Creators on Creating. This article is on Awakening and Cultivating the Imaginative Mind. In this article, Peter Ilich Tchaikovsky has three excepts of letters that he wrote on his creative process. It's very interesting to see.
He is asked on how he composes a symphony...if he has a special program in view. He says that, that's a hard question to answer.
This is like asking an actor, if they have a specific way that they play a character. AND in some cases an actor does. They are the type of character who just reacts what he has rehearsed. A good actor, is someone who uses his talents, knowledge of the playwrights intents, the overall storyline, he takes in to consideration all the components to form the right character. WHICH should change nightly, depending on the reactions of his fellow actors that night, and the reactions of the audience. There is no specific program or idea in mind. It just sort of develops.
Tchaikovsky says, "Even in the works of the greatest master we find such moments, when the organic sequence fails and a skillful join has to be made, so that parts appear as a completely welded whole." This is interesting, in the sense, that just like in live theatre there are moments where a fellow actor may jump a line or miss an entrance and you have to work as a team to overcome the speed bump and move on. Tchaikovsky says a lot of things that really make a lot of sense. "The only music capable of moving and touching us is that which flows from the deapth of a composer's soul when he is stirred by inspiration. There is no doubt that even the greatest musical geniuses have sometimes worked without inspiration." It is facinating to watch a mater at their work...so to speak. When I am passionate about a certain character I am portraying, or a specific play that I am writting, I realize that I have a lot os inspiration for what I am doing. Some of the most memorable symphanies are brought on by some sort of passion and inspirtaion moment. When I watch Swan Lake; the Ballet or the Nutcracker, also a Ballet, you always hear those CLASSIC musical pieces that are danced to on stage. Without those classic songs, it's just a ballet, but those instead were brought on by some sort of inspiration and in the end made a ballet that won't ever be forgotten. Although, there are moments where there is no inspirtaion or I like to think of writers block, things can still be formed. There are always going to be hard moments when composing ANYTHING, and in the end...you need to be "NATUALLY PATIENT." Everything comes in the right time.
Everything is written for a reason. In the play, The Elephant Man, the playwright specifically says to not put the actor playing John Merrick in any kind of Prostetics. He wants the actor to portray the Elephant Man, by just imitating the body stance and voice...he doesn't want to audience to see this "grusome" character. HE wants them to paint their own image of what the Elephant Man truly looked like. In the movie, David Lynch, ignored all of the "wishes" and placed the Elephant Man in all kinds of make-up and prostetics. In the end...it just wasn't the same. That's like saying if, "it were played with the bow, it would lose all it's charm and be a mere body without a soul..." In composition, everything is written for a SOUL purpose.
The "gifts" for composing a symphany in his eyes, "have yet reached their ultimate development." He is saying that an artists talents don't ever die. You really never stop learning. As an actor and an artist, you continually have to be open to things around you. You are never done learning how to act or how to compose. There are always going to be things that impact you, things that you feel will inspire you, and if you think that you have reached your peak, then you haven't truly learned. It is said that, some of the "super star actors" still bring acting coaches with them on sets of movies, to help them find even more inspiration, then they already have for the paticular character that they are conveying. It's just really interesting that everyone has their own way of doing things.
No comments:
Post a Comment