Last week we had a great article discussing that ever present debate of live vs recorded music. This week’s Monday Daily Bow is a special release with a fantastically written piece by guest author Dr. Jo Nardolillo. We featured Dr. Nardolillo in an exclusive interview last year, and she has some very deep insights into live music.
Enjoy!
Water Lilies, by Dr. Jo Nardolillo
Strolling through the Cleveland Museum of Art, I was enjoying the magnificent paintings and sculptures… a lovely way to spend that rainy fall day last year. After rounding a corner in that labyrinth building, I found myself startlingly near a wall of paint which jumped off the canvas in huge sloppy globs of greasy color. Clearly I had made a turn out of the beauty of Renaissance figures and into some modern exhibit. Not wanting to disturb my placid afternoon with violently splattered colors, I quickly crossed the room insearch of the nearest door, only turning at the last moment to glance back.
I was stunned. There, taking up the entire far wall was that most famous of Monet’s paintings: Water Lilies. Had I really been allowed to stand so close to such a priceless masterwork? How could I have failed to recognize it? Weighed down by these thoughts, I sank onto a nearby bench. We have all seen this painting hundreds of times — on calendars, on greeting cards, on screen savers… my college roommate even had a high-quality framed poster of the work. All lovely, yet none even touched on the breathtaking reality of looking at the actual work of art. Even at a distance, the paint leapt off the canvas, creating a depth which pulled me in, making Monet’s pond feel more real than the flat whitewalls around me. Moving to another bench closer and to one side, I saw the painting changed entirely. Mesmerized, I became lost in that one piece of art until the museum closed. Since then I have seen images of Water Lilies a hundred times, and I feel disappointed with these dull attempts at reproduction. Yes, they are pretty, but they are mere copies, not the real thing. A painting can only be art, can only move us as was intended, if we stand in its presence and breathe the air which touches it.
As a musician, I realize that sound, even more than painting, requires life. A recording of great music, like a poster of a great painting, is very enjoyable, but it is only a pale imitation of the experience of a concert. Music is a living art form, meaning it only exists in the moment it is actually being created by living musicians. When that moment is gone, so is the art, belonging only in the souls of those lucky enough to have been present in that moment. Music must be live.
No comments yet.