Drop
the guitar, head on over to the symphony
Bradley
Zint
Call
me crazy, or just plain call me wrong,
but I firmly believe the art of the symphony
is the greatest form of art mankind has
in its creative imagination. Such blatant
and obvious subjectivity will surely
defy aficionados of the other art forms,
but I am prepared to justify myself and
face the music of my claim. So here goes.
By nature, symphonies are long and complex. They may go onward with varying
forms of musicality, from the boisterously loud to the amazingly subtle and
somewhere in between.
Unlike visual art forms, most people probably can’t stare at a statue
or painting for a solid hour like they can listen to a symphony. Poetry or
fiction, though wonderful in their own respects, do not seem to bring together
so many different people performing a common cause like a symphony does. The
written word is more solitary and personal. Movies and plays, even though they
incorporate visual, spoken and musical art forms, guide the viewer to the inevitable
conclusion and, in my opinion, leave less room for personal interpretation.
However, symphonies can grab the attention of the listener for long periods
of time. They bring together many.
They are open to tremendous amounts of interpretation, both from the performers
and listeners after repeated performances.
These reasons are precisely why I appreciate them so much and why I think you
should, too. I believe there is something for everyone in a symphony of his
or her choice. The question is whether other people, possibly less patient
than myself, are willing to listen to something beyond the standard four- or
five-minute song into music that lasts 45 minutes.
The common stereotype is symphonies are dreary, quiet efforts from dead white
men in wigs from a past century. Consequently, it’s thought 45 minutes
of so-called “music” would be more likely to inhibit a 45-minute
nap. This could not be farther from the truth.
Some symphonies are likely to make you believe they are the soundtrack for
hell itself. Others sound angrier than a brother who just found out his best
friend slept with his sister. And still others appear more conflicted than
President George W. Bush reading a grammar book.
But what’s even more amazing is that after such angry passages are over,
the opposite can happen. What was once evil becomes good. What was once somber
becomes celebratory. What was once conflicted finds a way to resolve itself.
Many good symphonies have within them music that arouses more emotions than
you know what to deal with.
This is especially the case with heavily romanticized symphonies of composers
like Pyotr Tchaikovsky, Gustav Mahler, Ludwig van Beethoven and, one of my
favorites, the lesser-known Anton Bruckner.
I recommend listening to an entire symphony by one of the aforementioned musical
fellows. You might be surprised how beautiful a string section sounds compared
to your normal grungy garage band. This is not to say such bands are bad, but
that symphonies in all likelihood reach a higher level of sophistication and
complexity than most forms of music today ever do and that every once in a
while, we should reach for those heights and enjoy the view.
I will conclude with a quotation from a revolutionary artist of film music,
Bernard Herrmann. He said, “I am not interested in music or any work
of art that fails to stimulate appreciation of life and, more importantly,
pride in life.”
Bradley Zint is a junior journalism and political major and the opinion
editor of the Daily Forty-Niner.
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