4B - Thursday, February 23, 2012
The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
TAKING NOr
Exploring sounds of obscure instruments
Carillonneurs and
harpsichordists play
outdated tunes
By SAM CENZHANG
Daily Arts Writer
The University's music pro-
gram has its share of world-class
pianists and virtuoso violinists,
but there are plenty of faculty and
students exploring instruments
and sounds with less exposure.
While these instruments are far
from being performed in today's
concert halls, they are important
at the University as ways to gain
a deeper understanding of cur-
rent musical practices.
The sounds of the harpsichord,
a keyboard instrument that gen-
erates sound by plucking strings
rather than hammering them as
the piano does, are alive and well
at the University. It was once the
instrument of choice for profes-
sional and amateur musicians
alike, but it gradually faded from
prominence as the piano gained
popularity.
For harpsichord doctoral can-
didate Francis Yun in the School
of Music, Theatre & Dance, the
primary draw of the instrument
was its repertoire. Like most
harpsichord students, Yun had
a strong piano background but
turnedtothe harpsichord because
of his interest in the music.
The harpsichord music of 20th
century composers such as Gyor-
gy Ligeti and Alfred Schnittke
is a big part of why he plays it,
Yun said. Ligeti's and Schnittke's
music represent a neoclassical
approach to music, where musical
forms and styles of the past are
deconstructed to counterbalance
saturated and familiar sounds. In
that vein, many students' paths
to the harpsichord are similarly
motivated.
"I was getting sick of the piano
repertoire, so I looked to the 20th
and 21st centuries as well as way
back to Bach, Handel and even
before that. I just fell in love with
the repertoire, and most of the
music for those chunks of time is
for harpsichord," Yun said.
The harpsichord's plucking
mechanism results in a sharp
and piercing sound, which Yun
describes as an "equalizer," clari-
fying textures and combinations
of sounds and timbres that the
piano cannot. Not only does it
produce a distinctive sound, but
the harpsichord is also a lens
through which to examine music
history.
Historical harpsichord music
isn't limited to the same keyboard
suites with which every pianist is
familiar.
"As I study more, it's 17th cen-
tury composers that are wild and
exciting to play," Yun said. Com-
posers like Girolamo Frescobaldi,
Louis Couperin and William Byrd
The University has two carillons - one on North Campus (pictured) and one in the Burton Memorial Tower - the latter of which is one of the largest of its kind in the world.
AUSTEN HUFFORD/Daily
were 'unbound by rules' that
marked Bach and Handel's music.
"What Bach did within those
limits was amazing, but the stuff
in the 17th century was a lot wild-
er," Yun said.
One cannot approach harp-
sichord playing without at least
some consideration for histori-
cally informed performance prac-
tice, a school of musical thought
that suggests music should be
played exactly as it was first con-
ceived, on instruments of its eraof
composition.
"By playing the harpsichord,
I'm a part of that," Yun said.
However, he's not necessar-
ily overly concerned with perfect
historical accuracy. He prefers to
make musical choices based on
the music on the page, rather than
following centuries-old style.
"A lot of it is vague and hard to
interpret, and musicians aren't
necessarily the best writers," Yun
said.
Most harpsichord students
come to the harpsichord from
piano, just exploring what's out
there, Yun said, and most people
who pick up the harpsichord
have the same interest in rep-
ertoire. Yun stresses the differ-
ences between harpsichord and
piano in his teaching as well as
playing.
Though the harpsichord draws
easy comparisons to the piano,
Yun conceptualizes them very dif-
ferently. Harpsichord technique
requires a much lighter touch, so
much so that the mechanics of
piano playing are almost forgot-
ten.
"The instruments, by their very
nature, are so different that I feel
like I'm using different parts of
my brain," Yun said.
"I like to get people to just be
able to play one note with good
touch and good sound, and to
realize that it's not the piano.
Most pianists have to get over
the hurdle of wanting the harpsi-
chord to be the piano," Yun said.
From strings to bells
It's difficult to imagine the
carillon as anything other than
what it is, an instrument made up
of bells, played using a keyboard-
esque assembly, with manual pegs
hit with the fist and foot pedals.
While there is a carillon on North
Campus, the carillon in Burton
Memorial Tower - named after
its donor, former Michigan Ath-
letic Director Charles Baird - on
Central Campus contains 56 bells
and is one of the largest in the
world.
"The carillon can be a sig-
nificant part of your memories
of college," said Steven Whiting,
associate dean of graduate stud-
ies in the Music, Theatre & Dance
School, referring to the chimes as
students walk from class to class.
"The sound is an integral part of
campus."
Helping to create that sound
is an eclectic group of carillon-
neurs. LSA senior Kyle Helzer
discovered an introductory caril-
lon class through a promotional
flier, and though he has only
taken the class for two terms, he is
already producing music heard by
the entire campus.
"I had a little bit of a music
background, but I wasn't really
doing anything with music here
on campus. I saw the flier, and I
thought, not many people get to
do that," Helzer said.
Students must prepare 15 min-
utes of material before they can
play on the tower, Helzer said.
Performances last from noon
until 12:30 on weekdays, and
consist of material from sonatas
and dance suites written specifi-
cally for the carillon, as well as
arranged popular melodies.
Richard Giszczak, a safety
officer in the chemistry depart-
ment, has been playing the
carillon for 24 years, and runs
a business that arranges popu-
lar music for the instrument.
According to Giszczak, the caril-
lon is better suited for minor-key
music because of the physical
properties of the bell. But this
doesn't mean it's all doom and
gloom up on the bell tower.
"It's primarily popular stuff,
but I've done a lot of funny things
and fun things. I do the Hallow-
een concert, and that's some pret-
ty goofy music," Giszczak said.
A lot can be gleaned from
unconventional instrument and
composition pairings, goofy or
not. Pius Cheung, a well-known
marimba and xylophone special-
ist, recorded Bach's Goldberg
variations, originally for key-
board. Trombonists often play
Bach's unaccompanied suites for
cello, Prof. Whiting said.
"Imagine all the things trom-
bonists can learn about phras-
ing, legato and counterpoint
from tackling a Bach cello suite,"
Whiting said. In the same vein,
playing Bach on older keyboard
instruments can yield ideas about
articulation and manipulation of
dynamics that pianists can bring
back to the piano.
Obscure instruments, however,
are not simply limited to enrich-
ing pianists' musical style.
"Some people are drawn to be
specialists. There's a fundamental
curiosity about acquiring exper-
tise that's not shared by many
people," Whiting said.
As Whiting explained, there
are two ways to approach the
study of more obscure instru-
ments.
"The question when you're
running a music school is how
specialized you want to get. Are
the earlier instruments there pri-
marily to be ancillary to people
who are focused on piano mainly,
or do you have the resources tc
devote specific academic pro-
grams to early music perfor-
mance?" Whiting said.
The answer to that question
changes from decade to decade.
"I wish that we could answer that
more strongly in the affirmative,"
Whiting said.
He added: "Right now, early
instruments are a crucial
enhancement for students who
are working on other things."
Students and faculty members are able to play the carillon by participating in classes.
STEP INT0 T WHITNEY HOUSTON
Debating right to privacy in the wake of Whitney'
a vital cog in the machine that
fuels the arts industries.
Like in the salons of 77th This brings me to Ms. Whit-
and 18th century France, ney Houston. Did the pressures
this weekly installment of fame drive not only her but
also our recently deceased boos
will feature two Daily Arts like MJ and Amy Winehouse to
writers discussing the finer self-destruction? Maybe. But no
matter how hard the paparazzi
points o farts mediums pushed these beloved songsters,
from at least 10 years ago. that interest is something that
comes with the territory of suc-
cess. And whether those in the
With the invention of Twitter, spotlight relish the attention or
Western society is transforming shy away from each flash of the
further into a culture built on camera, it's all just part of the
overexposure and hyper-inter- deal.
est in celebritydom. Americans Yes, the demands on celebri-
may not know why, but they're ties are intense and probably a
increasingly fascinated with little excessive, but nine times
everything that superstars say out of 10, the journey to becom-
and do. Fan and paparazzi behav- ing famous involves a career
ior may be a lot to handle, but I choice. And when people like
argue that it's A-OK. Whitney go door-to-door in Hol-
It comes down to this: Celebri- lywood in search of a record deal
ties wouldn't be celebrities and or film gig, they're accepting the
musicians couldn't make a living risk that their career is going to
without supporters. Fans may be take off and spin out of control.
crazy (so, so crazy), but they're Stars can and do lead nor-
mal lives - there's definitely the
option of handling success in a
healthy way. Artists like Meryl
Streep and Johnny . Depp live
without shunning the media but
also without resorting to drug-
induced antics for attention, and
it's at no cost to their careers.
But not everyone who graces the
pages of The National Enquirer is
level-headed. Drugs have a habit
of turning celebrities into jokes,
and unfortunately, as Whitney
lost control of her addiction, she
lost a lot of personal credibility.
Fast forward to her funeral,
which was liveblogged from
every corner of the globe. Did she
deserve her demise? Of course
not. I love Whitney as much the
next "It's Not Right"-singin' fool,
but if she couldn't handle the
pressure, it was her duty to get
that booty out of the industry - if
not for herself, then for her child
(drama intentional).
Our culture wants to believe
that celebrities are superhuman,
and fans demand a lot from them.
But I say stars are asking for it.
-EDITH FREYER
The death of the Prom Queen
of Soul has reminded me that I
am pro-celebrity privacy. Not to
say that her fans were the death
of her, but there's something real
here in terms of the societal pres-
sures experienced by the stars.
It looked as if all the balloon
shops in the world had vomited
Valentine's Day paraphernalia
onto the streets outside New
Hope Baptist Church on Satur-
day, a week following Whitney
Houston's death and the day
of her funeral. As the golden
hearse carried the deceased pop
star through crowds of people
on MLK Boulevard, love and
remembrance were sincerely
communicated - but when is
it too much? However true and
lovely it is that fans gush their
feelings about Whit's death, it
may also be accurate to say the
pressure of the media - always
linked back to the fans - may
have been a factor in the drug use
that led to her death.
We Americans tend to crush
our celebrities with attention
until they bleed Propofol. Illus-
trious singer Tony Bennett said
it himself at Clive Davis's pre-
Grammy Beverly Hilton party
dedicated to Houston. Bennett's
ballsy commentary about recent
celebrity deaths was reported
in TMZ as follows: "First it was
Michael Jackson, then Amy
Winehouse, now the magnificent
Whitney Houston. Let's legalize
drugs, like Amsterdam, it's a very
sane city now."
Whether or not you agree with
Bennett interms oflegality work-
ing as an effective means for a
safer, saner country where there
are fewer drug-related deaths,
the trend is present and the
deaths of these artists are largely
romanticized. Maybe if they had
more privacy, this wouldn't be a
problem.
US Magazine's "Stars -
They're Just Like US!" feeds the
fuel to America's ever-too-curi-
ous fire. It's not just that celebri-
ties deserve some privacy - they
do - but why are we so invested*
in whether Jessica Alba does her
own grocery shopping or Russell
Crowe picks his nose?
Privacy aside in the case of
Whit, the past is the past, and
Whitney does deserve recogni-
tion for some killer dance tunes.
"I Wanna Dance With Somebody
(Who Loves Me)," recorded in
July of 1986, is such a staple song
that my modern dance teacher
made up a competition jazz com-
bination to it to pay our respects
- and that was a large surprise.
Though I believe iTunes's
decision to raise the prices of her
hit songs by 60 percent less than
an hour after her death and the
vomiting of heart-balloons at her
funeral were both a bit exces-
sive, Houston does deserve some
lovin.'
-JULIA SMITH-EPPSTEINER
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