Music and emotion through time
-
Not SyncedWell when I was asked to do this TEDTalk, I was really chuckled,
-
Not Syncedbecause, you see, my father's name was Ted,
-
Not Syncedand much of my life, especially my musical life,
-
Not Syncedis really a talk that I'm still having with him,
-
Not Syncedor the part of me that he continues to be.
-
Not SyncedNow Ted was a New Yorker, an all-around theater guy,
-
Not Syncedand he was a self-taught illustrator and musician.
-
Not SyncedHe didn't read a note,
-
Not Syncedand he was profoundly hearing impaired.
-
Not SyncedYet, he was my greatest teacher.
-
Not SyncedBecause even through the squeaks of his hearing aids,
-
Not Syncedhis understanding of music was profound.
-
Not SyncedAnd for him, it wasn't so much the way the music goes
-
Not Syncedas about what it witnesses and where it can take you.
-
Not SyncedAnd he did a painting of this experience,
-
Not Syncedwhich he called "In the Realm of Music."
-
Not SyncedNow Ted entered this realm every day improvising
-
Not Syncedin a sort of tin pan alley style like this.
-
Not Synced(Music)
-
Not SyncedBut he was tough when it came to music.
-
Not SyncedHe said, "There are only two things that matter in music:
-
Not Syncedwhat and how.
-
Not SyncedAnd the thing about classical music,
-
Not Syncedthat what and how, it's inexhaustible."
-
Not SyncedThat was his passion for the music.
-
Not SyncedBoth my parents really loved it.
-
Not SyncedThey didn't know all that much about it,
-
Not Syncedbut they gave me the opportunity to discover it
-
Not Syncedtogether with them.
-
Not SyncedAnd I think inspired by that memory,
-
Not Syncedit's been my desire to try and bring it
-
Not Syncedto as many other people as I can,
-
Not Syncedsort of pass it on through whatever means.
-
Not SyncedAnd how people get this music, how it comes into their lives,
-
Not Syncedreally fascinates me.
-
Not SyncedOne day in New York, I was on the street
-
Not Syncedand I saw some kids playing baseball between stoops and cars and fire hydrants.
-
Not SyncedAnd a kind of slouchy kid got up to bat,
-
Not Syncedand he took a swing and really connected.
-
Not SyncedAnd he watched the ball fly for a second,
-
Not Syncedand then he went, "Dah dadaratatatah.
-
Not SyncedBrah dada dadadadah."
-
Not SyncedAnd he ran around the bases.
-
Not SyncedAnd I thought, go figure.
-
Not SyncedHow did this piece of 18th century Austrian aristocratic entertainment
-
Not Syncedturn into the victory crow of this New York kid?
-
Not SyncedHow was that passed on? How did he get to hear Mozart?
-
Not SyncedWell when it comes to classical music,
-
Not Syncedthere's an awful lot to pass on,
-
Not Syncedmuch more than Mozart, Beethoven or Tchiakovsky.
-
Not SyncedBecause classical music
-
Not Syncedis an unbroken living tradition
-
Not Syncedthat goes back over a thousand years.
-
Not SyncedAnd every one of those years
-
Not Syncedhas had something unique and powerful to say to us
-
Not Syncedabout what it's like to be alive.
-
Not SyncedNow the raw material of it, of course,
-
Not Syncedis just the music of everyday life.
-
Not SyncedIt's all the anthems and dance crazes
-
Not Syncedand ballads and marches.
-
Not SyncedBut what classical music does
-
Not Syncedis to distill all of these musics down,
-
Not Syncedto condense them to their absolute essence,
-
Not Syncedand from that essence create a new language,
-
Not Synceda language that speaks very lovingly and unflinchingly
-
Not Syncedabout who we really are.
-
Not SyncedIt's a language that's still evolving.
-
Not SyncedNow over the centuries if grew into the big pieces we always think of,
-
Not Syncedlike concertos and symphonies,
-
Not Syncedbut even the most ambitious masterpiece
-
Not Syncedcan have as its central mission
-
Not Syncedto bring you back to a fragile and personal moment --
-
Not Syncedlike this one from the Beethoven Violin Concerto.
-
Not Synced(Music)
-
Not SyncedIt's so simple, so evocative.
-
Not SyncedSo many emotions seem to be inside of it.
-
Not SyncedYet, of course like all music,
-
Not Syncedit's essentially not about anything.
-
Not SyncedIt's just a design of pitches and silence and time.
-
Not SyncedAnd the pitches, the notes, as you know, are just vibrations.
-
Not SyncedThey're locations in the spectrum of sound.
-
Not SyncedAnd whether we call them 440 per second, A,
-
Not Syncedor 3729, B flat -- trust me, that's right --
-
Not Syncedthey're just phenomena.
-
Not SyncedBut the way we react to different combinations of these phenomena
-
Not Syncedis complex and emotional and not totally understood.
-
Not SyncedAnd the way we react to them has changed radically over the centuries,
-
Not Syncedas have our preferences for them.
-
Not SyncedSo for example, in the 11th century,
-
Not Syncedpeople liked pieces that ended like this.
-
Not Synced(Music)
-
Not SyncedAnd in the 17th century, it was more like this.
-
Not Synced(Music)
-
Not SyncedAnd in the 21st century ...
-
Not Synced(Music)
-
Not SyncedNow your 21st century ears are quite happy with this last chord,
-
Not Syncedeven though a while back it would have puzzled you or annoyed you
-
Not Syncedor sent some of you running from the room.
-
Not SyncedAnd the reason you like it
-
Not Syncedis because you've inherited, whether you knew it or not,
-
Not Syncedcenturies-worth of changes
-
Not Syncedin musical theory, practice and fashion.
-
Not SyncedAnd in classical music we can follow these changes very, very accurately
-
Not Syncedbecause of the music's powerful silent partner,
-
Not Syncedthe way it's been passed on: notation.
-
Not SyncedNow the impulse to notate,
-
Not Syncedor, more exactly I should say, encode music
-
Not Syncedhas been with us for a very long time.
-
Not SyncedIn 200 B.C., a man named Sekulos
-
Not Syncedwrote this song for his departed wife
-
Not Syncedand inscribed it on her gravestone
-
Not Syncedin the notational system of the Greeks.
-
Not Synced(Music)
-
Not SyncedAnd a thousand years later,
-
Not Syncedthis impulse to notate took an entirely different form.
-
Not SyncedAnd you can see how this happened
-
Not Syncedin these excerpts from the Christmas mass "Puer Natus est nobis,"
-
Not Synced"For Us is Born."
-
Not Synced(Music)
-
Not SyncedIn the 10th century, little squiggles were used
-
Not Syncedjust to indicate the general shape of the tune.
-
Not SyncedAnd in the 12th century, a line was drawn, lika a musical horizon line,
-
Not Syncedto better pinpoint the pitch's location.
-
Not SyncedAnd then in the 13th century, more lines and new shapes of notes
-
Not Syncedlocked in the concept of the tune exactly,
-
Not Syncedand that led to the kind of notation we have today.
-
Not SyncedWell notation not only passed the music on,
-
Not Syncednotating and encoding the music changed it priorities entirely,
-
Not Syncedbecause it enabled the musicians
-
Not Syncedto imagine music on a much vaster scale.
-
Not SyncedNow inspired moves of improvisation
-
Not Syncedcould be recorded, saved, considered, prioritized,
-
Not Syncedmade into intricate designs.
-
Not SyncedAnd from this moment classical music became
-
Not Syncedwhat it most essentially is,
-
Not Synceda dialogue between the two powerful sides of our nature:
-
Not Syncedinstinct and intelligence.
-
Not SyncedAnd there began to be a real difference at this point
-
Not Syncedbetween the art of improvisation
-
Not Syncedand the art of composition.
-
Not SyncedNow an improviser senses and plays the next cool move,
-
Not Syncedbut a composer is considering all possible moves,
-
Not Syncedtesting them out, prioritizing them out,
-
Not Synceduntil he sees how they can form a powerful and coherent design
-
Not Syncedof ultimate and enduring coolness.
-
Not SyncedNow some of the greatest composers, like Bach,
-
Not Syncedwere combinations of these two things.
-
Not SyncedBach was like a great improviser with mind of a chess master.
-
Not SyncedMozart was the same way.
-
Not SyncedBut every musician strikes a different balance
-
Not Syncedbetween faith and reason, instinct and intelligence.
-
Not SyncedAnd every musical era had different priorities of these things,
-
Not Synceddifferent things to pass on, different whats and hows.
-
Not SyncedSo in the first eight centuries or so of this tradition
-
Not Syncedthe big what was to praise God.
-
Not SyncedAnd by the 1400's, music was being written
-
Not Syncedthat tried to mirror God's mind
-
Not Syncedas could be seen in the design of the night sky.
-
Not SyncedThe how was a style called polyphony,
-
Not Syncedmusic of many independently moving voices
-
Not Syncedthat suggested the way the planets seemed to move
-
Not Syncedin Ptolemy's geocentric universe.
-
Not SyncedThis was truly the music of the spheres.
-
Not Synced(Music)
-
Not SyncedThis is the kind of music that Leonardo DaVinci would have known.
-
Not SyncedAnd perhaps its tremendous intellectual perfection and serenity
-
Not Syncedmeant that something new had to happen --
-
Not Synceda radical new move, which in 1600 is what did happen.
-
Not Synced(Music) Singer: Ah, bitter blow!
-
Not SyncedAh, wicked, cruel fate!
-
Not SyncedAh, baleful stars!
-
Not SyncedAh, avaricious heaven!
-
Not SyncedMTT: This, of course, was the birth of opera,
-
Not Syncedand its development put music on a radical new course.
-
Not SyncedThe what now was not to mirror the mind of God,
-
Not Syncedbut to follow the emotion turbulence of man.
-
Not SyncedAnd the how was harmony,
-
Not Syncedstacking up the pitches to form chords.
-
Not SyncedAnd the chords, it turned out,
-
Not Syncedwere capable of representing incredible varieties of emotions.
-
Not SyncedAnd the basic chords were the ones we still have with us,
-
Not Syncedthe triads,
-
Not Syncedeither the major one,
-
Not Syncedwhich we think is happy,
-
Not Syncedor the minor one,
-
Not Syncedwhich we perceive as sad.
-
Not SyncedBut what's the actual difference between these two chords?
-
Not SyncedIt's just these two notes in the middle.
-
Not SyncedIt's either E natural,
-
Not Syncedand 659 vibrations per second,
-
Not Syncedor E flat, at 622.
-
Not SyncedSo the big difference between human happiness and sadness?
-
Not Synced37 freakin' vibrations.
-
Not SyncedSo you can see in a system like this
-
Not Syncedthere was enormous subtle potential
-
Not Syncedof representing human emotions.
-
Not SyncedAnd in fact, as man began to understand more
-
Not Syncedhis complex and ambivalent nature,
-
Not Syncedharmony grew more complex to reflect it.
-
Not SyncedTurns out it was capable of expressing emotions
-
Not Syncedbeyond the ability of words.
-
Not SyncedNow with all this possibility,
-
Not Syncedclassical music really took off.
-
Not SyncedIt's the time in which the big forms began to arrise.
-
Not SyncedAnd the effects of technology began to be felt also,
-
Not Syncedbecause printing put music, the scores, the codebooks of music,
-
Not Syncedinto the hands of performers everywhere.
-
Not SyncedAnd new and improved instruments
-
Not Syncedmade the age of the virtuoso possible.
-
Not SyncedThis is when those big forms arose --
-
Not Syncedthe symphonies, the sonatas, the concertos.
-
Not SyncedAnd in these big architectures of time,
-
Not Syncedcomposers like Beethoven could share the insights of a lifetime.
-
Not SyncedA piece like Beethoven's Fifth
-
Not Syncedbasically witnessing how it was possible
-
Not Syncedfor him to go from sorrow and anger,
-
Not Syncedover the course of a half an hour,
-
Not Syncedstep by exacting step of his route,
-
Not Syncedto the moment when he could make it across to joy.
-
Not Synced(Music)
-
Not SyncedAnd it turned out the symphony could be used for more complex issues,
-
Not Syncedlike gripping ones of culture,
-
Not Syncedsuch as nationalism or quest for freedom
-
Not Syncedor the frontiers of sensuality.
-
Not SyncedBut whatever direction the music took,
-
Not Syncedone thing until recently was always the same,
-
Not Syncedand that was when the musicians stopped playing,
-
Not Syncedthe music stopped.
-
Not SyncedNow this moment so fascinates me.
-
Not SyncedI find it such a profound one.
-
Not SyncedWhat happens when the music stops?
-
Not SyncedWhere does it go? What's left?
-
Not SyncedWhat sticks with people in the audience at the end of a performance?
-
Not SyncedIs it a melody or a rhythm
-
Not Syncedor a mood or an attitude?
-
Not SyncedAnd how might that change their lives?
-
Not SyncedTo me this is the intimate, personal side of music.
-
Not SyncedIt's the passing on part. It's the why part of it.
-
Not SyncedAnd to me that's the most essential of all.
-
Not SyncedMostly it's been a person-to-person thing,
-
Not Synceda teacher-student, performer-audience thing,
-
Not Syncedand then around 1880 came this new technology
-
Not Syncedthat first mechanically then through analogs then digitally
-
Not Syncedcreated a new and miraculous way of passing things on,
-
Not Syncedalbeit an impersonal one.
-
Not SyncedPeople could now hear music all the time,
-
Not Syncedeven though it wasn't necessary
-
Not Syncedfor them to play an instrument, read music or even go to concerts.
- Title:
- Music and emotion through time
- Speaker:
- Michael Tilson Thomas
- Description:
-
In this epic overview, Michael Tilson Thomas traces the development of classical music through the development of written notation, the record, and the re-mix.
- Video Language:
- English
- Team:
- closed TED
- Project:
- TEDTalks
- Duration:
- 20:13
Jenny Zurawell edited English subtitles for Music and emotion through time | ||
Jenny Zurawell approved English subtitles for Music and emotion through time | ||
Jenny Zurawell edited English subtitles for Music and emotion through time | ||
Morton Bast accepted English subtitles for Music and emotion through time | ||
Morton Bast edited English subtitles for Music and emotion through time | ||
Timothy Covell edited English subtitles for Music and emotion through time | ||
Timothy Covell edited English subtitles for Music and emotion through time | ||
Timothy Covell edited English subtitles for Music and emotion through time |