Page 25 - The Strad (February 2020)

Opinion

IN THE PUBLIC EYE

The primary purpose of a musician is to be heard by an audience – yet so many performers are self-conscious about
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O ne of the curiosities of classical music is that shouldn’t being heard be normalised on a day-to-day

a fear of being overheard should be so
level rather than becoming the source of fear?
common in a profession so de ned by
s it is, we aim to make our execution
listening. Many of us will have experienced
bulletproof by preparing speci cally for the
this mindset taking hold when trying to
practise in poorly soundproofed music rooms or A stress of public performance, whether through
shared accommodation. In our self-consciousness, drilling and repetition, psychological exercises in
we shy away from practising things that need work; we visualisation, medication and so on, all with greater or
resort to playing passages where we sound assured, and lesser degrees of success. And while open lessons and
spend time apparently working hard on problems that, masterclasses act as halfway houses between practice
in truth, we have already overcome. We feel anxious, and performance, they are nonetheless events that
not because our neighbours will complain about the require their own kind of preliminary work since they
disturbance, but because they will judge what they inevitably involve, to some extent, an element of being
hear. Admittedly, this is more likely in a music school judged. Having someone sitting in on practice sessions
than in a block of ats, but even then the thought can as a listener, not as a giver of advice or even feedback,
nag away: ‘Is my practice really necessary?’ but just as a presence in the room, can be a way of
Practising in private feels safe: we can make our bridging the practice room and concert environments.
mistakes, experiment with interpretation and improve Inviting in such a benign guest, even if only
our technical expertise without revealing anything to occasionally, might also be a way of varying the routine
the wider world. At some point, of practice – not disrupting it but
however, that is exactly what is diversifying it by giving the musician
going to happen. We perform Being heard experience in acclimatising to
not only in public but, we hope, di erences in setting. Perhaps this
to strangers; yet we practise shouldn’t could encourage musicians to
alone, away even from friends, incorporate other strategies for
and assume that what we create become a increasing their versatility, whether
in private will survive the that be practising blindfolded or
transfer to the public domain. source of fear with non-musical background noise.
It is almost as if the ideal is to Ultimately, performing in unfamiliar
put our performances together environments could thereby become
in a sterile, hermetic workshop, less disconcerting and something to
tinkering away, out of sight from be taken in their stride.
others, until such time as the nished product is ready „e principle applies to chamber music ensembles
to be revealed. as much as to individuals. „ere, it could pay
But, of course, when it comes to musical dividends to have a witness somewhere quietly in the
performance, the product is not nished when it background, helping players keep their focus and not
leaves the practice room. „e nishing touches waste time, and to help preserve a respectful working
happen on stage where conditions are di erent. atmosphere. For that reason, the musical credentials
„at, and the consequent truism that no two of such observers would not be of primary
performances can be the same, is one reason live importance, since they would not be there in the
music is special. Yet if our routine practice scarcely capacity of teacher, fellow professional or critic with
mimics live performance in omitting an audience, corresponding expertise to impart. „eir function
that raises the question: is secluded practice always the would be something di erent; their simple presence
ideal preparation for playing in public? If music is reinforcing the idea that being heard is a normal,
undeniably an art of playing in order to be heard, organic part of playing an instrument.
FEBRUARY 2020 THE STRAD 25
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