The world of classical music can be hard to swallow. Forty some musicians all with gray hairs, assembled together to play one single piece of music can seem like an intimidating thing. And the patrons that go are also mostly on the older side of the spectrum, but there are a few college music students and maybe an elementary school music class or two that attend such things.
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Chicago Symphony Orchestra – Pierre Boulez
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CSO
Chicago, IL
January 21, 2010
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But if you do not let these things get in the way of the sound itself, and rather you open your mind and ears, then it’s quite liberating actually. There’s really nothing better than classical music to quiet your mind so your imagination can just take you. Especially if you’re listening to the 20th century Stravinsky type of stuff!
The recent program I attended consisted first of a piece by Boulez himself called, “Livres pour Cordes,” from his early years of the 1940s while he was still a music student under Oliver Messeian. Then Bartok’s “Concerto for Two Pianos, Percussion, and Orchestra,” and finally, what I was excited to hear, the grand finale, Stravinsky’s “Firebird.”
Classical music, like art, can sometimes be better appreciated and understood when you know a little about the composer’s background and the process of the piece. However, in my opinion, what is most important in the end is the sound and how it effects you regardless of what those sounds happen to represent to whoever notated them. I mean, a composer can say any piece means anything.
What if I were to say, “I was really interested in the look of water crashing into the rocks of the ocean, and it reminded me of the fluidity of life. That is what my piece is about.” Some people like this stuff; personally I think it’s bullshit. The music is whatever you want it to be, in fact, that’s what I like about classical music! I hate it when people try to flower it up.
Boulez’s Livre pour Cordes had the compositional technique of a music student where I thought none of the ideas or motifs were clearly stated. In fact it was more a piece about leaving things unfinished, a conceptual interpretation of fragments perhaps. After reading the program, it turns out that the piece was written in the style of serialism, a movement from the 1940s where all 12 notes in the musical language are of equal importance instead of having a single tonal center. Well, that explains it. I know this type of music actually, and there are some serialist pieces that I like, like Alan Berg’s opera “Wozzeck,” or Stochausen’s post serialist stuff like the AMAZING work “Kontakt” (although that was more music-concrete – the beginning of sampling) or the work “Carre” for four orchestras and choirs.
What I remember about these pieces is that it does take several listens to appreciate it like an acquired taste. For example, in order to make emotional statements, instead of relying on harmony or melody, the development lies more in sound and textures, and they have to be exaggerated more so than in regular music. It takes awhile to start to hear these things though.
Bartok’s “Concerto for Two Pianos, Percussion, and Orchestra is according to the program, “the last music that he played in public.” At that point in his career also in the 1940s, Bartok probably could’ve written anything with the reputation he had, and people would have loved it. I found that the piece was saturated with build-ups without ever satisfying my need for a climax, and there was barely a percussion part for it to have Concerto for Percussion in the title. However, I’m not the biggest Bartok enthusiast, so I’m sure there’s much more underneath the surface that I don’t recognize. If I’m missing something, oh well. Bring it on music students!
Finally, the piece de resistance was the “Firebird” by Stravinsky. If you don’t know this piece, it is one of the best pieces of the 20th century. Originally written for a ballet, however it stands perfectly straight and sturdy on its on. Its neo-romantic style with a touch of avant-garde always leaves me in awe, especially hearing it live by the CSO.
I wish I could have paid the hundred or so dollars to hear it up close in the third or fourth row where I’m sure the sound must have been huge! Although from the 6th floor balcony, I was still convinced. I do need to mention a guitarist that I’m fond of that transcribes the whole piece onto a single classical guitar. Please check out Yamashita if you can find him! In any case the verdict: find a date and treat her to a special night at the Symphony Center with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Only good things may then come!
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