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Merlijn Twaalfhoven: Listeners in Concert
A reflextion on the contemporary concert ritual with added comments, experiences and observations.
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Information, entertainment and beauty can be accessed instantly and effortlessly.
Using an Internet connection or a satellite dish, one can have an infinite amount of experiences in a short time.
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Our knowledge and experience are able to grow as long as we remain receptive, and as long as we can keep up.
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You will never be able to see everything, so you learn to wander around a bit in different worlds and atmospheres.
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You can step right into the centre of important events.
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This is something that can be learned.
You become more adept at screening things superficially and at estimating whether or not something is useful or interesting.
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We distance ourselves. The world is tangibly close, but we ourselves draw back.....
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A daily edition of a newspaper includes more information than a person would have come across in her or his whole lifetime in the 17th century.
A million signatures against injustice can be
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A superficial multitude is completely different from an experience that arises from engagement.
It is less rich, less profound.
It is also less true.
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Intuition can easily be manipulated. Politics and commerce make use of fleeting, one-sided imagery, statements and distorted facts to influence our judgement. We probably do not want this. We want
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Taking one’s time is no luxury, but indispensable to keeping track of reality.
In this world, taking one’s time is an art that needs to be learned and developed all over again.
Music can
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How to engage with impulses that can’t go any faster than they are coming.
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In a concert, sound merges with time. The music relates nothing but its own sound.
It isn’t at the service of anything, but exists purely by itself.
The concert hall is therefore the ultimate
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The acoustics are perfect. Temperature and moisture exactly in balance to make sure the piano stays in tune.
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Besides, every little piece of time has its own label: work, social, recreation, self-improvement, etc. The more precise the role and function of a person, space or moment, the better our lives will
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It’s no different with music.
Every genre or subculture has its own stage.
Separate from the rest. Independent.
It shows how rich our culture is. How differentiated.
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We are free to examine such pieces by attending an endless variety of venues, galleries and concert halls.
The challenge is to make the right choices amongst this variety.
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In such a case you go by the reviews.
Or you pick something with a nice poster.
Or you base yourself on the opinions of your friends.
You leave the choice to other people.
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The public wants to be assured of a good experience. The margin for surprises becomes as small as possible. Genres that cannot be described precisely are unmarketable.
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His decisions will always be tentative. With an abundance of musical offerings there is little time to look beyond the surface.
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We are now completely free to opt for whatever we like, without taking other people’s expectations into account.
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Just like it isn’t strange go to an exclusive opera when you’re not a rich person. These are experiences that are becoming more and more disconnected from our social status. We are free to choose
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Yet they all make use of posters, flyers, a website and advertising in order to appeal to their audience. Like commercial companies, they are attempting to communicate in the most professional and
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Music is often used to create atmosphere. It colors our surroundings, often plays in the background during movies, in stores and restaurants.
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We may listen to perfectly executed music at any time of the day. This is no longer extraordinary or surprising; it is very common, inexpensive or even free.
We are used to hearing and seeing the
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Even an album recording of classical music sometimes consists of hundreds of small fragments that have been spliced together.
Just like how in movies we can no longer distinguish between actors and
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For a musician doesn’t have time to build up a relationship with the audience. To make ends meet, he or she must perform concerts at constantly varying locations. There is little time for anything
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His performance was already perfected in the rehearsal studio. He does not want to derogate from it.
In the concert hall as well everything should sound as on the recording: perfect.
A musician
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Of course it is nice to see these shows being so popular. Young people are greatly encouraged to sing or dance themselves. The audience is trained to listen precisely and with a critical ear.
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The audience seems to be more interested in seeing someone fighting and struggling through an audition, than in hearing a professional sing really well.
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An audience can identify with the auditioner because it can imagine what that person must be going through.
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A concert was not a passive experience, but an activity.
In church or during parties and celebrations, participating in the music emphasized group unity.
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Before that, the chairs were placed around tables and coffee was served.
A concert was a social experience. Nowadays, one is supposed to sit still during a performance.
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The musicians are often far away, on an elevated stage.
Your ticket tells you which seat you’re allowed to take. Which stranger will be sitting next to you during the following hour.
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From the moment the piece has started, the musicians are engrossed in their sound.
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Similarly, the audience instantly disintegrates. Some people go home directly, others are engaged in conversation. Perhaps there was a brief moment of connection, of a shared experience. After the
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When contact between people takes place on a professional level it is very purposeful. But it doesn’t involve real engagement. Engagement benefits from openness, and we are only open when a
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The challenge is to break through them without simply replacing them with new patterns.
Because without a prescribed behavioral pattern, we will have to be very aware of our surroundings. We learn
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How can music bring people together for something more than a fleeting, aesthetic experience?
How do you create music that doesn’t make people judge from a distance but allows them to engage with
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Merlijn
Attention requires time.
Even the most wonderful music can be done without.
Nobody is an amateur at being themselves.