But a Lifetime Is Not
Enough for Music
In an
earlier blog post I referred to this quote from my favorite composer, Sergei
Rachmaninoff. It’s one of my favorite quotes because it proves true time and
again.
In my work
in progress, working title Jamie’s
Children, my protagonists are both musicians but are following very
different paths. Laura is a violin prodigy who discovers her music at the age
of four and begins an international career at nineteen. Younger brother Niall finds
his way to his music later in his life. He’s drawn to folk music and learns to
play guitar. He begins to use his voice … a voice he inherited from his opera
singer father … and finally, Niall begins to write songs; all when he is in his
twenties.
As much as
I love to listen to violin music, I knew very little about the instrument when
I started writing this book. A local friend who is an exceptional violinist and
teacher, Chris Souza, has been a great help to me in understanding more about
the challenges of mastering the instrument, and I’ve listened to a lot of
violin literature. And perhaps that’s one of the reasons I write about
musicians; I can’t think of anything I would rather do than listen to music.
The Brahms
Violin Concerto plays a prominent role in the book. I first heard this concerto
as a freshman or sophomore at the Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music when
the legendary Jascha Heifetz played it with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra
to a standing room only crowd in Cincinnati’s Music Hall. It was mesmerizing,
and I’ve loved the Concerto ever since.
Listening to it when writing the
book, I tried to put myself in Laura’s place. How would it feel to bring this
magnificent piece to life? For Laura it represents
a milestone in her professional … and personal … life. The work is filled with
technical challenges for the soloist. But along with those technical
challenges, there is Brahms’ brilliant and descriptive music. What a joy it must
be for a musician to become one with that music.
Niall’s path presented many more
challenges. Folk music was a genre I was only dimly aware of, though I
appreciated and particularly loved some folk songs and singers. I’ve always
loved some of the music of Simon and Garfunkle, Cat Stevens, Joni Mitchell,
John Denver. I’ve come to appreciate the artistry of so many more great folk
singer-songwriters, among them Pete Seeger, Woody Guthrie, James Taylor, Jim
Croce, Judy Collins, and especially Gordon Lightfoot, whose music I find
especially appealing.
I’ve come to appreciate the skill
of these performers as well as the beauty of the songs they write. “Both Sides
Now” … wonderful lyrics, beautiful melody. John Denver’s “Annie’s Song” is
quite possibly one of the loveliest songs ever written. Gordon Lightfoot’s “If
You Could Read My Mind” is, I believe, skillful writing and a great song. It’s
become one of my favorite pieces.
Again, I’ve had help trying to
understand the folk singer-songwriter, this time from a former voice student
who over the past couple of years has begun writing and performing. Nate Taylor
has been kind enough to read my attempts at lyrics for Niall’s first songs. The
more I work on these, the more I appreciate what I hear from established folk
artists. Playing the guitar … another instrument that’s beyond my experience.
So I’ve been watching videos and listening to the different ways in which folk
artists use guitar.
And just when I think I’ve come to
know a little more about music, I find out how little I actually know. I’ve barely scratched the surface. I heard
a recording today by flamenco guitarist Paco de Lucia. A magnificent artist with
an astonishing mastery of his instrument. Intricate finger-picking that seems
impossible, yet in the video I saw his fingers fly across the guitar strings
and he makes it look easy. And I never heard of this man ─ who was world famous
and had a career which went beyond flamenco to jazz and classical guitar ─ until
today, nearly two years after his death.
