[pianotech] Virgil Smith

[Tom Servinsky]

Horace and Kent
Just take yourself back in the day, say Beethoven's time,and imagine how young Ludwig was trying explain his music vs. those around him trying to interpret what they were perceiving. Not all good at the time. It took time for the concept of Beethoven's approach to music to sink and make total sense. Of course history has proven  Beethoven was way away ahead of the curve and introduce music on an entirely different level. It took generations before his concepts digested in the musical community.
I feel that Virgil's approach had similar traits. He was trying to illuminate an advanced way of listening, However his use of rhetoric (many times) failed to explain the very things he was trying to point out. Thus many in the technical "tuned" him out as being totally unessential and bordered him on the edge of being whack job. Nothing could have been further from the truth.
How many artists I've worked for on the concert stage do the very thing when trying to explain themselves. They explain it through a world that only they understand. Of course, they assume the whole world is using the same lingo as they, and thus  see no need to have to explain themselves.

Rest in peace Virgil. You did a lot of good and your mark has been left for others to follow.  I for one, have benefited from your insight and have become a better listener because of that.
Tom Servinsky



I----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Horace Greeley 
  To: pianotech at ptg.org ; pianotech at ptg.org 
  Sent: Tuesday, September 28, 2010 4:32 PM
  Subject: Re: [pianotech] Virgil Smith



  Hi, Tom, Kent, All,

  Yes, I've found myself thinking about Bernstein, and for the same reasons.  Watch the faces in the audience as Bernstein talks at the Young People's Concerts or the talks at Harvard.

  Closer to home, I think Franz falls into a similar category.  Like Virgil, much of what Franz has to say lies in the subtext of the words that come out of his mouth.    To really "get" what they talk about, one has to work to get inside their heads...why are they saying this particular thing in this particular way?  It's something like learning another language.  It's one thing to be able to converse, it's quite another to understand the de facto meaning of idiomatic expressions.  

  Well...another Jahrzeit to light.  May Virgil's memory be for a blessing for us all; and may those of us who remember him strive to live our own lives and work with the same level of dedication and honesty.

  Peace.

  Horace


  At 03:46 AM 9/28/2010, Kent Swafford wrote:

    On Sep 28, 2010, at 5:02 AM, Tom Servinsky wrote:


      Virgil wasn't always able to articulate his perceptions in an understandable platform for others to follow. For that I felt he was unfairly chastised for choice of words rather than the body of work which he demonstrated well.

    Yes, Virgil was a great treasure. Your comment brings to mind Leonard Bernstein talking about Gershwin's Rhapsody In Blue, a piece classical music purists seem to love to hate. Bernstein said words to the effect that people always talk about what is wrong with the Rhapsody and miss all the wonderful things that are right about the piece. Same with Virgil, I believe.

    Kent Swafford
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://ptg.org/pipermail/pianotech.php/attachments/20100929/f7597813/attachment.htm>