Absolutely on Music by Haruki Murakami (2011)

TL;DR: Seiji Ozawa and Haruki Murakami talk about music and writing.


A book may be the wrong medium for this. I wish this was a podcast or a series of podcast episodes. The times when they were talking about rhythm and tones, and the subtle differences in performances; I feel like those would be better represented in audio. Nevertheless, It is great to even be able to read the two master's conversations. 


For someone with little classical music exposure, This felt like tuning in to a classical radio station. Something magical is being played out, I just can't describe what. The conversations are deep and full of classical references. Other than that, a sprinkling of Music Theory and the two men's personal histories.


These are some snippets:



Ozawa on "Lenny" Leonard Bernstein

Ozawa: We thought of him as our teacher and wanted to learn from him, but he didn't see it that way. You are my colleague, he used to tell us, so if you notice something that needs correcting, I want you to tell me about it, and I'll do the same with you.
Murakami on the Rhythm in Writing
Yes, the rhythm comes from the combination of words, the combination of the sentences and paragraphs, the pairings of hard and soft, light and heavy, balance and imbalance, the punctuation, the combination of different tones.
Ozawa looking back on
Ozawa: [...] I found it very moving at times, to think back to those days when I was doing the same thing in New York. There was a piano in the conductor's room in Carnegie Hall, and I'd go there late at night and practice to my heart's content. Those were easygoing days, with hardly any security, so you could do something like that rather freely.
Murakami on comparing Translating Passages and Reading Scores
Murakami: [...] At first glance, the hours I spend staring at the passage would seem to be a waste of time, but I think that's the time when I'm really getting it. I can't help feeling that reading a score is a similar experience.
Ozawa on Music
Ozawa: Music, of course, is an art that occurs through time
Ozawa on Practice
Ozawa: During the performance itself, it almost doesn't matter how you move the baton. [...] What really matters is how you wave your baton during rehearsals, in order to get the orchestra ready.
Ozawa on lessons from Professor Saito
Ozawa: Professor Saito used to tell us to concentrate on reading scores as if we had written them ourselves.
Ozawa: Professor Saito, "You youngers are blank slates at the moment. So when you go to the other countries, you will be able to absorb their traditions. But traditions are not always good. There are both good traditions and bad traditions. That's true of Germany, of France, and of Italy. Even in America now there are both good traditions and bad traditions. You'll have to learn to distinguish between the two, and when you go to those countries, you should absorb their good traditions.
On Mahler

Murakami: So he flirted with chaos, not as methodology, but very naturally and instinctively. Is that what you're saying?
Ozawa: Yes, Isn't that exactly where his genius lies?
Murakami on Silence
Murakami: Silence is not just the absence of sound: there is a sound called silence.

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