In today's N.Y.  Times, Anthony Tommasini has a quite interesting piece on
an issue that is rarely discussed: the expectation of soloists, especially
pianists, that they memorize everything they perform in recitals.

He notes that, way back when, this was not the case: in Mozart's and
Beethoven's time, improvisations were performed without music, of course,
but written-out pieces were always performed from the score.  Apparently
Clara Schumann was the first pianist to play by memory in a prominent way
(the Appassionata in 1837), and critics condemned her for showing off.  But
then Liszt made a practice of it, beginning in 1841-42, and, as Tommasini
says, "what was deemed uppity when done by a woman was now found stunning
and superhuman."

With the Great Franz having thus raised the ante, pianists ever since have
felt obliged to follow suit, with a few exceptions, such as Dame Myra Hess,
S. Richter, Peter Serkin, and especially Gilbert Kalish, who notes that he
could not play the range and amount of new music that he does if he had to
memorize it. Tommasini quotes from an interview he had with Kalish in which
the pianist lamented the amount of time that young musicians waste on sheer
memorization:

"What do we practice for? The ida of practicing over and over to nail a
passage with such security that there's no possibility of its escaping from
you just doesn't make sense.  Many students practice so much like this that
they just switch on the machine when they play.  They are not more absorbed
in the music; they are more removed from it.  It's a frighteningly negative
and lonely experience."

The article also makes the point that memory lapses can occur without
warning, even to the "best prepared" and most experienced performers, and
that many excellent musicians simply find it harder to memorize than others
do.  My experience, as a lowly amateur guitarist, certainly confirms this.
I find that some pieces almost memorize themselves, but in general I have
a lot of trouble memorizing, and when I was studying piano I couldn't
memorize anything.  Yet many books of advice for student musicians state
flatly that one should, as a matter of course, memorize any piece one is
seriously studying, which I, like Kalish, find a rather dubious
generalization.

As Tommasini also points out, the demand for memorization is quite
inconsistent; once you get more than one player, it's considered "chamber
music," and reading is OK, though some string trios and quartets dare to
put the scores away.  My observation of guitar recitals is that the
performer more often than not plays from memory, though no one seems to be
shocked if she/he plays from the notes, especially works that are new and
complex.

How do list members feel on this issue? I would especially like to hear
what non-performers think -- do you tend to look down on a pianist, singer,
or other soloist who performs from the score? Is it time to say farewell
to this particular tradition in this tradition-happy art?

Jon Johanning // [log in to unmask]