音樂的精神特質(zhì)

What is the spiritual aspect of music?

I remember vividly my two years of lessons with 1)Vladimir Horowitz and how I felt when I first met him. It was as if I was transported onto a movie set of my past memories of seeing him on television， since those films were made at his home on 94th street in Manhattan. And there I was，

sitting across from the pianist I had so much

admired all my life.

We would have two to three hour lessons and at certain times I was invited to be his guest for dinner before the lesson， which was a rare treat. Our conversations would cover a

variety of topics: some were profound and others friendly and comical. We once talked about how some pieces had an overall masculine feeling， while others， like a 2)nocturne or soft piece were more feminine， or passive. There would also be pieces that would not apply to such a generalization， such as the 3)Polonaise-Fantasie of Chopin.

Perhaps the masculine/feminine way of looking at a piece of music is directly related to our emotional

nature and how we respond emotionally to music.

Once， when talking about concerts and audiences， he said that a large percentage of the people in his audiences would immediately

respond to his brilliant technique， or how he would play the 4)virtuosic， showy pieces. Of that larger percentage， maybe 30--40% would respond on the emotional level， or to the musicality of his interpretations; the mood or feel of the piece. He would then say that it would be only about 2--5% of the audience that was 5)in tune to what he was doing spiritually. He must have really been aware of his audiences and sensitive to them.

I wonder if the larger group may have still been responding spiritually， but perhaps on a more subconscious level. It would seem that audiences often do have an instinctive know-ledge of what a “good” performance is.

It would seem to me that the spiritual

nature of music is that music is a reflection， or mirrored image of the something heavenly or not of this world. It exists as an invitation perhaps to another way of living， beyond the

everyday concerns that we all seem to get caught up with. Music can take us someplace and take us away from our troubles， but whether we choose to live out lives that way is entirely our choice. The music is a reflection. If it were heaven or the 6)divine itself， then people would surely be transformed once hearing a piece of music， and they rarely are. We usually go back to our basic way of living.

Perhaps we all have an invitation of some sort when we hear music of a spiritual nature， an invitation to another

way of living that is there for anyone. I would think that the mirror is in some way inviting us to this way of living， or maybe letting us know that there is more to life than all that we sometimes get caught up in.

Music has always been a very special part of my life and I am thankful for the experiences I have had when sharing my music with people and the feedback they give me. I sometimes wonder if it really does make a diffe-rence? But when I do， I will quickly get a reminder from a fan that a piece of mine saved them from depression， or that they love to hear my CDs throughout the day， and that is a beautiful feeling: to know that perhaps it really is making a difference.

音樂的精神特質(zhì)是什么？

我還清楚地記得師從弗拉基米爾·霍洛維茨學(xué)習(xí)的那兩年的經(jīng)歷，以及當(dāng)我第一次見到他時(shí)的感受。就像是我被傳送到了一套電影裝置上，那里回放著我從電視中觀看他表演的舊時(shí)記憶，因?yàn)槟切┯捌际窃谒挥诼D第94大道的家里拍攝的。而現(xiàn)在我就在那里，坐在了這位我一生都無比崇敬的鋼琴家面前。

我們會(huì)上兩到三個(gè)小時(shí)的課，而某些時(shí)候在上課前他會(huì)邀請我一起用餐，那可是難得的款待。我們談?wù)摰脑掝}無所不包：有些意義深遠(yuǎn)，有些則友好而滑稽。有一次我們談到了有些樂章給人的感覺完全是純男性的；而另一些，如夜曲或柔和的樂章給人的感覺則更為女性化，或者說更被動(dòng)。也有一些樂章不適用于這樣的概括，如肖邦的《幻想波蘭舞曲》。

也許用男性化/女性化的方式來看待一篇樂章是直接源于我們的情感天性，以及我們?nèi)绾螐母星樯蠈σ魳樊a(chǎn)生共鳴。

有一次，當(dāng)談?wù)撈鹨魳窌?huì)和觀眾時(shí)，他說他的觀眾中大部分都能立刻對他高超的演奏技巧，或者他精湛而精彩地彈奏樂章做出回應(yīng)。在那一部分觀眾中，可能有30--40%的人能從情感層面，或者他所演繹的音感——樂章的情緒或感覺——做出回應(yīng)。他接著說，只有大約2--5%的觀眾能在精神上與他相交融。他應(yīng)該真的是非常了解他的觀眾，才能夠觀其所感。

我也很想知道，大部分的觀眾是不是也會(huì)在精神上有所回應(yīng)，只不過是處于一種更加無意識(shí)的狀態(tài)的。……