Why we like some musical interpretations, but hate others

By David Amos

SAN DIEGO–Let’s talk about interpretation. What makes us like one performance and dislike another? Many factors come into play, but let me share a few ideas which you may not have considered before.

Interpretation is the way a piece of music is played. There are many variations as to what is “right” and what is “wrong”; a lot is dictated by tradition, faithfulness to the composer’s directions in the written score, an understanding of the musical style, and what the performer was taught earlier in his or her studies.

Other factors include good taste, the acoustics of the hall, the abilities of the performing ensemble, and of course, the personal statement of the soloist or the leader of the performing group. In smaller, more democratic chamber groups, as in a string quartet, we hear a consensus of various opinions, which was reached after discussions at the preceding rehearsals. Solo pianists are on their own.

But, with full orchestras, the decisions are almost invariably those of the conductor. Some conductors go out of their way to interpret the music differently than most others would do it, supposedly to “make their own artistic statement”. Others are content to reproduce faithfully the composer’s indications in the score, with the understanding that the composer’s intentions are the last word and should be followed to the note. As I said in my last article, Arturo Toscanini was a great conductor who strongly believed in that.

Some living composers have told me directly ”This is what I wrote; take it from there, and interpret as you wish”. But generally, you should follow the precise instructions indicated.

Can we as listeners tell the difference? Certainly, yes. There is no substitute to having heard a particular piece of music many times before. The more times, the better we are equipped to enjoy, criticize, and praise.
It is not much different from a first-time airline passenger compared to a frequent flyer, who is far more seasoned to comment if this was really a “good flight”. 

Experienced concert-goers, recorded music enthusiasts, and musicians, can instantly tell us their opinions, what they liked, disliked, and as to whether they agreed or disagreed to various degrees with the performance at hand. Once in a blue moon, you may hear someone comment something like “This is not the way in which I feel that this work should be done, but the conductor had a lot to say, and I respect that”.

Or, on even more rare occasions, you may hear “I never thought that it could be played that way, but it was wonderful!” In rarest of times, even enlightened critics have been known to utter the latter. 

But, more often than not, we have inscribed in our mind the way a certain piece of music should be played, we only accept “our concept”, and reject other deviations as incorrect, or not as correct.

Why? I am convinced that there is one key element which ties us so many times to a particular style or interpretation. A musical composition gets ingrained in our minds on a semi-permanent basis the first few times we seriously hear it. The younger we are, the stronger is the impression. It becomes the standard by which all other renditions are compared.

Quoting Jerry Seinfeld, not that there is anything wrong with that. Some of us were lucky in that our first hearing of the works of the basic repertory was by great conductors. I started my serious music listening in my mid-teens. My early record purchases were with orchestras conducted by Ormandy, Walter, Reiner, Szell, pianists such as Rubinstein, Horowitz, Fleischer, Serkin, violinists Heifetz, Stern, Milstein, Kreisler, Francescatti, and many other luminaries. Leonard Bernstein’s fabulous career was just getting started. All of them set the standards in my mind as to how I enjoy listening to music, and to how I conduct.

Say, for instance, that you are listening to something very familiar which you know well, the Violin Concerto in E Minor by Mendelssohn. As we are listening to a previously known and accepted interpretation, we are carried away by the melodies and phrases we have grown to love. And we anticipate in our minds the musical phrase which is about to be played. We may even have a slight physical bodily response, savoring the feeling which will touch us in an instant. We have pre-conceived expectations. Now, if the interpreter does something unexpected, even a slight variation in which a melody is turned, it surprises us, because it was not anticipated in our memory, and therefore, we may say that “it did not fit my standards”. Our mental and bodily rhythm was slightly altered from our expectations, no matter how subtly. The more experienced we are as listeners, the more we are sensitive to these variations in shadings and hues.

Of course, there are many other reasons not to like a certain rendition. They simply could be technical, if the orchestra simply “did not play well”, for some reason or another. But in the larger scheme of things, what is primary in a solid, sincere interpretation is  ‘Did the artists communicate something to us? Were we moved, excited, swept? Did it evoke in us an emotional response?’ That is the mark of a successful, satisfying performance.

With less familiar repertory, music we are hearing for the first time, or new music, the experienced and less experienced listeners are on slightly more equal grounds. What we have to listen for is the composer’s message, the mental picture drawn by the music, the technical proficiency of the players, and based on our musical experiences prior to this moment, what we like and don’t like. Keeping an open mind provides the opportunities for substantial rewards, but it takes a bit of effort. To my opinion, it is worth going the extra step. It is simply the opening of more doors to deeper enjoyment and fulfillment.

You may disagree with some of the above thoughts, but don’t forget: Art is not absolute or inflexible. Only our ignorance and prejudices make it so. Everything can be debated and challenged. Let me know your opinions.

 *
Amos is conductor of the Tifereth Israel Community Orchestra and has guest conducted orchestras around the world.