Folk and Classical
There aren't many classical musicians who can also play other forms of music with any degree of conviction.
Without naming names I can think of one famous flute player who tried to play Irish tin whistle and failed completely.
The notes were sort of in the right order but there was none of the lift and lilt you need when you're playing Irish music.
I remember another well known English classical fiddler who tried to play Gypsy music.
It sounded terrible: no swing, no spirit, no soul.
Perhaps it is the strict discipline imposed by the classical tradition following the tadpoles on the wires (as us musical illiterates call staff notation) seems to rob many musicians of the ability to play by ear.
One classical musician who gives the lie to this is , the cellist.
Together with and he has recorded two terrific albums, and which take traditional tunes as their starting point and go on a journey with them that, without detracting from the beauty of the original, goes somewhere else and makes music of a rare beauty.
I'll be playing a track from Appalachia Waltz on my programme this Wednesday, but the albums themselves are really worth checking out. I love them.
Comment number 1.
At 22nd Apr 2009, dannylerudd wrote:Hi,
Although I like Vaughan Williams Fantasia on Greensleeves I do not like many of the settings he does for folk songs.
I believe he did great work collecting folk songs but the trained classical singer's voice just does not sound right to me when singing these songs.
Why a beautiful voice like Cara Dillon's should sound so much better than a trained classical singer's voice I think is down to what Mike says, it is about soul and spirit.
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