Artistic Interpretation
When we first get and learn a piece of music, we all usually learn the notes, rhythms, dynamics, articulations, and phrasing. After we do that, most believe they have learned the work and are ready for performance. We perform it exactly as written. After all, that is the composer’s intent, right? Not necessarily. There are many interpretations out there. Take this video for instance that examines the first two chords of Beethoven’s Eroica Symphony.
In the video, we hear variances in tempo, tuning, alignment, duration, balance, and resonance. These elements are a form of artistic interpretation. Although resonance is a variable that they cannot fully control and the tuning is really up to who provides the tuning note, the other elements are affected by choices. Artistic interpretation is a series of choices made with the intent of enhancing a performer’s performance.
Many composers perform their own musical works and perform them differently than as marked. I can remember in college playing the music of more than one composer and them asking us to change tempo markings, articulations, dynamics, phrasing, and even rejoicing. It all comes down to what story are we trying to tell musically. Sometimes, a piece has a story behind it; we often can do a bit of reading and look into the background of a work. Other times, we as the performer must find our own meaning. This can be done through variances in tempo, stress on certain notes or at certain points in the music, dynamic variance, and/or working to create emotional impact musically. It is about creating a different kind of energy through music performance.
One of my favorite musical works of all time is Shostakovich Symphony No. 5. In particular, I love the fourth movement. When listening to various recordings of that particular movement, there are so many different interpretations. In Shostakovich’s original score, he marked the beginning at 88 beats per minute. Accelerando poco a poco is written at the 8th measure of the movement and settles in at 104 beats per minute for the next segment. The movement continues to have tempo jumps and accelerandos in the opening minutes. Leonard Bernstein conducting the New York Philharmonic is my favorite recording of the work.
In Leonard Bernstein’s personal score, he marked the beginning at 100 beats per minute and settled in and measure 11 at 120 beats per minute. In the recording, the initial tempo heard when analyzed is 126 BPM with a slight accelerando with the tempo being around 152 BPM at measure 11. An extremely different interpretation than what he even wrote on his own score.
He took this artistic interpretation to provide a different energy to the work. In my undergraduate studies, I can remember being told by peers and even professors not to listen to Bernstein’s recordings, as he didn’t follow the tempo markings, would change elements in the music, and did what he wanted to. I kept to myself and continued to listen to his music. Why? Because Bernstein often provided the most musical interpretations of a piece; it struck with me emotionally. He was a musician at heart, a fantastic educator, and a leader within the music industry. I looked up to him and still look up to him.
Looking at the same work, even the same orchestra can have different interpretations with different conductors. Let us take a look a few different interpretations with the Berlin Philharmonic. Berlin is considered by many one of the, if not, the greatest orchestra in the world. Here are a few different videos:
Conductor: Yutaka Sado
Date: May 22, 2011
Initial Tempo: Around 122 BPM with a little variance
Tempo at Measure 11: Around 142 BPM
Conductor: Tugan Sokhiev
Date: December 13, 2014
Initial Tempo: 106 BPM
Tempo at Measure 11: 145 BPM
Conductor: Andrés Orozco-Estrada
Date: May 20, 2017
Initial Tempo: 85 BPM
Tempo at Measure 11: 120 BPM
Conductor: Gustavo Dudamel
Date: October 27, 2018
Initial Tempo: Around 110 PM with a slightly accelerated
Tempo at Measure 11: Around 148 BPM
This presents four very different interpretations with many of the same musicians. These are four different stories. While each performance is wonderful, I believe the Dudamel performance has a whole different energy. Gustavo Dudamel is a one-of-a-kind conductor and musician. He was appointed as conductor of the LA Philharmonic in 2009 at the age of 28. Many considered him too young and too energetic. He broke many of the traditional conducting “rules.” However, Dudamel was able to get more out of his musicians than many others, affected and still affects change within ensembles he works with, and know the interpretation he wants. Take a look at these videos of him rehearsing.
There are more videos of this rehearsal
Notice that Dudamel goes beyond the notes. It is no wonder that he is sought after and has worked with such people as John Williams. He is wonderful at working with musicians to get more expression than what is written on the page. He works toward a feeling, a mood, and an emotional feeling. Because of that, he is one of the most sought-after music directors in the world.
So, how do we establish our own artistic interpretation? First, we must be able to perform well everything that is on the page. Then, we must analyze the composer’s intent, make musical choices, tell a story through the music, and work toward emotional expression. Much of this is established through having a clear story in our head and experimenting. We want to be sure that we still communicate the composer’s intent, but we have slight liberties in dynamics, style, tone color, the weight of notes, push and pull of time, slight tempo adjustments, energy, and phrasing. We must make musical decisions. How would we sing the phrase? Does what we are doing feel natural? Does it compromise our technique? If it does, then we do not need to do it. Artistic interpretation can take a while to get comfortable with experimenting with, but if wise choices are made, it can push our performance to a whole new level.
