I approach everything as chamber music. Even with Beethoven symphonies, I lead from the violin and basically encourage the orchestra to think of it as a giant string quartet.
Interpretation
The quote emphasizes collaboration and a personal touch in music, even with grand compositions.
Joshua Bell likens his approach to conducting orchestras to that of chamber music, suggesting a focus on intimacy and collaboration, rather than hierarchy. By leading from the violin and encouraging the orchestra to see themselves as part of a smaller, cohesive group, he highlights the importance of communication and unity in creating music, even in larger symphonic works like those of Beethoven.
In practice
Using this quote in a workshop on music collaboration to emphasize the importance of teamwork.
I always have loved the Stradivarius. My teacher, Josef Gingold, he had a Stradivarius. As a treat, he would put it under my chin and let me play a few notes, and I remember that feeling of the overtones, the complexity of the sound. It's like a great wine.
So much of performing is a mind game. You're memorizing thousands of notes, and if you start thinking about it in the wrong way, everything can blow up in your face.
Hurry, get on board, it's comin', listen to those rails a-thrumming all aboard. Get on the "A" train, soon you will be on Sugar Hill in Harlem.
My older sister encouraged me from early on and bought me one of the first guitars I had. She listened to all of the crappy songs that I wrote when I was 8 years old and encouraged me to keep doing it.
A lot of people think the blues is depressing but that's not the blues I'm singing. When I'm singing blues, I singing life. People can't stand to listen to the blues, they've got to be phonies.
Jazz is there and gone. It happens. You have to be present for it. That simple.
I'd like to think that all the old Beatle fans have grown up and they've got married and they've all got kids and they're all more responsible, but they still have a space in their hearts for us.
The guitar for me is a translation device. It's not a goal. And in some ways, jazz isn't a destination for me. For me, jazz is a vehicle that takes you to the true destination - a musical one that describes all kinds of stuff about the human condition and the way music works.
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