SOUNDPOST

LETTER of the MONTH

VIOLA POWER

I am a retired violist with the Netherlands Radio Filharmonisch Orkest, and I enjoyed The Strad Podcast’s interview with violist Daniel Foster on how to lead a string section (bit.ly/45HLJNl). Relating to that, I would like to recall the best viola section rehearsal we ever had, with our leader, Francien Schatborn. We were due to start rehearsals for Bruckner’s Fourth Symphony, which is an audition piece for viola; conductors usually wrestle with the important section solos in the slow movement.

Francien suggested we get together before the first rehearsal and play through the passages. When we did, she said: ‘That’s great! Let’s do it again, and each of you tell your own story.’ We did that and, during subsequent rehearsals with Edo de Waart, he didn’t need to work on it at all! Also, after each performance (in the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, and recorded for Dutch radio and TV), he asked the group to stand and take a bow.

Our viola group was special. There was a healthy bit of competition. Apart from the first two stands, we rotated seating. And I would say our philosophy was: when one of us heard something beautiful from a colleague, they would think, ‘How beautiful! I’m going to do that even more beautifully!’ We were already doing what most conductors might ask us, before they asked us.

MARILYN KLERX-HARDIE Malmedy, Belgium

MIND OVER MATTER

Reading the interesting feature in The Strad on musicians’ health (Analysis, November 2023), I was disappointed that no mention was made of what I consider to be a major element in this complex field: that of the emotional relationship of the musician with the act of playing and practising. This is, of course, a very complex issue in itself, but the attitude of relegating muscular or musculoskeletal problems to the purely mechanical is potentially limiting and encourages in the patient what I feel to be a fundamentally wrong attitude. The ‘body’ ceases to be a miraculously sensitive integral part of my wholeness and becomes a lump of meat that has gone wrong and needs fixing by ‘exercises’, stretches, and so on. While these undoubtedly have a place, the root causes of the discomfort often lie in unseen anxieties and dubious teaching strategies, which give a student the feeling that in order to succeed, individuality and the search for a voice that comes from his or her own conviction are irrelevant, or at best a small element.

As I pointed out in a previous article (bitly.ws/Yvov), tension is the opposite of expression; energy is being pulled in, in a desperate attempt by the performer to play how they think it ought to go, rather than a giving-out from a genuine inner conviction and joy. I sit on many panels and have done for years; it is very unusual to see anyone play with freedom and real enjoyment. The anxiety level is usually too high, and it must be realised that this plays directly into the muscular system. Then it is treated as a ‘disorder’, when it is simply the player’s sensitivity giving expression to a confused inner relation with the whole business of performing.

I would make so bold as to say that if young players were being encouraged to play with joy and freedom, from ‘the inside out’, there would be few musculoskeletal problems, no matter how much practice was done. As Joan Dickson pointed out 50 years ago, there’s no such thing as overuse, just misuse. F.M. Alexander was writing about these issues 150 years ago; it’s a shame we are still not really listening to his message.

JOHN CRAWFORD

London, UK

CONCERTGEBOUW PHOTO GETTY . BERLIN PHOTO BERLIN CENTRE FOR MUSICIANS MEDICINE

JASON BELL

The video of the cellist Riccardo Pes performing at the site of the felled Sycamore Gap tree moved me almost to tears (bit.ly/3Mce7Qz). It was amazing to think that an act of such wanton vandalism could result in such a beautiful composition of that kind. My guess is that the tragic circumstance will see an explosion of meaningful artwork of all kinds in the coming months; but surely the most worthwhile project would be to make a stringed instrument from the wood. Sycamore has historically (though uncommonly) been used as an alternative to maple, and the instrument would certainly have a unique feel to it. My only hope is that the National Trust will have correctly sawn it into boards within the first couple of weeks, which will be essential to preserve the wood.

LYDIA HENLEY

Aberdeen, UK

ENDLESS POSSIBILITIES

Dmitry Tarakanov (‘What’s the buzz?’, September 2023) did an excellent job listing the many possible sources of a buzz on a bowed instrument. I remember going through practically the whole list with a frustrated client and ruling them all out one by one until I noticed that she played with very slack bow hair, and that with every bowed accent, there it was. The stick of the bow against the string can also be the culprit; luckily, it is an easy fix.

JOHN NEWTON

Toronto, Canada

ONLINE COMMENT

In The Strad’s October 2023 issue, we marked the 50th anniversary of the death of the legendary cellist Pablo Casals, as well as his legacy relating to the Bach Cello Suites. Readers shared their memories of and admiration for the Catalan cellist: bitly.ws/YuHk

CONNIE MACK-WARD I spent an afternoon at the Pablo Casals Museum in San Juan many decades ago, and it was the emotional highlight of my seven days there. Seeing his cello filled me with reverence. I had Casals’ record of Bach’s Suites, and also played them over 60 years ago.

JESSICA MOTT My all-time favourite album!

JUAN FRÖHLICH Pablo Casals and the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra’s recording of the Dvořák Cello Concerto, under conductor George Szell, is one of the greatest versions of this masterpiece.

ALISON KISSLING A great legacy of Pablo Casals.