[img]541|left|Carter Dewberry||no_popup[/img]I have been trying to figure out how to dismantle the classical community’s time bomb (more commonly known as “tradition”) for longer than I can remember. Without intending disrespect to my past mentors, I have to say that my three music degrees and 10 years of college coursework have gotten me no closer to uncrossing the wires to this enigma.
As such, I must ask myself yet again, what is my role when performing someone else’s music? I see many possible answers.
a) To interpret as closely as possible the composer’s intentions.
b) To stick to the core of what the composer wrote (e.g. notes, dynamics) but add my own “flavor” based on my personal life experiences.
c) To use the composer’s creation as a launching point for my own creative expression.
The vast majority of my formal training leans toward answering “a.” But I am not convinced. In popular music, people don’t usually blink twice when an artist “covers:” someone else’s song. Alison Krauss beautifully transformed the Beatles’ 2-minute song “I Will” into a 4-minute country-style ballad. In the classical world, Mozart assumed that the performer would write his own cadenzas to concertos to allow him to show off his particular technical prowess. And violists and bassists have been performing Bach’s Cello Suites for decades. These examples bring my leaning to a “b” answer.
However, I push even further toward the last option, “c,” when I consider how often composers have started with someone else’s material and launched off into an entirely different direction. The theme from the movie Jaws uses the first 2-note motive from the last movement of Dvorak’s New World Symphony. And in the classical tradition, many theme and variations-style pieces started with someone else’s theme. (One example is Rachmaninoff’s Rhapsody on a Theme by Paganini.)
As I continue to wrestle with this question, I will say that I enjoy each of these roles at different times. Lately, I have had particular fun with a new piece I wrote based on a Vivaldi string trio, La Folia.
You can listen to my rendition here.
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And, for those interested in another listening adventure, I performed this past weekend with guitarist Peter Sprague playing his rendition of one of Bach’s Preludes for Well-Tempered Klavier.
You can listen to this performance here.
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These two performances definitely reflect more liberal performances from tradition’s standpoint. Even so, they are fun for the performer and listener. After re-reading this, I see my error. Why do I think there is a need to pick only one? Many scantron tests reflect an option “d” — all of the above. I think I will just choose that and get on with the musicmaking already!
Ms. Dewberry, an accomplished cellist, completed her DMA in Chamber Music Performance from UCLA in December 2005. She received her MM in Cello Performance from UCLA in June 2002 and her B.M. in Cello Performance from Western Michigan University in April 1998. She also holds a B.A. in French with a minor in Women's Studies and Philosophy.
Her website is www.carterdewberry.com
She may be contacted at carter@carterdewberry.com
