100 years ago last night, Stravinsky's Rite of Spring Ballet was first performed. It was an event. Actually it is always an event.
Giving and taking/following complicated directions isn't something most people are good at. There are generals and there are privates. A lot of privates would like to be generals but I'll wager that there are few generals who would like to be privates. Being a private is like playing violin in an orchestra. Don't take that wrong - but I mean it as there is very little individual control as you generally bow the same, use the same fingerings and positions, essentially try to make the section be a unified whole and contribute thusly. It takes superb self control to play in a section, 15 others or so, all playing the same thing, exactly the same way. Sometimes generals overlook that.
Anyway, back to the Rite of Spring (there is a short excerpt from it below). Try and look at it from the general/private point of view. Marvel at the complexity and unity. Admire that there is a general who leads but doesn't micro-manage.
Take that lesson to the office this morning. That is the point of the post.
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| Set background for Rite of Spring |
100 years ago last night, Stravinsky's Rite of Spring Ballet was first performed. It was an event. Actually it is always an event.
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| The NYTimes report shortly thereafter |
It is and perhaps always be a monumental orchestral undertaking. I played in an orchestra that performed it years ago and knew it from conducting class so I learned it pretty well. That is the point of this post. I knew it as a performer and a conductor - both sides of the door so to speak.
Giving and taking/following complicated directions isn't something most people are good at. There are generals and there are privates. A lot of privates would like to be generals but I'll wager that there are few generals who would like to be privates. Being a private is like playing violin in an orchestra. Don't take that wrong - but I mean it as there is very little individual control as you generally bow the same, use the same fingerings and positions, essentially try to make the section be a unified whole and contribute thusly. It takes superb self control to play in a section, 15 others or so, all playing the same thing, exactly the same way. Sometimes generals overlook that.
Anyway, back to the Rite of Spring (there is a short excerpt from it below). Try and look at it from the general/private point of view. Marvel at the complexity and unity. Admire that there is a general who leads but doesn't micro-manage.
Take that lesson to the office this morning. That is the point of the post.
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