Creative Betrayal

Music is larger than life. It is captivating to the point of bewitchery, beautifully wicked, unattainably grand, but in all its grandeur, oddly humbling.

Music humbles the performer, for however superb his technique, he is merely a servant to the composer, an interpreter of another’s ideals and emotions. As he only interprets, he may often find himself awestruck by the ingenuity of its creator. After all, it is the composer who defines music.

Yet, music is also humbling to the composer for despite him writing the most sophisticated passages and beautiful melodies, only a good performer can breathe life into them.

That is probably why music becomes more interesting, albeit frustrating, when the composer and performer is not the same person.

I firmly believe that the integrity of a piece of music must be retained by the performer. A performer must seek first and foremost to showcase the composer’s art, upon which he demonstrates his own virtuosity, in contrast to showcasing his technique by making use of the composer’s art.

Granted, some performers can, while retaining the integrity of the original music, revitalise it by injecting it with his own personality and charm (something like Bruno Pelletier’s jazz rendition of Billy Joel’s Just the Way You Are). Unfortunately, most tries at creative interpretations of the original music defaces it, robbing the composer of his craft.

Recently, I’ve been hunting down versions of Chopin’s Prelude in E Minor on Youtube. I’ve listened to performers from 8-year old kids to acclaimed musicians and even  many amateur exhibitionists. Many of them, including renowned musicians, performed this piece substantially different from the score, playing it in the way they want to hear it (Chopin must have made several turns in his grave). My favorites though, are those who played the piece superbly while keeping to the original score.

I guess we sometimes quickly jump into the trap of making changes for the better simply because it’s easier to do things the way we prefer than to step into another’s shoes and attempt to understand exactly why the music was written in a certain way, and what the composer really wants to express. Sadly, whenever we do that, we deny ourselves of a chance to be awestruck by the ingenuity of the composer and be humbled by music.