The Art of Sensuality and It's Impact on Great String Playing

By Alan de Veritch

One of the major frustrations of my professional musical life has been the continual reminder of how few talented young string players, even those with exceptional instrumental skill, seem to truly understand the importance of reflecting their very own personal emotional experiences within the fabric of their musical interpretations and performances. Consequently I have devoted a great deal of my teaching efforts to helping these potential artists better understand the critical importance of this element and to develop the skills necessary to facilitate the natural merging of their inner-most emotions with their instrumental facility.
My original purpose for authoring this book was to create a lasting way in which to share my resulting theories and methodologies with regards to this ever so critical ingredient to the process of successful musical communication. Interestingly, after a reasonable amount of academic research, it quickly became apparent to me that in spite of the existence of numerous available publications dealing with the need for musicians to play their instruments in an expressive manner and a myriad of additional books and articles attempting to describe and analyze the elements of sensuality no one had previously made any detailed connection or addressed, in writing, the impact of sensuality on music performance from either a technical or musical perspective.
Now that this project is complete I must agree with the opinion of a number of my trusted colleagues and friends: many theories, concepts and methods described in this book could indeed provide benefits to a far broader audience than those exclusively focused on string playing.I am hopeful that performers from all of the arts as well as any interested and receptive individuals from all walks of life may find the thoughts I have expressed in this publication helpful in achieving the lives of their dreams.

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse
• Release date: Feb 7, 2014
• ISBN: 9781491860618

Alan de Veritch

Thought of by many as a true “Renaissance Man” Alan de Veritch unquestionably established himself as the very first young virtuoso of the viola while still a teenager. By the time he made the decision to retire from his life as an active international concert artist, at the ripe old age of 32, his career had included appearances in many of the world’s most notable concert halls, positions as Principal Violist of both the Los Angeles and New York Philharmonic Orchestras and solo performances with many leading orchestras including the Washington National Symphony, the Los Angeles Philharmonic and the Philadelphia Orchestra. Ultimately, Mr. de Veritch went on to become a highly respected businessman, lecturer, guest speaker, community leader, author, commercially rated pilot and flight instructor, recording artist (having performed on over 500 motion picture soundtrack recordings) and internationally known musical pedagogue, producing some of today’s most widely recognized performing violists. The Primrose International Viola Archive on the campus of Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah proudly calls itself home to a large collection of Mr. de Veritch’s personal memorabilia, recordings, photographs, correspondence, music, programs, publications and historic documents pertaining to his life, heritage and career.

Book preview

The Art of

Sensuality

and it’s Impact on

Great String

Playing

ALAN DE VERITCH

with Illustrations by Ted Allanson

39638.pngTaboo%20Man%20and%20Cello%20Lady.jpg

The Cello Lady by Thom Kondas

AuthorHouse™ LLC

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© 2014 Alan de Veritch. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

Published by AuthorHouse 01/30/2014

ISBN: 978-1-4918-6060-1 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4918-6062-5 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-4918-6061-8 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2014902081

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

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Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Dedicated with great love, admiration and respect

To

Sir William Primrose, CBE

My inspiration, my mentor, my teacher, my friend . . . . . . . . . ..

Unquestionably one of the greatest string players and musical artists of all time . . . . and . . . . although, by nature, a reserved and shy gentleman, a dynamic individual who epitomized and reflected The Art of Sensuality absolutely every time his instrument came in contact with his hands!!

Table of Contents

Prelude

Chapter I-Instrumental Technique & Making Music

Making the Connection

Identifies and describes one of the most serious deficiencies perpetuated by talented young string players and teachers alike and establishes the motivation for this publication. The reader is reminded that when it comes to making music… instrumental technical proficiency is only a means to an end…not the end itself!

From the moment an individual holds a musical instrument in their hands they must constantly be reminded of the necessity for maintaining a continuous blending of technical instrumental proficiency and expressive musical communication.

Chapter II-Getting to Truly Know the Inner You

This chapter identifies the two major qualities shared by the most successful stage performers and attempts to convince the reader of the critical need for an individual’s sincere knowledge and understanding of their deepest inner-most self if they are to truly become a self-confident individual and performer. Filled with my ideas for developing such personal insight the issue of vulnerability is also discussed along with it’s relationship to self-confidence.

Chapter III-Visualization

Here we are all about learning why and how to turn moods created by musical thematic material into strong visual images and ultimately vivid and personal storylines. The relationship between motion picture film and film music is discussed as is the importance of our visual sense with respect to our other human senses.

Chapter IV-Introduction to Sensuality

What is Sensuality and how does it effect our daily lives? How does it impact the making of expressive music? What are the benefits of encouraging significant awareness of all of our senses and how best can one efficiently accomplish such a goal? For the purposes of our discussions in this chapter I have intentionally removed sexuality from the equation.

Chapter V-Developing YOUR Sensuality

This chapter describes, in detail, actual exercises to heighten one’s awareness of and sensitivity to touch. Any reader taking these exercises and the associated instructions seriously will be amazed by the awesome feelings and sensations generated as a result of this process.

Chapter VI-Reconnecting the two S’s

Now it’s time to finally bring sexuality and sensuality together. This chapter clarifies the difference between sensuality and sexuality while defining the role sexuality itself plays in our quest for expressive musical communication. Also included in this chapter is an exploration of the words Intensity and Anticipation and their impact on the success of my methodology.

Chapter VII-Putting It All Together

This is where I summarize all of the material covered in this book in an attempt to simplify my actual curriculum/methodology and clarify any of the more typical questions and/or misconceptions. Additionally, I take this opportunity to present two final, related practice theories in which I strongly believe…and… ultimately conclude with my sincere hope that this project will, indeed, positively impact at least one young artist or mentor.

Acknowledgment and Thanks

Prelude

T hroughout my life I have made a concerted effort to remain cognizant of all that I have to be grateful for. However, it is a rare day when I am not reminded of my greatest gift of all… . . . the blessing of being born of parents who were intelligent, talented, compassionate, communicative, non-judgmental, dedicated, artistic, imaginative, creative, loving, sensual and just plain all—around inspirational.

It was from my father I inherited my musical gifts. Although my mother loved and appreciated music she,