From spontaneous songs on balconies in the lockdown, to jazz songs in New York City, all the pain and hope of human beings expressed in music
Thanks to an artificial intelligence technique called sonification, scientist Markus Buehler, of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, was able to translate the Coronavirus into music. Having studied the sequences of amino acids that make up the protein chain of the virus, the researchers physically reproduced them, assigning each protein a sound, each particle a rhythm and a soft and relaxing melody came out, published on Sound cloud.
From the greatest fear that afflicts the world, notes and melodies have emerged that they know are beneficial. In fact, it has been scientifically proven that music is the soundtrack of well-being. Listening and playing an instrument influences human activities, including immunological ones. In particular, classical music with its harmonious lines has healing effects that go beyond pure enjoyment. In the current climate of upheaval and uncertainty, listening to classical works can become a saving experience, a meditation on existence and at the same time a life-affirming reassurance. As happens in Beethoven’s work 133, a real musical prayer, where the first violin questions himself in a hesitant and uncertain way until, however, the composer returns listening to a comforting melody that leads to the hope that of humanity will ultimately prevail. We had the privilege of discussing this and much more with Andrea , the new first violin at the National Academy of Santa Cecilia, born in Palermo in 1994.
Recognized by critics as an “infant prodigy”, he began studying the piano at the age of six with his musician parents and, at the age of twelve, he made his debut as a soloist with the Sicilian Symphony Orchestra. Among the few in the world to graduate from the conservatory at the age of 14 with honors and special mention, he won the competition for over eighty candidates for the selection of the new first violin, winning the three foreign competitors who reached the final, a French, a Japanese and a Romanian , immediately creating a special understanding with the master Antonio Pappano. These days he is in Germany where we have reached him.
His love for the violin in the magic of Christmas was born while he was making the tree and listening to his musician parents playing their instruments, he was five and asked for an encore that never ended.
The violin is considered the ruler of musical instruments, its tone clearly emerges above the musical instruments, making it the ideal voice to carry the melody or support the song. Instrument of great expressiveness, often considered even capable of approaching the human voice. Look at your instrument and what do you think?
“He said well it’s an encore for many years. Thanks to my parents, I first of all discovered the love of listening, that evening I understood the difference between hearing and listening. The Christmas tree was never done and after a month I was playing the violin. When I look at my violin I think it is a piece of wood and that from our union it transforms, vibrates, follows me and supports me. My instrument accompanied me in the most difficult moments of my life, with its answers I found what I could not explain to myself about my identity and it transformed my being a musician over the years. Although the violin leads to being a prima donna, it taught me that I no longer had to focus on myself but find our collaboration to approach and connect through feelings to the experience of the audience. My ultimate goal is not the prizes, the acknowledgments, winning competitions, despite the many goals achieved, but it is to accumulate, include, lead to catharsis “.
The first violin is also a leader, his instrument must concentrate together with the others, in order to be able to speak the same language. Concerting, the democratic idea of music, is a very high expression of human thought, involving those who make it as well as those who listen to it. The body participates, the feet beat in rhythm, the breathing becomes more hasty, you share that emotion with your neighbor, a miracle that takes place every time you play because music has the power to change things, not only to witness them and when the transformation takes place, there is no social category, there is no rich or poor. There is only the greatness of music that knows how to excite and unite in its luminous aura. What is the relationship that is created between the musician, the orchestra and the concert hall? What is the thing that he thinks when he goes on stage and that when he goes down?
“When I go on stage I have a generic idea of what will happen, but every time it is different, every orchestra as well as every audience is different, the pieces are the same, but when I play Tchaikovsky in Palermo it is not like when I play it in America, every part of the world has its listeners and I connect each time with the culture of the place and with the ear of that audience that makes me play differently. When I get on the stage, the thing I set out to do is we’ll see what happens, and then lose the dimension of reality and all the preparation behind it, I try not to let it be seen because it is the experience itself that makes the concert. I free myself, so that I can experience the concert and what I share in a unique and authentic way “.
