Performing Classical Music in the 21st Century

Alistair Sung

Name: Alistair Sung Main Subject: Classical Cello Research Coaches: Gerard Bouwhuis, Renee Jonker Title of Research: Performing Classical Music in the 21st Century Research Question: Can a reconsideration of presentation, programming and audience relationship influence the response to classical music? Summary of Results: The financial and cultural climate of the past 50 years has changed the way in which classical music is perceived. Where once it was valued as a crucial part of a healthy society, it has now grown isolated from mainstream culture and has been relegated to the periphery of modern cultural life. This paper will examine how these recent cultural and social developments occurred and focus on their effects on the performance of classical music in the 21st century. Through an analysis of new and existing approaches to performance, a framework will be established which will form the basis of a test concert. Data gained from this concert will then be analysed in order to explore the possibility of altering existing concert conventions to respond to the problems facing the performance of classical music. Research will be presented in the form of a research paper. Biography: Alistair began learning the cello in Sydney Australia with Marcus Hartstein and David Pereira. After attending Newtown High School of Performing Arts, Alistair completed his Bachelor Music (honours I)/Bachelor Arts (philosophy) at the University of New South Wales in 2010. On graduating, Alistair was awarded the university medal and his honours thesis, ‘Variety in Performance: A Comparative Analysis of Recorded Performances of Bach’s Sixth Suite for Solo Cello’ was co-published in the Empirical Musicology Review (Ohio State University). Alistair is currently completing a Masters degree at the Koninklijk Conservatorium in The Hague with Larissa Groeneveld.

Personal response

The concert was, from my experience, successful. From the broadest possible perspective, I felt that the various changes to the 3 key areas created an atmosphere that altered the way in which the audience listened and responded to the music.

In terms of presentation, the location was ideal and the decision to use various spaces was well received by the audience. I felt that the healthy balance of old and young audience members created a specifically positive and energetic atmosphere and that serving alcohol throughout, while distracting for some, helped to accentuate this.

Surprisingly, I felt that audiences responded most strongly to what I anticipated to be the most ‘difficult’ piece. With the Shostakovich, I felt that the audience was extremely focussed and involved in the performance. I believe that the use of a video introduction was integral to this.

In terms of audience relationship, I was able to have a much closer connection to my audience than usual. Because I was in charge of organising the guest list (via email), I already had contact before the concert began. Crucially, my decision to welcome guests individually as they entered, allowed me to further strengthen this relationship. By the time it came to perform, the audience had a personal connection and thus wanted to enjoy themselves.

There were a number of positive and negative things that occurred which I did not anticipate. The most negative was a miscommunication between Manuel and myself between the first and second pieces. As a result, I moved into the second performance space before he had started playing. In the confusion that ensued, a large portion of the audience followed me and, as a consequence, the Kapustin piece became heard as ‘background music’ with people moving and talking throughout. In this, as yet underdeveloped format, small mistakes can have large ramifications for the performance and reception of the music.

One of the most positive things was the enthusiasm with which all audience members, young and old, embraced the absence of seating. For the last 3 pieces, the audience arranged themselves on the floor, standing, and leaning against walls. They felt comfortable to move around the space and position themselves close or far away from the musicians.

Another positive aspect was the effectiveness of the altered staging. For the Shostakovich and Piazzolla, Manuel and I performed in two different spaces divided by a wall but with a large gap that allowed us to communicate. While this was originally a creative solution to not being able to move the piano, the final effect allowed the audience to move between spaces and experience the cello and piano at different levels.

What became apparent, from this experience, is that the degree to which we, as concert organisers, control and foster the atmosphere can be incredibly varied. By altering the various aspects of the concert experience, we can have a lot more control of how the music is perceived. In this instance, encouraging the audience to respond to the music as they might to an artwork (i.e viewing it from different angles/positions) worked incredibly well. But dictating how an audience should respond is difficult. Finding the right balance means a lot more work and thought, but can also result in a stronger experience for the audience. It seems that the success or failure of a concert could hinge on a lot more than just the execution of the music and that audiences are looking for new experiences.

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