SUBJECT 4.2 | In-Depth

Subject 4.2

Jul 24

Study of Poetic Affect

Subject 4.2 focuses on the impact of character in the interpretation of a particular musical passage. This extract is the same as the one dealt with in subject no. 4.1. However, it considers a poetic request for interpretation from Martha de Francisco, who was the recording engineer (tonmeister) of the project. This request involves asking the musicians to imagine that they are crossing an ice bridge during the performance of this excerpt. This poetic request came from Maestro Sergiu Celibidache, who is said to have asked for it during a rehearsal attended by Ms de Francesco herself.

The excerpt is presented in two interpretations: one without any character indications, the other with the indication to perform like a “Bridge of Ice”.

One can think of performance indications as additional strategies used by composers and conductors alike to bring about particular characters in the interpretation of the music. Extra-musical indications can really impact the sounding result, however, it may not always be possible to communicate the decriptive indication through the music.

In the second recording, we can hear how the indication changed the interpretation. As one can hear in the recording, the demand to play as a “Bridge of Ice” impacted mostly the articulation of the woodwinds making their part less slurred than the first example.