From silence : finding calm in a dissonant world /
Welser-Möst, Franz,author.
Brüggeman, Axel,author.
Shuttleworth, Christine,translator.
A powerful and thought provoking memoir from one of the world's most successful orchestral conductors, whose life story, talent and dedication to music is an inspiration to read. A tragic car accident when Welser-Moest was a student shaped both his career and approach to music in the most profound and unexpected way. This book offers an insider's view of the complex relationships between an opera house, its orchestra, the conductor and singers, and the creative struggle by all these parts to achieve perfection in every performance.
Original German edition published in 2020 by Christian Brandstätter Verlag.
Includes index.
Preface and acknowledgements -- Prelude -- I. THE TEACHING OF MUSIC: on the implicitness of sound. Born into music -- Sister Gerburga's ruler -- Every child in Cleveland: the 100-year plan -- The passionate teacher: Balduin Sulzer -- Is music really necessary? -- The first silence -- Music against a noisy world -- THE FIRST JOURNEY: meditative silence -- II. THE PLACES OF MUSIC: on the organisation of sound. My years of apprenticeship on London -- Very grand opera in Zurich -- Thoughts on director's [sic] theatre -- Wiener "Wahn" (from Richard Wagner) -- Orchestras as mirrors of the world -- SECOND JOURNEY: nature of silence -- III. MARKETS OF MUSIC: on the consumption of sound. In praise of boredom -- Quiet, please: recording -- Gugelhupf and three-quarter time -- On criticism and passion -- THIRD JOURNEY: spirit of silence -- III. ARTISTS AND MUSIC: on the production of sound. Learning from legends -- The individual and power -- From my workshop I: Beethoven's Ninth -- From my workshop II: Der Rosenkavalier -- Going one's own way -- FOURTH JOURNEY: eternity of silence -- Afterword -- Index.
A powerful and thought provoking memoir from one of the world's most successful orchestral conductors, whose life story, talent and dedication to music is an inspiration to read. A tragic car accident when Welser-Moest was a student shaped both his career and approach to music in the most profound and unexpected way. This book offers an insider's view of the complex relationships between an opera house, its orchestra, the conductor and singers, and the creative struggle by all these parts to achieve perfection in every performance.
Welser-Möst, Franz.
Conductors (Music)
Silence (Philosophy)