Digital message in a bottle?
The new normal still takes some getting used to in the concert hall. This applies to musicians who are not in their familiar environment as well as for audiences that are surrounded by empty seats. But it is good that music can be played in the concert hall. How heartwarming and special were the balcony concerts, recitals from living rooms and free streaming concert recordings; they highlighted that classical music is only really alive when we can be there.
The corona crisis also offers opportunities for a center that conducts research into innovation in classical music. As in an unexpected experiment, musicians, orchestras and their audiences worldwide went in search of alternatives to the concert ritual. As MCICM, we followed that quest as closely as possible. We collected digital initiatives from musicians, ensembles and orchestras to learn from them what works and what doesn't. We organized three online Corona Conversations, in which we gave the floor to international guests about how orchestras and conservatories could creatively cope with the crisis (www.mcicm.nl, click on Corona Conversations). And we started our own experiment with making music via the internet, together with five musicians from philharmonie zuidnederland. The pandemic broke out just as they were about to start the neighborhood experiment in Maastricht Northwest, which we reported on in the previous issue of deKlank. The question became how to proceed.
During the first days of lockdown, we met each other on the screen. It was the time of short videos, digital messages in a bottle to an invisible audience. Horn player Jaap van Wershoven played a short film music theme to show: We're still here! Violinist Christina Büttner played in three films for the audience that she missed and that she gave a different face each time. Percussionist Axel Dewulf made podcasts about classic key works. Violinist Roland van Mil showed how he taught his students via his smartphone. And percussionist Frank Nelissen addressed a little boy who would one day like to play in the orchestra himself.
What followed was an attempt to make a video of a waltz by Dmitri Shostakovich together. The result was not disappointing, but it became clear how difficult it is to play together without being able to hear or see each other. In three adaptations of Schubert songs, specially made by Neil Smith of the MCICM, the musicians addressed an audience more personally. In their music, they shared their memories of the first days of the crisis as a period of tension, uncertainty and sadness. Using just their instrument and their smartphone, they learned a lot about performing classical music online.
The website on which the musicians and researchers report on their search is ready (www.onlinemusicking.nl), but the experiment is not. Music via the computer screen cannot be compared with the experience in the room. But the orchestra will continue to look for ways to also be of digital significance to classical music culture.
Peter Peters, Director MCICM, and Ties van de Werff
This article was first published in Dutch in deKlank from philharmonie zuidnederland.
