Violin Concerto II. Adagio by Barber
Madison L.
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Although many concertos focus on virtuosity--seeking to display an artist's technical prowess--one of Barber's concerto's beautiful aspects is how it focuses on emotion and expression. The second movement is a religious experience of sorts--pushing artists to find a way to transfer the feeling of an otherworldly experience for the listener. When working on and recording this piece, I had to find a way to capture every emotion I felt in the music and send it off to the audience. Though it often feels easier to mimic the expression and style in famous recordings, I tried to limit myself from copying off of other artists; instead, I tried to develop my own sound and interpretation to demonstrate how I personally feel about the piece. Through this process, I've found more freedom in my performances and found a way to capture how I see and feel this concerto in my playing..
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To me, creativity is how humanity manifests expression--how humans share the inner workings of their minds with others. It's not necessarily about going outside-of-the-box or doing something new; it's about creating art to express something personal. For performing, creativity is showing our expressions and not the ones in famous recordings.
