisite orientatiom 108
Concentration and commitment 108
Relaxation 108
Quality over quantity of work 109
Doing and Thinking in Practice I 10
Targets ofp ractice I 10
Varieties oft hinking I I I
Analysis I I I
Trial-and-error I I I
Intuitive allowing I 12
Types ofd oing I 12
Repetition 112
Imagined performing 113
Listeningl monitoring 113
Chapter Highlights 115
5 Pre-concert Preparation 117
Background preparation 118
Musical readiness 118
Technical readiness 119
General health and fitness 120
Concert day 122
Technical and physical readying 122
Mental readying 123
Final preparation at the concert hall 127
Chapter Highlights 135
PART I I I PERFORMING
6 Ideal Performing States 139
Open Orientation 140
Effective listening 140
Readiness to respond 141
Faith to allow 143
Cooperation 144
Concentration 145
Intentions 146
Making a statement 146
Conveying beauty 147
Entertaining 148
Focus ofa ttention 149
Focus on doing 149
Expressing 15 I
Orientation 153
Actualizing concentration 154
Imagery and audiation 154
Relaxation and breathing 156
Maintaining concentration 158
Adapting concentration 159
Chapter Highlights 163