Repertoire - Woodland Sketches by Edward MacDowell

As my long time readers know, I am planning a solo recital for the fall season.  It has been very nice to choose music of interest to me personally without having to bend to the demands of academia.  I was settled on very little of the program in the early stages.  The only thing that I knew was that I wanted to highlight American music in the second half since it is my favorite school of music.

While exploring the works of Copland and Barber, I encountered lots of familiar works, but nothing that felt right for the program.  I didn't want anything overly dramatic.  I wasn't looking for nationalistic music -- I've had my fill of patriotic music recently -- so I wasn't sure where I was headed.

After working through some of the rags and some small works by Ives, I recalled a couple of charming pieces from my early years of study:  "To a Wild Rose" and "From Uncle Remus."  Both short pieces by Edward MacDowell (1861-1908) are part of his larger work, Woodland Sketches, Op. 51.  As I began to read the score, I expected to find simplistic ditties that would be of little interest;  thankfully I lay aside my preconceived notions and discovered a wonderful example of American music.

Composed in 1896 in Peterborough, New Hampshire, Woodland Sketches is MacDowell's most famous composition. Peterborough, which later become the MacDowell Colony, was the site of the composer's family farm and was known for its peacefully serene woodland setting.  The 10 miniature pieces of Woodland Sketches seem to take their inspiration from the natural beauty of the area.

While an example of early American music, the piano suite shows more influence of the French and German schools than of the American composers who were active at the same time.  With luscious harmonic structures, the simple melodies are lovingly supported, transporting the listener to the beauty of the forest.  MacDowell was not a musical lightweight, however; technical demands are made upon the soloist in several of the pieces, most notably "Will o' the Wisp" and "In Autumn." 

Perhaps the closing paragraph of the Schirmer edition's introduction to the work provides the best synopsis of Woodland Sketches' place in history.

A bygone era, gracious and sensitive, has been captured and retained in a series of poetic miniatures, and its piquant perfection of feeling is the result of its clearly defined circumspection.  MacDowell employs a limited harmonic range and a simple melodic line, but his originality and quiet virility has given us not a precious bouquet pressed in an album, but a suite of musical water colors, delectable and tensile, a work not of spurious sentimentality but of genuine sentiment. (Woodland Sketches, Schirmer's Library of Musical Classics, Vol. 1805)

Performance Injuries

For the past few days, I have been following a very lively discussion on performance injuries (specific attention is given to repetitive motion injuries) on the blog of one of my colleagues, Gretchen Saathoff.  Having recovered from her own repetitive motion injury, Gretchen and her readers have raised some interesting points that are thoughtful and informative, representing multiple (and I might add, well-informed) perspectives.  Rather than summarizing the discussion, I encourage you to read the blog "Do You Need an Arm Massager?" and the published comments regarding this important topic. 

While the discussion is approached from a pianist's slant, it offers insight that is applicable to other instruments as well as those who type for extended periods of time. 

Timeless Musicals

My nieces are visiting me this weekend. The girls, ages 10 and 11, are both musically inclined. While living with me last summer, they both began studying the piano. Since that time, they have left the instrument behind and pursued other endeavors. Kristian, the oldest, plays the trumpet while Sara, her sister, is a budding vocalist with quite a nice sound.

After a busy day of activity, we sat down to watch some television last evening. Kristian browsed the many music DVDs that are on top of the entertainment center that I use in my music appreciation class. One movie caught her eye, however; she and Sara wanted to watch Rodgers and Hammerstein's The Sound of Music.

I must admit that I was flabbergasted at the request. In my mind, I expected that they merely wanted to hear a couple of the more famous numbers and would quickly lose interest. To my surprise (and great pleasure), the girls quickly became enthralled in the plot and found themselves humming along with the memorable melodies.

I began to ponder the appeal of musical theater. When we first look at the form, it doesn't sound like something that should really work. How often do we find ourselves in conversation and then suddenly break into song? If you do break into song, people tend to look at you as though you are INSANE rather than as though they are falling in love with you! Even more rare is for the other person to enter into the conversation by joining you in a second verse of the song.

I think there are a few reasons that the American musical works and continues to be a thriving art form. First, the characters and themes are universal. Whether the story is set in Oklahoma, Siam, or a French barricade, we all understand what it is like to be in love, misunderstood, and unsure of ourselves. We can identify with Annie's longing to be a part of a family or Oliver's search for unconditional love.

Second, music can express emotions more effectively than words alone. The example that is currently on my mind is from The Sound of Music. The lyrics of "Somewhere in my youth or childhood, I must have done something good" are beautiful alone; once they are paired with a simple, yet passionate melody, however, they take on a life of their own and clearly express the growing love between Maria and Captain von Trapp. Need a few more examples? Think about "Memory" from Cats, Les Miserables' "Bring Him Home", and "He Had It Coming" from Chicago for more examples of emotionally explicit music.

Finally, the musical's power is found in its ability to transport us into the story in a way that movies cannot. While the musical uses the same ingredients as the modern movie -- specifically plot, scenery, and score -- the musical magically draws the audience deep into the action and makes them an active observer in the powerful drama. While I can't explain the "why" behind the phenomenon, I know it occurs based upon my personal experience. It is this quality that makes the American musical attractive to young and old alike, as demonstrated last night in my home.

I have had the joy of watching a classic movie musical with Kristian and Sara. Last summer, they had their first experience with a live show: the national touring production of Wicked. I think it's time to have a return visit to the theater with these girls and see if I can insure that they are bitten by the musical theater bug....it's an adventure that I hope they will continue to enjoy for the rest of their lives.

Beyond the Page

Notes, rhythms, dynamics, phrase markings, tempi......all of these are clearly communicated to the performer on the page. Even when impeccable attention is given to the many details of the score, no two accomplished musicians will present the same piece in an identical manner. This truth speaks to the importance of the musical aspects which are not on the page -- those extra-musical ideas that we bring to the stage.

The importance of the unprinted musicality was made painfully obvious to my own ear recently. I am in the process of recording two CDs and have received an initial version of the Christmas album for preliminary review. As I prepared to listen, I was rather apprehensive because I recalled my emotional and physical state on that Thursday afternoon. My mind was filled with a laundry list of things that had to be completed in the closing days of the summer semester and my body was beginning to drag as a result of the many recent demands of church, home, and work. As I listened to the recording, my concerns were obviously justified; the playing was accurate for the most part, but it was flat, lifeless, and -- well, let's just cut to the chase -- quite BORING! This wasn't an issue associated with the recording technician or the quality of the instrument. The problem was that I was not in a place to communicate musically on the day of the recording.

Many musicians play their instruments with great technical facility and amaze us with their virtuoso displays. For me, such performances are thrilling in the moment, but their power is short-lived. I would rather listen to an interpretation that speaks to me at the deepest level -- one that expresses the unique ideas of the recitalist. In a perfect world, we never have to choose between artistry and technique. Sadly, I'm only human and sometimes find myself having to choose between technique and musicality-- we all do from time to time if we're willing to admit it. Without fail, I choose artistry. I choose to communicate with my audience through the music's voice rather than play merely the notes on the page. Without communication, my performance is nothing more than a metronomic regurgitation of the notes on the page that is no different from that of any second-rate pianist.

Needless to say, I'm arranging a date for another recording session. To get ready for this round of studio time, I am continuing to review notes and fix problematic passages, but more importantly, I am taking the time to rest so I am emotionally and spiritually prepared to musically communicate those messages that are most important to me.

Reflections on Recording

Last week, I spent an afternoon at the piano in the sanctuary of my church to record two CDs. I have been through the process a few years ago, but this time it involved a different setting and a different production team. Here are a few things that I have learned about myself, recording, and music.

First, I am a huge critic of myself. Regardless of whether we are talking about my writing, playing, relationships, or leadership skills, I can always see where things could be improved drastically. On one hand, this is a great asset because I am constantly pushing myself to new levels of excellence in everything I do. On the other hand, my perfectionism can be crippling -- never allowing me to accept that anything is good enough. I cannot count the tasks that I have left undone because I couldn't execute them in the manner in which I wanted.

The recording session reminded me of the importance of practice. For various reasons, the repertoire selection process for these CDs was delayed a bit longer than I would have liked. This resulted in learning some of the passages rather quickly and figuring out how to navigate them musically. While the performances might be acceptable in a public performance, it drives me CRAZY to hear the errors----er, shortcuts---repeatedly on the recording.

I'm not going to continue blogging an evaluation of my playing right now. I have to do some more critical listening to the CDs and don't want to become overcritical of myself at this juncture. Once the entire process is complete, I will probably write a bit more about it.

Marketing Yourself

After the many years of school to prepare for a career in the field of music, I have recently been confronted with a necessary responsibility for which my classes and hours in the practice rooms did not prepare me. In order to have a successful career as an independent musician, I must have a marketing plan in place. I have been blessed recently by two friends who are excellent marketers who have freely given of their time, talent, and insight. By no means do I want to suggest that I am now an authority on the subject. On the contrary, I know that I am student in personal marketing; my hope is that I can share a little of what I am learning to help others like me begin thinking about their marketing plan.

In my mind, marketing is basically equated with branding your name. My goal is that whenever someone is looking for a pianist, teacher, coach, or author, that my name will come to mind. In order to have people make that connection, I have to get my name highly visible and keep my name before my target audience.

Many piano teachers would begin the process with running an ad in the classified section of the local newspaper. I've been there and done that -- with very little success. After a 5 week run of a rather sizable ad for piano lessons at the beginning of the fall, I received 9 calls. Of those calls, 3 resulted in students. To put it bluntly, newspaper advertisements alone simply do not work. There must be more.

The current source of information in our society is the Internet. As daunting a task as it may be, a credible musician must have a web presence that is both informative and attractive. My website at the moment is a work-in-progress and should be ready for public consumption in the coming weeks. Did I build it myself? No way.....I'm not that technologically savvy. Website designers are readily available in most areas and can build a functional site for you at a fairly reasonable cost. (Or you can hope to be lucky like me and have a friend volunteer to build it.)

An additional Internet marketing prospect that I never considered is the social media sites, such as Facebook and Twitter. By setting up a Facebook fan page, I now have a central location (in addition to the coming website) to inform people of my performances, alert them to exciting news and connect with other musicians from around the country. I was intimidated by the fan page design at first and relied heavily on my Internet-marketing acquaintance, Michael. I must admit that as I work with the page more and more, Facebook has made the nuts and bolts of it all fairly user-friendly. I think most people can get a basic page going without too much difficulty.

Based upon the recommendation of a dear college friend, I began blogging. My first foray into the blogosphere was personal in nature. We quickly realized that writing was something I enjoyed and that I was fairly good at it. As conversations moved into my professional life, it became clear that I could also have a lot to say about music and its many avenues. That's when Collaborations was born. By simply writing quality posts on a regular basis, I am creating another web presence for myself and establishing myself as an authority in the field of music. With some slight edits and development, many of the blog posts I have already written have been submitted for publication -- yet another branch of the marketing plan.

Lastly, I'm working to make myself more visually recognizable in my community. Posters, programs, flyers, and newspaper reviews now all feature the same headshot in order to provide continuity to my marketing plan. Charitable donations of piano lessons and private performances are being made to arts organizations for upcoming auction fundraisers. I'm finding every opportunity to be an active participant in the arts scene of the community -- that means I'm attending shows and concerts of all types, volunteering in children's theater companies, and providing free lectures for parents on the benefits of arts education in the the lives of their children.

My marketing plan is definitely evolving and growing daily. It takes a serious commitment to keep everything going, but I'm certain that I'll begin to see the fruits of the labor sooner rather than later.

What is the one tool in your marketing plan that is unique to you? How has it been effective?

Musicals Galore

My life of late has been filled with watching musicals. Last week, I reviewed a new video production of the classic Rodgers and Hammerstein musical, Oklahoma! I was considering showing this new production featuring Hugh Jackman to my music appreciation class. Instead, I opted to stay with the tried and true and showed Sondheim's Into the Woods. On Saturday evening, I headed over to Playhouse on the Square in Memphis to see their production of Hairspray. By the end of the week, you might have caught me humming "Agony" right after a rousing chorus of "Oh What a Beautiful Morning."

I began to think about my fondness for the American musical and tried to understand why they have such a firm grip on my heart. As a child, I had very little knowledge of musicals -- or of theater at all, for that matter. My first experience with the theater was with a community production of Carousel in 1988. I was cast as a member of the chorus, but quickly moved into the role of rehearsal pianist. As a teenager of 16, I had no idea that the score was rather difficult; I just knew that I had found an exciting role that allowed me to be a crucial part of every scene. That was how the musical theater bug first bit me.

I would continue to work with this community theater throughout my high school and undergraduate years. What I was considering a summer pasttime turned out to be a valuable investment in my future. During those summer vacations, I became familiar with the scores to Gypsy, The Sound of Music, The Pajama Game, Oliver!, and Camelot. Every fall semester at Pepperdine University brought a full scale musical. These gave me opportunities to play the scores to Oklahoma!, The Fantasticks, She Loves Me, and Into the Woods. The Fantasticks became my first performing job as I played the show for three different companies in the Los Angeles area in the following years. Finally, a new door opened to me -- musical director of the Santa Monica Civic Light Opera's production of My Fair Lady. Even though I was underprepared for the position, the lessons I learned on the podium were invaluable and have not been forgotten.

Perhaps my love for musical theater is associated with my familiarity with it. I think there is something more at work though. When I am involved with a musical production -- whether as part of the directorial team or as support staff -- I am intimately involved with the development of the show and have an opportunity to influence the audience's experience. Few things are as powerful to a musician than aiding an audience in exploring a character's emotional journey through song.

I suppose that explains my love for the theater better than anything else. I relish the rush that comes from adding music to powerful lyrics and setting the imagination free to explore new realms of human experience and emotion.

How about you? How did your relationship with musical theater begin? Feel free to share the gist of your story in the comment section below.