The long line
Is one of the measures of a great tune whether it translates to other instruments, to other genres, other artists, yet still has the capacity to move you?
American composer Aaron Copland has written about the ‘long line’ – “a sense of forward motion … the feeling for inevitability, for the creating of an entire piece that could be thought of as a functioning entity.”
I’ve misinterpreted this phrase to mean a long line that carries through the work of an artist that ties it all together and makes it recognizable. I like that, but not sure that’s how art works. At least, not in the moment. Maybe only in retrospect.
I like even better the idea that there might be a REALLY long line in music, that ties listener and performer and composer and all different types of music together, and goes back a long way. Who knows how long?
…
In high school orchestra, we played a transcription of some of ‘Pièces de Clavecin’ by 18th century French superstar composer Jean-Philippe Rameau, tunes written originally for the harpsichord.
They sounded pretty good in the hands of a bunch of 16 to 18-year-olds!
Those pieces stuck with me, and I still play a bit of one tune on the violin today. It has something to say – to me, at least.
After listening to David Bowie recently, I posted that I still missed him. After the second anniversary of his passing, a friend had gotten me grooving on the Space Oddity’s slightly more obscure stuff, such as ‘Loving the Alien’, ‘This is Not America’ with Pat Metheny and Lyle Mays from the Falcon and the Snowman soundtrack (remember that one? Me either…) and ‘I’m Afraid of Americans’ with Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails. Is there some be-more-inclusive-of-immigrants theme going on there…?
Anyway.
While at the gym later that evening – a bit tired of the fight between the Prog Rock in my headphones and the workout music channel on the screens around me – I decided to go for something totally different and acoustic, and Spotify-ed my old bud Rameau.
Most of the top results were for piano – which is not uncommon if one searches for, say, Mozart or Bach: pieces intended for harpsichord or pianoforte often end up on piano for modern audiences.
Does it still fly?
Yeah. Sure did.
I was probably the only person on a treadmill being spirited along by a French guy dead before America was America.
Compare two delightful performances of a particularly cool piece by Rameau, first on harpsichord, its ‘intended’ instrument:
…and next, on piano:
They’re both great, right?
…
I love that this cycle never ends. The long line. An endless wire.
Later that night, another friend had responded to my Bowie post: “Seen ‘The Life Aquatic [with Steve Zissou]’?”
I haven’t, but I know Brazilian singer/songwriter/actor Seu Jorge’s covers of David Bowie songs feature prominently.
I look forward to experiencing Bowie through a new person, a new ‘instrument’.
Maybe on harpsichord, next?
Alive Through Music 