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Mon, 8 Feb 1999 09:53:49 -0500 |
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Kar-Ming Chong wrote:
>Hmmm....interesting....I've always thought that composers write music for
>the listeners rather than the performers. Can anyone provide examples of
>composers writing for performers? - Bach probably comes to mind with most
>of his keyboard works.
Some would say that many composers write primarily for themselves--they
certainly don't make it easy on either the performers or the listeners!
Bach and other composers, of course, wrote a lot of stuff intended
primarily as studies, to help performers develop their skills. Some of
these technical studies are also enjoyable for non-performers to listen
to, but others are not.
When someone says that a composer like Brahms wrote for performers more
than for listeners (in at least some of his works), I think what is meant
is that there is a lot in these pieces that is easier for the performer
to appreciate through the physical experience of making the sounds than
it might be for the listener who only has those sounds to go by and has
no idea of how they were produced. I can't say that I have had much
experience with Brahms piano music (though I have fooled around with a few
Intermezzos and such), but there is certainly a good deal of the guitar
repetoire, with which I am fairly familiar, that has this character. These
pieces are very interesting and challenging to play, but the listener who
does not play the instrument would probably have a rather ho-hum reaction.
Jon Johanning // [log in to unmask]
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