Next

“You can’t play the next note until you finish this one.” Obvious, yet how often classical performers truncate or even skip something. Particularly in anxious moments, or when difficulties, or the unexpected occur, the musical equivalent of a syllable or even a whole “word” is dropped or omitted.

A musical score is an order of events. Rhythm and speed may be indicated, but most significantly we read that the soprano voice resolves from C to B, and then, and only then, after that resolution, the bass voice will sound a G.

In a chamber music performance, if the violinist lingers over a cadence, I will also. And, if my right hand needs or takes extra time to play a note, the other parts of the texture will have to accommodate. Some asynchrony can be lovely, but if my sonata partner waits a very long time, too long, then so must I–making sense of the odd nuance if I can, but not letting “N” come before “M,” putting the “cart before the horse,” or “jumping the gun.”

To achieve a performance, in chamber playing (or with orchestra!), where every event, every gesture occurs in order, audibly, with supple, somewhat free rhythmic delivery–that’s the definition of an eloquent performance. It requires a virtuosity of listening, and even predicting the immediate future.

For the pianist, it’s true also in solo playing. To hear how the particular piano action under my hand renders a rhythm and how the notes speak in the acoustics of the room, this determines what comes next, and how it comes next, and even, exactly–NOW–when the next note will be played.