Getting It Right

25. September 2010 · 2 comments · Categories: Other People's Words

If you really want to do something that sounds like Haydn but not Mozart, something that sounds like Beethoven but not Schubert, there have to be a lot of switches that are triggered in your brain and they’re based on linguistic things. Somebody could listen to somebody’s speech and might say, ‘That’s a Southern accent.’ But somebody who has a good ear would say, ‘No, that’s Kentucky, Western Kentucky, confined to a two-county area.’ That’s what we’re talking about here—not because the audience might notice, but because if you’re going to do it, you might as well do it right.

-Robert Levin

RTWT

2 Comments

  1. Janet
    September 25, 2010 at 2:28 pm

    Robert Levin is an unbelievable talent. He played with the ASO (Amarillo) years ago and I was amazed at his improv portion of the concert. I wish I could comprehend how he does it. The musicians in the orchestra submitted themes in the style of Mozart for him to improvise on and I still have my autographed copy of the theme I submitted with his generous comment.

  2. Patty
    September 25, 2010 at 2:31 pm

    I was in Midsummer Mozart Festival Orchestra for a good number of years and he frequently played with us. It was always great fun, and mind boggling to someone like yours truly who improvises at probably a first grade level.