| Trax,
I understand what you're asking and doubt that I learned very much about the music that I was playing while at Juilliard. I was busy doing other things.
Read all you can about all styles of music but listen even more. Let's take your suggestion of Vivaldi as an example: listen to good period sensitive performances of Venetian music of the previous century (particularly Monteverdi) to understand where Vivaldi was coming from. Note that he was an innovator introducing an entirely different form and also that music from the Baroque sounds vastly different than music from the late Renaissance. Next, listen to as many works of Vivaldi as you can. Ask yourself why Quattro Stagioni sounds so new and invigorating compared to the double trumpet concerto. Look at the symbolism found in a Renaissance portrait and contrast this to the sumptuousness of something similar from the Baroque. Note how architecture changed as well.
Connect the dots. It's wonderful to start with this music (I'm in love with Venice and try to visit every year, incidentally) and then move deeper into the subject. Our repertoire is a river . . . moving slowly and relentlessly ahead. One of the greatest joys we have is our ability to dip into the stream at any point and muck around.
Music has always been about change. Listen carefully and you will hear it.
...then play it that way.
Best,
EC |