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Legendary Teacher Offers Insights on J.S. Bach By EMILY ONDRACEK
Blanche Honegger Moyse is among those rare individuals imbued with music, for whom it flows naturally and unrestrainedly. Born in Switzerland nearly a century ago, Moyse has devoted her life to the study, teaching, and performing of music. Among her teachers were such renowned musicians as Adolph Busch, Georges Enesco, and Wanda Landowska. Shortly after the end of World War II, Moyse and her husband came to live in Vermont, where they had a hand in establishing several musical institutions, including the Marlboro Music Festival and the Brattleboro Music Center. A bow-arm ailment forced Moyse's retirement as a violinist, and she focused on the study and performance of the choral works of J.S. Bach (founding the New England Bach Festival in 1969). In a master class in Morse Hall on October 27, Blanche Honegger Moyse shared her expertise in the music of Bach with four students and an attentive audience.
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| The performers and faculty members gathered around Blanche Honegger Moyse after her chamber-music master class. (Left to right) Susan Paik, violin; Seymour Lipkin, piano faculty; Moyse; Jasmine Choi, flute; Carol Wincenc, flute
faculty; and Sarah Kapustin, violin. (Photo by Jane Rubinsky) |
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"Play it again, just thinking of what you want to do. Not of me. Play for you." These were the first words from Moyse after flutist Jasmine Choi played Bach's Partita for Solo Flute—and she played the work two more times. "I would like you to bring more architecture to what you do," Moyse insisted. "All has to make sense, stops and breaths have to make sense as a whole; give a meaning to your stops." She stressed the importance of becoming more familiar with Bach's music, simply by playing what he wrote and allowing the notes to take a meaning of their own. "Get more friendly with Bach and have him tell you what to do. Let it play itself."Sarah Kapustin brought poise, elegance, and a clear, ringing sound to the first and second movements of Bach's Sonata No. 2 in A Minor for Solo Violin. Moyse was delighted, but advised: "Don't do that scale like it's a game; it's a serious piece. You must play with even more love, it's too easy for you." The bow must always be used with intelligence, Moyse explained; careful decisions about how much bow to use bring more seriousness and meaning to any performance. Again, she encouraged Ms. Kapustin to add her own personality to her performance while showing to the audience Bach's great intelligence."You have such a beautiful sound, you don't need so much vibrato," Moyse exclaimed after Susan Paik's performance of the Chaconne from Bach's Partita No. 2 for Solo Violin. Moyse said that vibrato should be only used for ornamentation, and gave an in-depth look at using the bow intelligently. It must be treated metronomically, she explained. Full chords need full bows, while in other places, the bow must be cut up intelligently. One should never do anything too quickly when playing Bach; everything must be well thought out.Violinist William Harvey gave a very controlled, thoughtful performance of the Sarabande and Allemande from the same Partita, which Moyse praised before asking him to play another movement, the Gigue. A few measures into it, Moyse exclaimed, "Ah! You frighten me! You will kill me like that!" Bach's music, she explained, should not be too fast or aggressive. It must, of course, be physically precise and clean. "It's not serious enough," she told Harvey. "Less nervous, less quick, more rhythmic. One must always be calm in Bach and never too quick, as if you eat too much."Throughout the class, Moyse dwelled on her belief in the importance of letting Bach speak through his own music, and the importance of intelligent playing. For violinists and string players in general, this means giving careful consideration to use of the bow; flutists and other wind players must give meaning to their breathing. The performer's responsibility is to play the music many times, until a high level of freedom and comfort is reached. Only then can Bach's music truly be conveyed to the audience as the masterwork of a musical genius.Emily Ondracek is a master's student in violin.
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