~2002/5/7 17:10-19:30 Tokyo College of Music Hall A~
The 5:10pm start time was a bit too long for me as I work, so I ended up arriving around 5:50pm. The event took place in Hall A of the Tokyo College of Music, and when I arrived, Professor Van Cice had gathered his students on stage and was lecturing them on how to use the mallets. He demonstrated how many different tones can be created by changing the place on the bar where you strike and the angle of the mallet. He also emphasized the importance of singing with your own voice when thinking about expression. He said, "Many people say that the marimba doesn't sing, but that's just because the player doesn't make it sing; the marimba itself has the ability to sing."
After the lecture on stage, the three students performed and gave a clinic.
The first was Aya Takano, a third-year student, who spoke about Zivkovic's Illijas The professor praised the beautiful sound and then gave the following advice:
"The left hand in the beginning of this piece is merely an accompaniment, and should bring out the melody in the right hand more. To achieve this, keep the volume down as the arpeggios in the left hand rise.
"This song has a dance part with a strong ethnic flavor. That part should be played as a dance, not like a dance (quoting Bob Becker, "If you're going to play a dance, make them dance properly"). You should dance more (asking Takano to play it again). My grandma certainly dances like that. But you can do better. Like this (dancing while humming the tune). There's something wrong with a young, beautiful girl like you not getting into it as much as a fat, bald, middle-aged old man like me."
The second performer was fourth-year student Sayaka Yasumoto, who performed A. Thomas's Marlin II.
Before commenting on the performance, in stark contrast to the humorous atmosphere of the entire piece, he spoke about his mindset as a musician.
"Whenever you begin to play a new piece of music, three things must happen. These are:
(1) Research on the song and composer
(2) Loading sheet music
(3) Fusion of composer and performer
(Addressing Yasumoto) Do you know who Andrew Thomas is?
(1) Research on the song and composer
First, there is research on the song and the composer: who is the composer and how should his music sound?
Regarding this song, we must first find out who Andy Thomas is. He is a composer who teaches at the Juilliard School in New York, and all of his works are influenced by South American music, such as samba. He is also deeply influenced by mysticism.
The next question is: Who is Merlin?
Merlin is a magician who appears in mythical stories/poems. [Author's note: A magician who appears in Arthurian legend. He also appears in Celtic mythology. The stereotypical image of a magician is an old man with a white beard wearing a dark blue robe and a three-cornered hat with stars, and that is exactly Merlin. In the West, he is as famous as Santa Claus.] All the parts of this song (harmonic progression, rhythm) are taken from the poem about Merlin [Author's note: "Merlin" by Edwin Arlington Robinson]. Therefore, it is necessary to understand the poem first. [Author's note: By the way, this and the poem itself are pasted on the inside cover of the sheet music. Of course, to understand it properly, you should read the whole text, not just this excerpt. And perhaps "Merlin" by Robert de Boron and "Le Morte Darthur" by Sir Thomas Malory.
(2) Loading sheet music
The first thing to do is study what it would be like if a computer were to play it.
Learn all about music.
Everything means everything, even the white space.
For example, if you cover up a staff with correction fluid, you have to be able to write down the location by heart, including dynamics symbols, etc. For example, when Maurizio Pollini plays a piece, he has of course read the piece to that level.
Before I die, I would love to see someone play the marimba at Pollini's level.
(3) Fusion of composer and performer
At this point, we can finally achieve the happy union of composer and performer. However, this should be done after (1) and (2) are completed, and we are not qualified to do it before that.
In fact, I have heard a similar story from someone else in another place before. Composer Akira Miyoshi spoke at the 2nd World Marimba Competition, and lamented the situation of Japanese musicians, saying, "When they play Liszt's 'Reading Dante', they play it without even reading Dante." There are many stories like this. Even when it comes to reading the score, there are many keyboard players who are too careless about phrasing and other things. I think this is a problem with primary music education in Japan (after all, why do they make players play Burgmüller and similar pieces so quickly?), but I will leave this for another time.
Now, back to the topic. After talking about the mindset, he started to explain the song itself. He said,
"Count how many tempo changes there are in this song. There are only three.
This means that it is clearly not Romantic music.
It's clearly dance music in one tempo, so it has to be played that way.
However, there is one thing that Andy Thomas neglects to consider.
The tempo marking of 72 sounds good at first, but it is impossible to play the octave part at that tempo. If LHStevens can't play it, no one can. Therefore, in consideration of the above, the tempo of this piece will be unified at the highest tempo that can be played as long as the octave part can be controlled.
"The next issue I would like to discuss is about mistakes. How many mistakes are acceptable when playing the Marimba? Let's try asking some pianists and violinists who are practicing in the area.
"How many mistakes is acceptable during a performance?"
The best they can hope for is that they'll think they're high on drugs.
"If you make more than five mistakes in a 10-minute song, the song is too difficult for you.
For a two hour concert, Yo Yo Ma would get at worst five, normally one or two, and on a good day, zero.
That is the reality.”
The next performance was by Kan Yuni (4th year student) and she played Velocitys by J. Shwantner.
The first thing he said after the performance was, "Wonderful. Honest and full of spirit," and then he went on to explain the song.
"Shwantner is a composer who teaches at Yale, and we sometimes give joint lessons on this piece. When we do, he strokes his long beard and says the same thing every time:
What is written at the beginning of the sheet music?
Quarter note = 108
Relentless, etc., and then,
"Where are the tempo changes written in my score?" she asks. "They're not on the first page. They're not on the second page either..."
"The song was an experiment for Shwantner.
Instead of composing music with harmony as in traditional music, it composes music with dynamics. Therefore, there are 10 kinds of dynamics. Therefore, the dynamics of this piece are as important as Mozart's key signature.
"The Bresnik concerto has similar harmonies, but at a faster tempo, using the full range of the marimba, the mallets must be held low.
Many of her mistakes were probably caused by holding the mallet too high.
"You should not lean forward. By lowering your hips like in Tai Chi, you can prevent unnecessary energy release. If you clap your hands, the difference in sound is clear. (He calls in the interpreter, Mr. Komori, and has him hold out his hands, then demonstrate the difference in sound by clapping his hands from above while leaning forward and while lowering his hips.)
Conversely, you can use this to change the tone. For lighter, faster notes, raise your center of gravity. For heavier notes, lower your center of gravity.
Afterwards, Kang asked, "I understand that the tempo needs to be kept constant, but there are also periods when the tempo comes out naturally. What do you think about this?" Van Cise answered, "The pulse beneath the surface needs to be constant."
After the clinic, we had seven minutes to spare, so Mr. Komori and I performed "Table Music" and "Lonely Santa Claus."
Thierry De Mey is a composer who provides music for dance companies, and in Table Music, all the hand movements have symbols that are written in the sheet music. This is one of my favorite songs, and although it is originally for three people, a version arranged for two was performed on the day. As usual with Mr. Van Sice, it was a witty and fun performance, but it was a bit disappointing that the amplified sound was coming out loud from both sides of the stage. The performance location and the sound image were out of sync, which made it feel strange.
"Lonely Santa Claus" is a song written by Frederic Anderson, who was one of Van Sice's students in Rotterdam and is now an active composer. When Anderson had to return to Sweden upon graduation, he wrote this very quiet but tasteful song, likening his own feelings of loneliness to Santa Claus.
Van Sice said, "At a competition I recently served as a judge for, everyone was playing fast, loud pieces.
But there is more to the marimba than that.
It is more difficult to produce a gentle, beautiful sound."
Totally.
(Natsuhiko Sakimura)
Robert van Sice Marimba Public Lesson
~2002/5/7 17:10-19:30 Tokyo College of Music Hall A~
Interpreter: Kunihiko Komori
Aya Takano (3rd year) NJZivkovic: Ilijas
Takano, AyaSayaka Yasumoto (4th year) A.Thomas: Merlin II
Yasumoto, SayakaJunyi Kang (4th year) J.Shwantner: Velocitys
Kan, YuniRobert van Sice, Kunihiko Komori
Thierry De Mey: Table Music
Frederic Anderson: The Lonely Santa Claus