What “Good” Is, Or, My Bowl of Pasta

I remember one of my very first meals in Italy.  I had already lived in New York several years at that point, had already traveled pretty widely and I considered myself pretty well-experienced in all things culinary, and I was to a certain extent.  However, it wasn’t until this meal that I really knew what a good bowl of pasta was.  I just knew that, up to that moment, I had never had quite a bowl of pasta so fine.  There wasn’t much of it – it was about the quarter of amount that I would have been served in most American restaurants.  It didn’t have all kinds of exotic accompaniments or wildly crazy things in the sauce.  It was just — perfect.  The pasta and cheese were handmade in the tradition of the region, the olive oil was delicate and sublime, and the basil was fragrant and intense.  After eating, I didn’t feel bloated or weighed down – I felt like I had eaten manna from heaven!  My spirit felt revived, my head clear, and it seemed that life had taken on an added dimension that I hadn’t previously been aware of.  I now knew what “good” was.  At least in the category of pasta.

And what does this have to do with music or horn playing?  I think quite a bit!  As growing musicians, I feel that one of the greatest joys is the process of learning what “good” is.   And it is definitely a process rather than a switch to be flipped.  (Thank goodness – or else we wouldn’t feel the need to be open to anything after the switch had been flipped!)

Why the need to know what “good” is, or, in other words, to learn to recognize components of quality?  Going back to our food analogy, how can a chef train without developing his palate or having a wide experience of tasting food?  So it is with us “chefs of sound”: we must listen!  Not only that, we must listen with a certain attentiveness and desire to discern and understand.

So, taking this a bit farther, I would conjecture that many of the same things that made that bowl of pasta so perfect are the same things that make for great music and great musicians:

Skill – centuries of knowledge and experience went into harvesting and producing the ingredients of the dish as well as putting it all together in the kitchen.  One of the most wonderful things about classical music is that we become part of a tradition and craft that extends back centuries and extends to us over time and across geography to where we are today.  As far as our instrumental skills go, we learn from all those who come before us, inheriting their knowledge of how to recreate the composer’s intent in the most efficient and effective way possible.

Balance – In my bowl of pasta, there was not too much or too little of anything.  I was not overpowered by any one ingredient, but all the parts were expertly put together to make a beautiful, tasty whole.  So it is in good music and with good musicians.  There is a balance, naturalness, and effortless command when you see and hear a great musician or ensemble play, for instance.

Life-giving – So, not that you must have a life- altering experience every time you hear good music or a great musician play.  If that were the case, I would be an exhausted mess!  But there is something about an encounter with a great performance of great music that can expand our existence and broaden our awareness.  Or at the very least, let us get meditate on something of beauty for those moments we are fully engaged in listening.

Now, what if you don’t like pasta?  What if you hate the taste of basil?  That’s OK –  I only think a little less of you!  But you can still appreciate the artfulness and skill and care with which everything came together on that plate, even if you prefer a plate Kobe beef to a bowl of pasta.  And this is where music appreciation and art appreciation classes come in.  Contrary to popular belief, those classes aren’t meant to tell you what to like; rather, they are educating you in the traditions and skills at work, and shedding light on the various ways the human spirit of creativity manifests itself in these traditions.  You still get to follow your own path of exploration and find what you like.

So, how do you discover what is “good”, and beyond that, what you like?  I would say: repeated exposure, a spirit of exploration, and most of all, an open mind.  Fortunately, we don’t have to fly to Italy in order to experience the best of what music has to offer.  Listening is possible right where we are.  We can explore by attending musical events wherever we live, poking around online, and some libraries still have music sections where you can check out recordings.  My favorite way to explore is by “thread.”  I find something that appeals to me, or something I hear about in a music review, or through a friend, and find out all I can about it, and after I’ve absorbed it to the extent that interests me, it usually it leads me somewhere else – either to the composers other works, or to other pieces and composers that influenced him/her.

The classical music world is HUGE with enough room for all kinds of people and all kinds of tastes.  If you are stumped at where to start, here are some of my faves:  If you love big, lush romantic sounds, try listening to Mahler’s Symphony No. 5 or to any Brahms Symphony or Piano Concerto.  If you’re a romantic, but would like something more intimate in feel than an orchestra, try listening to the songs of Reynaldo Hahn.  I especially love Susan Graham’s recording of these.  If life is feeling cluttered and you’d like to have something clean to clear out those cobwebs, try listening to Bach’s Cello Suites or a Mozart Piano Concerto (I love Richard Goode’s recordings with the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra).  If you’re in an edgy mood and would find it interesting to listen to something that caused riots when it premiered, listen to Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring.  If you want something that will shatter your perceptions of what you think classical music is, try listening to John Cage’s Sonatas for Prepared Piano.

The other thing to know is that music is not all Kobe beef or bowls of pasta.  We’ve also got appetizers, the finest and lightest of fluffy desserts, and a post-dinner sips of delicious things to help it all settle.

So have fun listening and adding to the “ingredient” list you will take with you into the practice room and on stage.  And if you are fortunate enough to visit Italy sometime soon, please have a bowl of pasta for me….