Constructive
Criticism and Healthy Approaches to Becoming Better Pianists
I.
Group Project on Challenges which
may face music students
A.
Discussion of your assigned category with peers (someone in each group
be a note-taker)
B.
Present group’s thoughts to class
II.
Constructive Criticism and How It Improves
A.
Introduction to Liz Lerman
B.
Insight from Individuals in the Class
III.
Music Concert Reviews and Critical Thinking (see
handout)
A.
Definition:
B.
Expectations:
C.
Critical Thinking through Auditory Perceptions
1. What pieces are
being performed? (Identification)
2.
How does one know which style is being performed?
(Contextual framing)
3. What influences
have been brought to this specific piece of music and how can one tell? (Articulation)
These questions
challenge you to identify, recognize and synthesize the components of piano
performance mentioned in Repertoire Class.
Liz Lerman
and the Critical Response Process (CRP)
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Over the last 20 years Liz Lerman has established herself as a leader in both the modern
dance and community arts fields. She
developed a teaching and learning method called The Critical Response
Process. The Critical Response Process
(CRP) is an outgrowth of Lerman's strong commitment to building community
through the arts. The workshops will focus on providing professional artists
with enhanced tools for generating and receiving constructive criticism
through a multi-step group process. The CRP will help artists to promote
dialogue with audiences and professional colleagues and to elicit the
critical feedback that is essential for continued artistic growth. Liz Lerman is an internationally recognized dance
innovator, known for her choreographic, performance and educational projects.
Her credentials include an American Choreographer Award and numerous
Choreography Fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts. Lerman's
work has been commissioned by |
A facilitator
assists both the artist and a group of respondents in framing their questions,
reactions, and opinions by progressing through a series of structured
steps. The Critical Response Process
affords the artists a voice and a degree of control within the critique of
their work, while promoting dialogue with audiences, fellow artists, and
colleagues in their professional fields.
- Introduction
- Performer
- Artist
as questioner
- Responders
ask questions
- Criticism
and opinions
- Discussion
- Rehearsal
AFFIRMATIONS
ARE ENCOURAGED AT ANY POINT OF THIS PROCESS
Music
Concert Reviews and Critical Thinking
You are required to attend
three LIVE music concerts where the piano plays a major role in the
concert. Concerts may take place on or
off campus, within the
The
guidelines include:
1)
Who performed, when, and where?
2)
What was the style/Era represented?
3)
What music was performed (specific titles)?
4)
What was the ambiance of the concert space? Was it conducive to a good performance? Was it conducive to good listening? What was the audience like?
5)
What did YOU think of it (positive or
negative)? And give concrete reasons for
those assessments.
Margins: 1” top and
bottom, 1” left and right
Font: Times New Roman or nearest like-quality, 12
point font
Length: At the minimum, two pages, double-spaced.
Due Dates: October 10th, November 7th,
December 5th
To write successful
reviews, you’ll relate and otherwise draw upon concepts discussed in class, as
well as other guidelines which are available within this handout (see below). Please format the paper with an introduction,
body paragraphs, and a conclusion. Papers will be accepted before the due date. Late papers will not be accepted for any
reason.
THE ABC’s of a Critique
(Based on the model of
Jerry Coker’s Criteria for Appreciation of Jazz)
There are three basic
approaches to serious listening: criticism,
by very carefully assessing the performance, taking special note of all
weaknesses and strengths; evaluation, in which the listener
places a relative value of each aspect of the performance and is interested in
both the sum total of its worth, and on a sliding scale, the value of each of
its parts or aspects; and appreciation,
in which the listener takes special notice of the strengths of the
performance, even in small details, and is less concerned with flaws, either
ignoring or tolerating them. All three
approaches are careful, perceptive, and objective, but there are mild
differences of attitude, with respect to hearing positively and negatively, so
that the approach taken should agree with level and function of the listening.
Here is a list of
criteria for appreciating piano performances:
·
SOUND the
tone quality, which can range from small to large, mellow to brilliant, or dull
to lively
·
TECHNIQUE the speed, evenness, and clarity of
execution (finger dexterity, etc.)
·
TIME the consistent accuracy and feeling of the
pulse.
·
SPIRIT – DRIVE the emotional feeling and the
vitality and conviction of the musical ideas being communicated
·
LYRICISM melodiousness and expressivity
·
REPERTOIRE the selected vehicles, their general
types (suite, sonata, salon pieces, etc.,) and their specificity.
·
VERSATILITY the inclusion of many vehicle types and
their corresponding approaches and feelings, or simply, the capacity to change
without becoming less effective.
*Chopin Lives On - piano concert review by Paul Hanks Nestled in the French countryside near La Châtre-Nohant, the summer retreat of the controversial 19th century novelist George Sand and her companion, Frédéric Chopin, was once again infused with the Romantic master’s hauntingly lyrical music for one short week in July. On the bill for this third Rencontres Internationales Frédéric Chopin were Jean-Marc Luisada and the Quatuor Talich (with Benjamin Berlioz on double bass). The château de Nohant offered an intimate setting for these series of concerts dedicated to the music of the famed composer. This 18th century château is just the main building of a compound that consisted of servants’ and groundkeepers’ quarters, a large, oblong bergerie (sheep barn) and a magnificent garden. The concert was held in the Bergerie de Nohant overlooking large courtyard just across from the château. Since the entire estate is classified as an historic site, every effort has been made to keep the grounds just as they were a hundred and fifty years ago. There’s not a speck of tarmac anywhere, the gift shop and rest rooms are discretely housed in buildings that have stood on the site since the 18th century. The single concession to modern-day commercialism was a stand set up under the bergerie’s overhang next to the entrance, which offered compact disks and videos of the various artists performing during the festival. The bergerie was just large enough for the more than two hundred spectators who attended the afternoon concert on July 18. No air conditioning meant that we would all be rather warm before long. Although it should have been stifling in the old barn, a slight breeze that stirred from somewhere kept the temperature within tolerable limits. But for the performers under the stage lights, it would be a different matter. As the Quatuor Talich seated themselves on the miniscule stage dominated by a portrait of a young Chopin, a fine sheen of perspiration was already forming on their foreheads. The performance opened with their interpretation of the Mozart quartet for strings in G major K. 156. They are fine musicians and were warmly applauded after their set, but the crowd was there to see the main attraction,
Jean-Marc Luisada. Lightly ascending
the stage, the slim, forty-something Luisada brandished a liter of
mineral water, which drew sympathetic applause from the crowd. He smiled
broadly as he acknowledged the increasingly enthusiastic applause, then he
set about replacing the traditional piano bench with a comfortable
velour-cushioned chair, identical to the ones we were sitting on. A
surprising move for a classical concert, but perfectly natural in the relaxed
atmosphere of the converted barn. The audience approved as well. Before
beginning the concert, he made a few brief remarks about the first piece,
(Mazurka in A minor op. 17 no. 4) which he dedicated to his late teacher,
Milosz Magin, who worked with him a great deal on the mazurkas. After a delightful interpretation of
the mazurka, there followed the Nocturne in B major op. 62
no.1, and the Scherzo no.2 in B flat minor op.31. By this time, the pianist
was perspiring freely, pausing briefly after each piece to discreetly towel
his forehead and brush aside the curly medium-length hair which had settled
squarely on his wire-rimmed glasses. "If
this heat keeps up, I’ll need some windshield wipers for my
glasses soon," Luisada quipped before starting on the Ballade no.3 in A
flat major op.47. When he ended the
piece, a tremendous wave of applause followed him as he made
his way toward the side exit, just about a foot from where I was sitting. I
sat wondering how he’d found it without walking into a wall—his glasses were
completely steamed up. After the
intermission, the main event began : the Chopin concerto
no. 1 in B minor for string quintet. Although this work is usually performed
with an orchestra, Luisada noted that Chopin created the version for strings
for the Pleyel salons in a full orchestra. I was equally curious. Although I prefer Chopin to all other composers (hence my 3-hour drive to the concert, with one hour in the worst thunderstorm I’d ever driven in), his concerto no. 1 is not a favorite. The first time I heard it, I was shocked. Its muscular first movement seemed much more like Beethoven than Chopin. But when the opening notes came, I knew I was in for a unique experience. The quintet sounded clear, mellow and sweet. Gone was the abrupt, almost harsh opening. In its place was an intimate harmony. Gone was the blaring orchestra. Then the piano came in, insistent, but never strident. The instruments merged into a seamless lyrical whole. I felt as though I were wrapped in a comfortable blanket of soothing music. I forgot about the heat. I forgot about the sweat trickling down my back. There was only Chopin and the musicians. And what musicians ! Though the temperature must have been close to 80—even hotter under the stage lights—they never faltered, never gave the impression that they were playing with anything less than total concentration. Without missing a beat, the quartet also freely made use of their white shirt sleeves to keep from being blinded from stinging perspiration. Luisada had it tougher. Sweat dripped onto the keyboard from his forehead and long hair. But the music kept coming, uninterrupted. At times, he seemed, not to struggle with the piano, but to be confronting it, taming it. Then just as suddenly, the music would soften and he played as if he were stroking the hair of a favorite child or lover. His movements were economical, as graceful as a ballet dancer. There were no exaggerated gestures signaling ARTIST AT WORK, as is the case with some performers. And through it all, he kept up a running dialogue with the music. He seemed to be whispering silent notes with the piano and occasionally there were brief, nearly inaudible snatches of Gould-like sub-vocalization. Far from being artificial or pretentious, Luisada’s performance appeared a natural and sincere reaction to the music he was both experiencing and performing. With the heat, the intimate setting, the proximity of the musicians on the tiny stage, the natural acoustics, and the birds twittering in joyous response to the music, the 20th century seemed far away. I found myself thinking that this is what it must have been like at this place, when Chopin played his compositions for a few friends and guests in the château’s living room, almost a century and a half ago. Instead of the hum of air conditioning, we heard muted peals of an approaching thunderstorm. And these were real people up there on stage, not the blow-dried mannequins you usually find in a modern, cavernous concert hall. They were working hard, perspiring, physically uncomfortable but in direct communication with their music and audience. The final notes had hardly sounded when the audience gave the musicians a thunderous standing ovation. The beaming performers joined hands like a theater group and acknowledged the audience’s praise. Although they were swimming in perspiration, they came back for two brilliantly executed encores, to end an exceptional musical experience. |
# Taken from http://www.pianoworld.com/Chopin.htm
The
objective of these reviews is to
encourage you to become interactive through not only listening to and
evaluating what you hear through a live performance, but also to access the
popular response to this music, as well as stating your own reactions to the
music. In addition, you will need to
take class information to a place outside of the every day classroom
surroundings and then express through writing the experiences gained. These reviews are connective tasks which
cause comparisons from examples in class to examples outside of class.