|
Welcome to the Piano World Piano Forums Over 3 million posts about pianos, digital pianos, and all types of keyboard instruments. Over 100,000 members from around the world.
Join the World's Largest Community of Piano Lovers
(it's free)
It's Fun to Play the Piano ... Please Pass It On!
|
|
50 members (accordeur, 36251, Bostonmoores, 20/20 Vision, Cheeeeee, Adam Reynolds, Burkhard, 1200s, clothearednincompo, akse0435, 6 invisible),
1,307
guests, and
306
robots. |
Key:
Admin,
Global Mod,
Mod
|
|
|
Joined: Jun 2010
Posts: 34
Full Member
|
OP
Full Member
Joined: Jun 2010
Posts: 34 |
"Here is a whole fortnight that my mind and fingers have been working like two lost spirits- Homer, the Bible, Plato, Locke, Byron, Hugo, Lamartine, Chateaubriand, Beethoven, Bach, Hummel, Mozart, Weber, are all around me. I study them, meditate on them, devour them with fury; besides this I practice from four to five hours of exercises (thirds, sixths, octaves, shakes, repeated notes, and cadenzas). Oh! provided I don't go mad, you will find an artist in me!" It is well known that Liszt liked to read books whilst practising technical exercises, I am wondering what people think of this fact.
|
|
|
|
Joined: Nov 2009
Posts: 24,600
Yikes! 10000 Post Club Member
|
Yikes! 10000 Post Club Member
Joined: Nov 2009
Posts: 24,600 |
"Whilst"?? I did not know that!! In fact, I sort of doubt it.
|
|
|
|
Joined: May 2005
Posts: 13,955
Yikes! 10000 Post Club Member
|
Yikes! 10000 Post Club Member
Joined: May 2005
Posts: 13,955 |
"Here is a whole fortnight that my mind and fingers have been working like two lost spirits- Homer, the Bible, Plato, Locke, Byron, Hugo, Lamartine, Chateaubriand, Beethoven, Bach, Hummel, Mozart, Weber, are all around me. I study them, meditate on them, devour them with fury; besides this I practice from four to five hours of exercises (thirds, sixths, octaves, shakes, repeated notes, and cadenzas). Oh! provided I don't go mad, you will find an artist in me!" It is well known that Liszt liked to read books whilst practising technical exercises, I am wondering what people think of this fact. Well - if you can indeed PROVE to us that this is a "fact" I'll be happy to comment.
|
|
|
|
Joined: Nov 2009
Posts: 24,600
Yikes! 10000 Post Club Member
|
Yikes! 10000 Post Club Member
Joined: Nov 2009
Posts: 24,600 |
I'm still on his saying it's "well known."
|
|
|
|
Joined: Mar 2010
Posts: 7,088
7000 Post Club Member
|
7000 Post Club Member
Joined: Mar 2010
Posts: 7,088 |
I think a soul that craves the fulfillment music brings is well matched with a thirst for knowledge in other areas. Look at what he was reading - cornerstone literature (of Western civilization) - philosophy, ethics, epic poetry, humanities, and other musicians. The more you learn about works such as these, the more you find links that hold them together and the tighter knit is the tapestry they weave.
Both fields of study were giving him a depth and breadth of scope that he was clearly quite passionate about - thirst feeding thirst!
Speaking from my own experiences, being immersed in music has given me (at different stages in my life) a very different and much more developed awareness of what I listen to and how I listen. My interests in reading - which include history, art, classic literature just to name a few - have really given me an ability to see connections, patterns and movements on many scales (no pun intended), over periods of a few hunderd years and on a few different continents! My experience is: the more you know, the more you realize there is to know, and the more you want to know. I personally know a fair amount - but I still feel it is a work in progress, which is most enjoyable.
The only thing I find surprising is that he says his mind and spirit are like two lost spirits.... I would have thought he might have found some level of mental/emotional/philisophical harmony from the combination of the two activities.
18 ABF Recitals, Order of the Red Dot European Piano Parties - Brussels, Lisbon, Lucern, Milan, Malaga, St. Goar Themed recitals: Grieg and Great American Songbook
|
|
|
|
Joined: Nov 2009
Posts: 24,600
Yikes! 10000 Post Club Member
|
Yikes! 10000 Post Club Member
Joined: Nov 2009
Posts: 24,600 |
No no -- he was asking about the "whilst" part.
|
|
|
|
Joined: Mar 2010
Posts: 7,088
7000 Post Club Member
|
7000 Post Club Member
Joined: Mar 2010
Posts: 7,088 |
Well, don't I feel a bit silly. I was going to make a joke about "how did he balance the books while he was doing arpeggios" but decided it was a more philisophical question. ah well..... to err is human
18 ABF Recitals, Order of the Red Dot European Piano Parties - Brussels, Lisbon, Lucern, Milan, Malaga, St. Goar Themed recitals: Grieg and Great American Songbook
|
|
|
|
Joined: Aug 2009
Posts: 6,453
6000 Post Club Member
|
6000 Post Club Member
Joined: Aug 2009
Posts: 6,453 |
Music is my best friend.
|
|
|
|
Joined: Nov 2009
Posts: 24,600
Yikes! 10000 Post Club Member
|
Yikes! 10000 Post Club Member
Joined: Nov 2009
Posts: 24,600 |
.....to err is human Well I don't know if you really erred, since the question you answered was probably more interesting.
|
|
|
|
Joined: Nov 2009
Posts: 24,600
Yikes! 10000 Post Club Member
|
Yikes! 10000 Post Club Member
Joined: Nov 2009
Posts: 24,600 |
OK.......now we can get back to whether it's "well known." BTW.......I still have my doubts. Even though one of my esteemed teachers recommended the same thing. (I always thought it was a little nuts.) I wouldn't have thought that Liszt considered technical exercises mindless, which I think you basically have to in order to do that kind of thing.
|
|
|
|
Joined: Jun 2010
Posts: 34
Full Member
|
OP
Full Member
Joined: Jun 2010
Posts: 34 |
I wouldn't have thought that Liszt considered technical exercises mindless, which I think you basically have to in order to do that kind of thing.
I tried this once reading a couple chapters of Moby Dick while practicing scales and chords. It wasn't easy, but it wasn't too hard either. Mark_C makes a good point though, if this is in fact true then what does this say about our Romantic conceptions of Liszt. Perhaps it says nothing at all, perhaps Liszt only felt music was worthy of deep reflection and that technical exercises were not (since they are not, strictly speaking, music). In the book "Practicing Perfection" there is a quote by Martha Argerich: "(Remembering her childhood) Officially, I was supposed to practice three hours but, in reality it was less because I cheated. What I really liked was reading, so I used to read while pretending to be practicing. If I heard the door I would put whatever I was reading under my skirt . . ."
|
|
|
|
Joined: Nov 2009
Posts: 24,600
Yikes! 10000 Post Club Member
|
Yikes! 10000 Post Club Member
Joined: Nov 2009
Posts: 24,600 |
.....under my skirt . . ." Well now it's really getting interesting. If it had been at a slightly later age, she could also have used cleavage.
|
|
|
|
Joined: Nov 2009
Posts: 39
Full Member
|
Full Member
Joined: Nov 2009
Posts: 39 |
I'd say Liszt would adore ipad.
|
|
|
|
Joined: Dec 2008
Posts: 4,741
4000 Post Club Member
|
4000 Post Club Member
Joined: Dec 2008
Posts: 4,741 |
OK.......now we can get back to whether it's "well known." BTW.......I still have my doubts. Even though one of my esteemed teachers recommended the same thing. (I always thought it was a little nuts.) I wouldn't have thought that Liszt considered technical exercises mindless, which I think you basically have to in order to do that kind of thing. So Lisitsa can do it, and Liszt can't? I sort of really kind of doubt that.. ahahaha.
"The eyes can mislead, the smile can lie, but the shoes always tell the truth."
|
|
|
|
Joined: May 2005
Posts: 13,955
Yikes! 10000 Post Club Member
|
Yikes! 10000 Post Club Member
Joined: May 2005
Posts: 13,955 |
"Here is a whole fortnight that my mind and fingers have been working like two lost spirits- Homer, the Bible, Plato, Locke, Byron, Hugo, Lamartine, Chateaubriand, Beethoven, Bach, Hummel, Mozart, Weber, are all around me. I study them, meditate on them, devour them with fury; besides this I practice from four to five hours of exercises (thirds, sixths, octaves, shakes, repeated notes, and cadenzas). Oh! provided I don't go mad, you will find an artist in me!" It is well known that Liszt liked to read books whilst practising technical exercises, I am wondering what people think of this fact. Apparently Liszt was good at "multi-tasking."
|
|
|
|
Joined: Nov 2009
Posts: 953
500 Post Club Member
|
500 Post Club Member
Joined: Nov 2009
Posts: 953 |
The ultimate question is not whether to read or not, but what to read?
I'm going to try this with scientific journals, but it may deem to mind absorbing. If it doesn't go well then it's time to try Calvin and Hobbes.
Last edited by Rui725; 06/11/10 10:25 AM.
|
|
|
|
Joined: Dec 2008
Posts: 4,741
4000 Post Club Member
|
4000 Post Club Member
Joined: Dec 2008
Posts: 4,741 |
Well I know he was obsessed with Faust. So I'm reading it right now (seriously, what's the devil obsession)
"The eyes can mislead, the smile can lie, but the shoes always tell the truth."
|
|
|
|
Joined: Nov 2009
Posts: 953
500 Post Club Member
|
500 Post Club Member
Joined: Nov 2009
Posts: 953 |
Wouldn't be surprised that Liszt's made a deal with the devil too haha.
|
|
|
|
Joined: Jun 2010
Posts: 34
Full Member
|
OP
Full Member
Joined: Jun 2010
Posts: 34 |
So nobody has a problem with the whole idea of (at least partially) ignoring your practicing?
|
|
|
|
Joined: Nov 2009
Posts: 953
500 Post Club Member
|
500 Post Club Member
Joined: Nov 2009
Posts: 953 |
Once the technical aspect of a particular exercise has been truly ingrained, the act of doing so becomes "automated" and "mindless" so to speak. Only at the point, it would be a wise idea to let your mind wander. During the learning process, it would not be a good idea.
Liszt is not your everyday pianist either, so....
|
|
|
Forums43
Topics223,385
Posts3,349,189
Members111,631
|
Most Online15,252 Mar 21st, 2010
|
|
|
|
|
|