Posted by Can Opener on June 28, 2002 at 23:43:22:
In Reply to: Circular Breathing posted by Curious on June 28, 2002 at 10:47:43:
So, here's a can o' worms:
On the concept of circular breathing, is it a technique that has a place in "classical" (small c, not big C) music?
Or can it be said that most music is organic, and _needs_ space and silence to breathe? Consider the string player,
who, as they mature need to learn to breathe with the music and allow that space for phrases to begin and end -
not just ne a steady, unending stream of notes. In my opinion, circular breathing is, about 90% of the time, a cool
party trick - a very impressive one, but mostly unneeded. This, of course, excludes modern works that obviously call
for this type of extended technique - but aren't these few and far between? If you I can't make a phrase, first
I make sure I'm not missing a phrase break, and then try to extend my phrase capacity. I can circular breathe, but
mostly find that it can cause pieces to sound too continious - no ebb and flow. There's music in the silence, too.
Comments?
but please be nice.