JULIAN RHODES' DREAM ORGANS

THE PERFORMER AND THE WORK OF LIBERATION

The performer's life-work is a musical journey which we may describe as the quest for

LIBERATION FROM LIMITATION.

This liberation is three-fold:
1. Liberation from technical limitations, so that performances sounds 'fingerless', and the music becomes an immediate expression of thought and emotion.
2. Liberation from the limitations of tradition, so that the performer transcends the past to create an interpretative awareness which is valid for each new moment.
3. Liberation from the limitations of the self - true liberation, the transcending of all personal barriers, physical, mental, emotional and spiritual.

Each of the classial keyboard instruments has its LIMITATIONS.

The Harpsichord creates a beguiling tracery of sound, but one which is essentially static and potentially cerebral. This can affect our approach to it.
The tone of the Organ has great inertia, and lacks subtle response. It is further limited by its association with the dignity and reverence of the church rather than the colour and drama of the concert-hall.
The Piano is a percussive box of hammers, reluctant to sing. Furthermore, the virtuoso repertoire contains technical and nervous challenges unparalleled on other keyboard instruments.

Each instrument has also its BENEFITS.

Because of the clarity of its sound and its objective nature, the Harpsichord encourages a thoughtful, disciplined approach from the performer. Its cousin the Clavichord has unparalleled sensitivity of response, refining the performer's touch to the greatest degree possible.
The Organ has sonorous, sustained qualities which help to 'earth' the musical temperament. It offers the experience of controlling vast masses of sound and making them speak effectively. It also demands that the performer should play the room - the acoustic - as much as the instrument itself. This makes him more sensitive to the effect of the building on his performances.
The Piano allows the greatest range of direct emotional expression, and the challenge of overcoming extreme technical demands in virtuoso repertoire. Such technical endeavour is itself illuminating, causing the performer to become more in tune with the mechanics of technique at all levels.

The harpsichord is the best example of potential instrumental limitations. Largely hijacked by the early-music movement with its weight of authentic performance practise, spontaneous souls may find its study an arid territory indeed. It is helpful to regard it merely as a box of wood and wire, and to take a freshly naive view, forgetting the burden of what is deemed to be musically acceptable. From this uncluttered perspective we can ask very simply: How does this instrument respond best? What colours can be drawn from it? By liberating our expectations, we make possible a vivid, colourful style of performance which the harpsichord badly needs.

For every instrument, we must let the music speak afresh as we play it. We can respond to a page of music in a number of ways:

- as the inevitable result of performance traditions (written evidence, recordings). All too often these are musical GAOL CELLS. It is more useful to regard them as KEYS to the cell doors, mere tools in the ongoing work.
- as patterns of dots on paper - the naive view once more. These dots can be toyed with in an almost playful way, with any number of interesting, potentially fruitful results.
- as an artistic statement which moves us so strongly and directly that our interpretation has its own inevitability and conviction.

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THE BODY - MIND - SPIRIT OF PERFORMANCE
The necessities for transcendental execution

BODY - a complete command of technique, from the subtlest nuances to the most rigorous physical challenges.
MIND - a knowledge of, and empathy with, the spiritual and cultural milieu of the composer and his time. A thorough grounding in the relevant performance traditions (written evidence, recordings), informing but never dictating.
SPIRIT - a response from the whole person of the performer, emotionally uninhibited and conceptually clear. A response in which physical mastery and mental knowledge are subordinated to a direct, fearless re-creation of the music, speaking to the audience with total conviction and engaging them in the ever-new creation of the musical moment.

DISCLAIMER

A Way that can be discussed
Is not the absolute Way.
A Name that can be defined
Is not the absolute Name.
Lao Tzu: Tao Te Ching

Julian Rhodes
July 1999