I enjoyed listening
to the Reith lectures Barenboim gave in 2006. In some way, I was
expecting more; but, I forget they are not aimed specifically at
musicians. I like his overall idea that one can learn about and
better understand life, through music. And that clearly is not just a
"nice sounding line" for him. He frequently compares the
sense of timing, or proportion, subversion, harmony, balance, etc in
music, with "real life" equivalents. Even politics. See the
bit about the Oslo agreement and Beethoven's Pathetique Sonata, ha!
:D (I think that is in the 2nd or 3rd lecture) And I like it, because
... I am also maybe "weird" in that sense, and happen to
"see" musical (or programming) "metaphors" and
analogies, so often, in real life! Some, who had the "privilege"
of hearing me rant (sorry!) about that, will know I call them
"metaphors", ha! Pretty much everything in real life can be
interpreted (and hopefully better understood and clarified) as a
musical (or programming) metaphor. But I am not Barenboim, perhaps I
am just a little insane, after all!
And speaking of
musical metaphors; sharps flats and naturals, foreign to the "general
order", immigrants from other keys; can upset the tonality, no
doubt, but bring colour and variety to it.
Anyway, back to the
lectures - here are some great passages from the last of Barenboim's
Reith lectures:
"There is
nothing that I must not see in order to see, and there is no
knowledge that I must forget." (Barenboim quotes Martin Buber)
"I believe
people don't think about music... They just let it wash over them,
and operate on them in an almost animal way! Music to me is sound
with thought."
"Throughout
these lectures I have been attempting to draw parallels between the
inexpressible content of music and the inexpressible content of
life...we have talked about the distinction between hearing and
listening, the need to have a point of view, both in music and in
life"
"Music shows
us the inevitable flow of life, which depends on change"
"Music teaches
us that everything is connected"
Speaking about
power, strength and transparency - in music and life: "Even the
most powerful chord has to allow for the inner voices to be heard;
otherwise it has no tension, only brutal aggressive power. You must
hear the opposition; the notes that oppose the main idea. In other
words, the concept of transparency is essential in music, because if
it is not aurally transparent, you cannot actually get the totality
of the music... You only get one line of it!"
"In Jerusalem
today, we have come full circle - this too I learned from music,
ladies and gentlemen - because when you perform a piece of music, you
have to be able to hear the last note, before you play the first."
etc., etc.
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