Bloch Blog
A student of mine is working on "The Maiden and the Nightingale" by Enrique Granados. The piece features prominent bird songs towards the end. I have been very interested to notice that each time I hear the piece, I detect more layers of bird-like sounds woven into its overall texture.
I picture the maiden in this piece standing by an open window or on a bacony. Nature is very present in the picture. Beyond the bird sounds, I have also noted little turns and patterns that are heard first in the soprano or alto and are followed shortly thereafter in a lower voice. This seems to be another nature effect. On occasion, I have stood in the middle of a park and focused on the many layers of sound I can hear. Once, I noted the trickling of a stream passing near my feet. Then I noticed a very similar sound coming from another spot in the stream a good distance from where I was standing. The simultaneous and layered perception of similar phenomena is part of what we experience when listening to nature. The staggered turns and trills in this piece suggest that natural occurence to me.
Finally, my student played this piece in studio class last week. Only a couple of students were present, so we all sat on the stage near the piano as we discussed issues with the piece. At one point, as I was trying to address a rhythmic inaccuracy, one of my students chimed in with the correct diagnosis. When that happened, it struck me that some music may be so complex that six or eight ears may be required to figure out what's going in the piece and in the performance.
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