The Text - is it REALLY Important?...

Well, yes, and no, depending on how you chose to look at it. I grew up singing the music for top 40 songs, never knowing the lyrics (because they were unintelligible...), or, usually the title. If the music portion was interesting, then I focused on the musical components and not much else.

As a cellist, I can recognize pieces I've played or heard, but can't always name them. I can hum my part, but the certain symphony escapes me...because it wasn't as important as what I was playing and experiencing. I refuse to get into a "Who Knows More Repertoire" battle with passive aggressive musicians with many titles...

BUT-when it comes to good and really memorable, of COURSE, text can make or break a piece. If the music is absolutely brilliant, set to an insipid text, will it inspire? It puts me to sleep.

In approaching a piece, I'm amazed at what musicians look at and how they interpret text.

In a dramatic sense, if it's not important in the utmost sense of the word, the writer would not have bothered. Same with the music....if it's good...

Looking at a piece of vocal music (well, the same really holds true in instrumental music too, but that's another conversation...), I look at it as a monologue. A story. A narrative. It MUST have a clear beginning, middle and end. It also must have a journey: how are we or the performer/singer/actor changed by the end of that journey? There is no 2 hour play to show the journey with any leisure-it's compressed time when it's a choral piece, unless it's opera, and even then, if you look at it, it's abridged.

WHO is singing, or telling the story? WHY are they choosing this moment, above all others, to tell someone? Who are they singing to? (I know-I ended the sentence with a preposition...) WHY is this moment so much more important than the previous minutes of their lives?

Artistically, in order to be dynamic, in order to inspire a fully emotional performance, the writer has done this work on a writer's level, and it is up to us to rediscover it all for ourselves.

For example: An actor should find a way to make the moment a monologue is shared so important that it merits a monologue. It's the actor's homework in the character. It is also the singer's work, the conductor's work... In a Broadway musical-the actors do not sing, until what they're experiencing is of such a high level, that speech no longer expresses the emotional message adequately. The musical version/translation of anything is on a higher plane. Opera-same deal. If it were everyday as usual, would we pay to see it? Movies? Would we watch someone do dishes and "be real" for two hours-REALLY real-not the movie version? Totally unedited? "The Truman Show"-did they watch every minute, or try and tune in when something was "Happening?"

Art encompasses special moments in our existence as human beings, as we try and understand why we're here, and what we're all about. Aesthetics improve the quality of our lives-they are not random. Whomever chooses an art form is choosing because of deep rooted emotions that inspire the artists. Furniture designers, musicians, bakers, sculptors, all artists. Same deal.

If you approach a piece with the knowledge that this is probably the "first" time of something, you'll be ahead of the game in helping to unlock the potential depth of emotion good, fabulous work can inspire.

It can be the first time a woman has ever shared deep important thoughts with this person. It can be the moment of death, or love, or hatred, grief-see? lots of riches out there. The stronger the choice, the better and richer the performance can be, due to the fact that it has heightened importance for the performer.

The writer, composers don't always see it, but if it's great work, the depth will be there due to the depth of emotional life the artist is capable of. Playwrights don't always see the imagery the actors and directors see-same with the music. They just wrote what was in their hearts and minds. It's up to us to find the personal meaning so that our performances can be as rich and wonderful as we are capable of sharing. It's all about looking beyond the written page. If you'll commit to that search, your work will never be the same.