writing about music

As the old saw goes, writing about music is like dancing about architecture. [for info on the origination of this quote, click here] This is partly true, though I think writing about music, at its best, is often very revealing, and that dancing about architecture could be pretty illuminating, too. Perhaps one day PDX architecture mavens Brian Libby or Randy Gragg will take that one on. Part of the problem is that writing about music is terribly difficult. When a great example of this dark art comes around, it is essential to draw everyone’s attention to it. In this case, I’m referring to the pianist/blogger Jeremy Denk’s article [abstract is free, paid access for entire article] in the Feb. 6 issue of the New Yorker magazine, in which he writes about the process of recording Charles Ives’ Concord Sonata. Denk writes very well about music itself (see his musings on the Brahms Clarinet Trio here), which is supremely difficult in its own right. But in this article, he uncovers the inner workings of the creative process (and the muddled sort of process that it often becomes) with uncanny accuracy. Denk’s writing does for my writing what listening to a great musician does for my playing – it inspires me to improve my own art. Lately my own work on this blog has been mediocre at best. This is due to a crisis in exactly what this blog is for and about. Over the past couple years, my musical experience has been about learning notes and reproducing them on command. Deadlines have been the order of the day. Basic sausage making. This is not good enough for me, or for those who come to hear the ensembles in which I perform. So, from now on, I’m re-devoting myself to thinking about the music that I play. Not just learning notes in a mindless fashion like a child laborer in south Asia. It’s time to return to the fine art of making music, and getting away from the mere craft of producing sounds. Fasten your seatbelts.