Musical Illiteracy – Part 2

| Dec 16, 2014 |

When I taught at the Freiburg Musik Hochschule I tried to have as many non-trumpet playing guests visit our trumpet master class as possible. These master classes were always fascinating, and it was continually interesting to see how the professors in different categories (string, piano, voice, theory) would have different approaches to the same problem. One such class was given by Katharina Kegler, a good friend who is the pianist who usually works with the brass in the Musik Hochschule.

Katharina has worked not only extensively with brass, but also with woodwinds, string, and voice. And she has worked with both students and professionals. So, in addition to being a superb musician, she has a tremendous amount of experience in all possible sorts of situations. And the premise of Katharina’s presentation was this – during the rests in the music brass and wind players have a tendency to count, whereas string players and singers tend to listen. I have run this idea by a lot of accompanists when I do master classes at other schools, and they all agree with this premise.

To me, at least, this suggests that singers and string players know the piece they are playing, while brass and woodwind players know only the part they are playing. So, even though I am not now discussing musical illiteracy as related to orchestral playing, I believe that this is another form of musical illiteracy that brass players exhibit on a daily basis.

Why is this so? Why do brass players not know the music they are playing as well as string players and singers? I think there are probably numerous reasons, but here are two: first, brass players don’t have the great literature that singers and strings players have. Compared to the Mozart, Beethoven, and Brahms, for example, that are standard pieces of string and voice repertoire, the repertoire of brass players pales in comparison. And since the literature for strings and voice is so strong, players had better know the piece inside and out or their lack of knowledge will very quickly be obvious. But for brass players this is no excuse. Nor matter what the level of repertoire, a player should always have the same approach – learn the piece as deeply as possible rather than learn only the solo part.

Second, almost no brass players in Europe play chamber music. Although brass players don’t have Beethoven or Bartok quartets in their literature, there is still a great deal of strong music. And thanks to groups like the American Brass Quintet, which has been commissioning music for 50 years or so, the contemporary literature is quite substantial and strong. In the U.S., many universities have a faculty quintet, and students are required to be part of a regular brass quintet. This is simply not so in Germany and other parts of Europe.

So I think one solution to the problem of musical illiteracy is for the various schools in Europe to require students to be in a brass quintet or other chamber music formation that will meet on a weekly basis. My belief is that when students are able to make chamber music a part of their musical day, they will begin to listen (as one must in order to play chamber music) and not just count. In other words, they will be more complete musicians. My hope is that students would take control of their musical education, find other students, and form a chamber music ensemble, but unfortunately this is rarely the case. I have suggested to many students on many different occasions that they should form a quintet or other chamber ensemble, but nothing ever seems to happen. So, if conservatories in Europe really want to develop brass musicians who are literate and not illiterate, a good start would be to require students to play in a regular chamber music group.