Music and Books

Reading about music is not as good as listening to it. However, there is definitely something to be said for educating oneself about the great art of music through the written word. If music was truly meant to stand alone, composers would leave us no notes in the score, and orchestras would be able to save a lot of money by not printing all those programs that we desperately try to thumb through before the lights go down. (Additionally, this blog would probably not exist… but I’m not even going to think about that catch-22). Reading about the history and context of a piece, the composer that brought it into the world, and the world into which it was brought can add many layers of meaning to the notes.

This is why I’ve recently set myself to reading a book or two about music. In college, I took a handful of music history classes, and did my fair share of reading for them, but I was hoping to go a little bit beyond a dry textbook. The first book I picked up was a relatively short read entitled Stradivari's Genius: Five Violins, One Cello, and Three Centuries of Enduring Perfection, which follows five violins and (you guessed it) one cello from their creation at the studio of Antonio Stradivari to the 20th century. What is interesting about this book is that the author, Toby Faber, chooses to structure his book as if it were a biography of these instruments. He discusses them as if they were living people, moving through different periods of their lives. In the process, we learn about how the instruments were made, how history changed around them, and how we, as a modern society, still just can’t figure out what makes a Stradivarius violin so wonderful. I was intrigued by the fact that, despite watching so many string instruments be played on the stage in front of me, I knew so little about these instruments. After reading this, I’m always going to feel sorry for those people in the Smithsonian American History Museum who quickly browse by the musical instrument cases – they are missing so much.

If you’re in the mood for a heavier read, I strongly suggest The Rest Is Noise: Listening to the Twentieth Century by Alex Ross. Ross is the New Yorker’s music critic and also the recipient of a MacArthur Genius Grant – the guy knows what he’s talking about and he knows how to write it wonderfully. I will say, this book takes some mental energy to get through, but it is well worth it. Ross walks us through the tumultuous 20th century, demonstrating how history and social currents, the lives of the composers, and the music are all so complexly intertwined. On top of being acutely interesting, the book is very well written and obviously thoroughly researched. I wouldn’t want to go head to head with Mr. Ross in a game of musical trivia. Although I already felt comfortable with modern art and music, I felt so much more proficient after reading this, both on a micro level (Ross goes into great detail on a number of popular pieces) and on a larger, overview level.

After reading about a piece that I have already heard, I love to listen to it again to see how my perception has changed. The fact that I always hear more than I did before speaks to the value of picking up a book or two about music.

Hollywood Epics!

You have to love a movie that pulls you in for three or more hours not with cheap thrills and glitzy special effects, but rather with excellent acting, a great storyline and an all around beautiful production. This is the Hollywood epic. They are bigger than the sum of their parts and are remembered for decades after their release. I am by no means a movie connoisseur (although I would like to think I’m working on it) but I do love big Hollywood productions, and I loved the October 8th concert by the Baltimore Symphony at the Strathmore because it featured the music from so many of these great movies. (I was disappointed to have missed last week’s season opening concert, but seeing this concert made up for it) I think that in order for a movie to truly achieve top status in the annals of Hollywood history, all the components have to work together like clockwork. I don’t want to lessen any of these facets by attempting to rank their significance, but I think we can all agree that the music to these wonderful Hollywood movies is pretty significant, and when we hear it, we love it.

I personally found movie music to be a gateway drug into music appreciation. When I was much younger, my father would listen to what is now a rather outdated Best of John Williams CD on these massive speakers we had in our living room. The house would be filled with The Imperial March or Close Encounters of the Third Kind Theme. As I got older, I appreciated the music even more. While in band in middle and high school I became even more interested in movie music (which makes you so popular at that age…) and started developing ears for classical music as well. I was soon hooked and credit the music of the movies for getting me started on classical music.

I know that some musical purists write off movie music. I understand why this might happen. A movie score is written to supplement another medium, where as most traditional music was composed to make a statement on its own. Movie music is also written for a much wider audience than who would normally enjoy traditional classical, and any time you try to broaden the appeal of an art form, you are going to risk alienating the group to whom it was originally targeted. However, I am always happy to see those defending the quality of some (not all) of the music we hear in the movies. Although they are usually treated in a pops format, you won’t find too many orchestras that don’t occasionally throw in some movie tunes, and many music appreciation and history curriculums now include the genre.

And I think that most of us have a special place in our heart for movie music – especially the music of the epics. I think this is because we hear the music and we associate it, naturally, with the movie. However, we then associate that movie with the time in our lives when it was produced, or even an entire era. Every time I hear the music to Titanic, which was performed at last week’s concert, I will remember those awkward middle school days when that movie was king (of the world!). When The Lord of the Rings came up, I drifted back to my high school days. Although, I was not alive when many of the movies featured at the concert were popular, I know that many in the audience could probably remember being amazed at How the West was Won, or who they were dating when Ben Hur’s chariot raced by and Lawrence of Arabia rode through the sand. These movies and the amazing music associated with them bring us back to different times in our lives. I would like to think that as humans, we try to remember the good more than the bad, so it’s easy to see why we love these movie tunes that bring us back to such good times.