Interpretations

On our trip to Italy this summer, we had a free day, and my daughter Leah and I, along with some colleagues, went on an excursion. Someone from our group recommended we eat ice cream in the city we were visiting. As Leah and I separated from the rest, we followed suit and ordered ice cream at one of the multitude of parlors. Leah ordered four different flavors, and I went with three. To our amazement, each scoop grew to fist size, and our ice cream cone rose like a tower. Things got even better when the server photographed Leah’s beautiful ice cream cone and complimented the combination I had chosen. Leah and I looked at each other, and what came next was, of course, us trying to eat the ice cream we had unknowingly ordered, never expecting its huge quantity. As the ice cream melted and dripped on the ground, we laughed and giggled as a woman passing by cried out, “Oh, my God!”

This week, I've been thinking about interpreting a musical piece.  Perhaps it has little to do with dripping ice cream. When we discuss interpreting a piece of music, we usually think about conveying the composer's intent. It can be repetitive to say that, across different periods, genres, and forms, accepted norms in performing a given piece have become part of the tradition. And as educators, we teach those ideas to students.

However, on one occasion, I was in awe and inspired by how one performer approached an interesting composition. My daughter was participating in this competition, and the participants were required to play the same pieces in the program. I helped my daughter practice one piece at home that required a great deal of musical input. She stayed within the stylistic norms of that type of music and prepared for the performance. On the day of the competition, one performer, an excellent clarinetist, had other ideas for this piece. He took on a much faster tempo for the entire composition and offered a totally different perspective of the same work my daughter had been playing. He introduced interesting effects I hadn't even imagined were possible within the confines of this composition. Then the old-age question came to mind. How do we measure the so-called required involvement of the performer in matters of interpretation? I really enjoyed this outstanding performance, as the performer set forth many of his own ideas.

One of the professors at the University I attended also had many such ideas when he helped his students compose contemporary music. I experienced that firsthand when I was called to play many of his students' compositions. He always found an interesting way to interpret a phrase or motif. Just when I thought a particular section was hopeless, he would always find a solution. 

That said, interpretation also plays an important role in human interactions. How our minds interpret something might actually have nothing to do with reality, but that is a topic for another occasion.

Therefore, to me, interpretation can go many ways, and we must keep an open mind. 

And what about the ice cream experience? I learned that even ice cream can be interpreted in different ways. You can even see interpretation in how ice cream is presented, photographed, and memorialized. Our expectations of previous interpretations are taken to another level, too, with both the gigantic ice cream and the performance I discussed above.

I have a little assignment for this week.

You can listen to Debussy’s Jeux and compare different recordings of this work. You can also discuss it in the comments section if you wish.

Happy Listening!