Why or Why Not, at least according to the media

Over the past few years, there has been a soft buzz in the media about memorization and music. Among the most prominent articles:

• Liszt: the man who invented stage fright, by Stephen Hough, The Guardian
• Playing by Heart, With or Without a Score, by Anthony Tommasini, The New York Times
• All in the Mind, by Susan Tomes, The Guardian

These excellent discussions and the online comments that continue to follow are important reads for any musician. Stephen Hough's article is particularly noteworthy in its list of pros and cons for memorization.

One other article worth mentioning is about Yo-Yo Ma challenging Chicago's Civic Orchestra to perform Beethoven's 6th from memory. This isn't so much a why or a how as it is a why not?!

In starting this blog, I made it clear that I didn't want to get too far into a discussion of why one should memorize. My own article, geared towards harpsichordists, did that a few years ago, and I've come to realize that, even if I could make up people's minds, my purpose is not to change opinions. Rather, my hope is that this blog will give readers some insight into how to memorize.

Nevertheless, my relatively recent decision to return to memorized performances has come with a list of personal "whys," and I'll continue with those in my next post. Why not?