LITMIR.BIZ

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what is sometimes lost is the sense that the music has been learnt not just from memory but is somehow ‘in their bones’. In some instances, due to budget restrictions, orchestras go out to play a concert on too few rehearsals and it tells in the final result – especially in new work which can take a while to become familiar. That said, during the course of a violinist’s professional life they could expect to play every Beethoven, Brahms and Schubert symphony many times with many different conductors. So core repertoire will always be played without feeling that the players are hanging off the score.

      The atmosphere at an early 9 a.m. rehearsal after playing a big concert the night before is always subdued, and players are not always sure what the orchestra will be playing next. They bumble in with their cappuccinos, warming up briefly before launching into the next major work. The prospect of removing the sheet music would fill most orchestral players with horror; they have become accustomed to this way of playing. Many would admit to being incapable of improvisation and reluctant to play from memory, a skill that is a requirement of so many other types of music. But few rock guitarists would be able to play a five-hour gig one night then get up the next day and rehearse an elaborately arranged musical composition they had never previously played, before jetting off on tour to play something they haven’t played for several weeks. Such are the rigours of orchestral life.

      Does listening to Mozart make you more intelligent?⁶

      In 1993 there was a widely reported piece of research by Rauscher, Shaw and Ky. They played a Mozart sonata to students, who subsequently showed an improved IQ test result in the area of spatio-temporal skills. For musicians and classical music advocates like me who constantly try to assert the value of classical music (especially for young people), it was as though all prayers had been answered; here at last was proof that this music was good for you. The world’s press were delighted with the idea that the Sonata for Two Pianos in D-major, K. 448, could ‘make you smarter’. This was the trick that every parent had been seeking, and for a number of years a lot of children were subjected to Mozart whether they liked it or not.

      As is so often the case with science in the media, the facts of the study were stretched and the original findings of 1993 have since been widely challenged. Quite simply the research had never suggested that it ‘made you smarter’. But the idea had made a great news story and gave rise to a whole industry of Mozart-for-kids products.

      Although discredited, the ‘Mozart effect’ lives on in other guises, and people claim to have observed the calming effect of Mozart on people in stations, children with special needs – and cows. In Germany a study found that cows who listened to Mozart produced more milk. How much milk I’m not sure. Whether the milk was more creamy I cannot say. Behind this strange idea lies some fairly questionable science and the deification of Mozart.

      Does Mozart make you cleverer? I don’t think so. However, there is compelling evidence from MRI scans that playing an instrument or taking singing lessons actually changes the size of sections of your brain. (Steven Mithen took singing lessons for a year whilst writing his book The Singing Neanderthal; by the end of the year there were physical changes in his brain.)

      The ‘Mozart effect’ is actually a massive red herring – playing any music will develop your brain, but then so will learning golf, or learning to ride a bike. The difference with music is that it is one of the most complex activities the brain can engage in and so develops the parts that other activities cannot reach on their own. For this reason it is beloved of primary school teachers and parents of young children because of the palpable effect that practical engagement with music has on the developing mind.

      If it won’t make you cleverer then what does Mozart do for you? It may make me sound like Oscar Wilde, but I believe it’s important to have beauty in our lives. It makes us aspire to be better people. Mozart’s is some of the most pleasing and mentally stimulating music ever written; it excites our brains into action. Beyond that I don’t see the need to prove that it makes us cleverer. Those of us who are devotees of Mozart will always be passionate about its transformative power and those who aren’t convinced will just have to live their lives devoid of Mozart’s positive effects.

      Is all classical music religious?

      At one time the Church was one of the few places where people would have had access to music. No other organisation has done more for the development of music. But no, it’s not all religious. Composers have been moved and inspired by landscape (God-created or not), science, politics, war, philosophy, football … There’s even an opera about the life of Playboy model Anna Nicole Smith. (I’m definitely going to that one.)

      Let’s be honest, there’s a great deal of religious classical music and some of the most beautiful is sung by choirs. Choral music in particular is associated with cathedrals, cassocks and candles – John Rutter’s carols and other religious works are immensely popular – but choirs can also sing modern pop songs, as proved by the hit TV show Glee. Speaking of Rutter, I am a huge fan. He has a technical expertise and a way with melody that has made him not only a composer of international note, but his harmonies have become for many (myself included) the sound of Christmas.⁷

      How can you ‘understand’ music? Isn’t it just about emotion?

      In the same way that a picture of a man running can simply mean ‘man running’ or be the symbol for a fire exit, music can be rich with meaning. Certain musical meanings are almost universal, and have gathered meaning through repetition. ‘Happy Birthday’ is widely known, and as soon as you hear the melody you know that it’s someone’s birthday, whatever language you speak. If you juxtapose that music with a rendition of the third movement of Chopin’s Piano Sonata No. 2 (yes, you do know it, it’s the Funeral March) then the meaning becomes cloudier … Did someone die on their birthday? Are there two events going on simultaneously? The music itself gives rise to potential meaning.

      Much music of the nineteenth century has clear titles giving a sense of the meaning. This is known as programme music: Mendelssohn’s Fingal’s Cave, for instance, is an attempt in music to describe the experience of an encounter with a geographical feature; Richard Strauss’s Ein Heldenleben (‘A Hero’s Life’) is a wordless musical representation of an entire life. It is not literal; rather it aims to sum up the feelings of the protagonist as he progresses through life. The musical meaning is clear to the listener, as is Strauss’s vision of this character. Programme music will sometimes feature musical effects designed to illustrate, for instance, the singing of birds or the babbling of a brook, but may attempt to express emotions such as joy or grief.

      Of course not all music has such clear associations. We call this absolute music. But even in music by composers who apparently give no clue to the meaning you can deduce what the composer means, if only on an emotional level. It may have a stylistic meaning – a scherzo (Italian, meaning ‘jokingly’), for example, is a section of music that is fast and lively. If this is followed by a lento (Italian for slowly) then the abrupt change will have an effect on the listener. The meaning of music is abstract and highly personal.

      Why is a violinist the ‘leader’ of an orchestra?

      This is partly tradition and partly practical. If you think about how the violin is played, with the bow held high in the air, it’s very easy for other players to see the movement of the bow and thus when the music begins. The violins usually play more music than the other sections – note for note it’s not as tiring as playing a brass instrument. Moreover, you can play the violin while looking in almost any direction, and the player’s face can still communicate to the other players (try doing that while playing a trombone). Look carefully and you’ll see that the ‘leader’ uses exaggerated movements to indicate the style of playing to the entire string section. In the days before the dominance of the conductor, either a keyboard player or a violinist would have directed performances.

      Why does the orchestra tune to an oboe at the beginning of a concert?

      Unless you’ve been to an orchestral concert you wouldn’t be aware that in order to keep

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