Studio News

November, 2007 -- 

Managing Performance Nerves     Hummel

    Welcome to Studio News for November.  Not long until the recital, and then – amazingly – we will soon be headed into summer holidays. 
    This issue will briefly look at preparation for performances.  Our composer this month is Johann Hummel, a very creative Classical composer, teacher and pianist who ties together several of the best known Classical and Romantic composers.

Young Pianists’ Recital, Sunday 2^nd December

    Thank you for once again being supportive and enthusiastic towards this special event.  Most students and families have responded to RSVP – there is last minute opportunity for those who have not replied as yet.  For adequate organisation, I need to know the expected number of guests and the selected piano pieces by Friday 30^th at the latest.  We have a few first-time performers.  Other young pianists have learnt a lot this semester and have some exciting things to share. 

     I will be preparing the studio for seating on Saturday afternoon, the day before.  I would greatly appreciate help, if a few people could carry furniture and transport / set up chairs.  Please let me know when would be convenient if you are available.

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Preparation for Performances – Managing Performance Nerves

    Nervous tension is a normal part of performance.  The most experienced performers are familiar with performance nerves – they expect it.  Confident performers have learnt to recognise, manage and use their nerves in the way that best suits them.  They capture the tension to give a lively and heart-felt performance.  Learning performers can also get to know and eventually become friends with these feelings.

    Performance nerves are experienced on two different levels – physical-emotional (bodies and feelings) and cognitive (thinking).  The two influence each other and both need to be understood.  The physical-emotional side is based on excitement – due to anticipation, the heart pumps a little faster, we feel restless, and our thoughts run faster, everything feels more intense.  The thinking side is based on what we expect of the performance situation and of ourselves.  Sometimes we don’t know what to expect, but with experience we learn we can handle things.

    A third aspect can be used to manage these two areas so we have a positive performance experience – choice.  We can make choices about how we express and interpret our emotions and our thoughts.  With practice, these choices lead to self-management and confidence.

Preparing Physically-Emotionally:  Performance is an opportunity – it is exciting.  It is a situation that most of us are not very familiar with.  Sometimes we even feel a little worried because we value and invest so much into a single point in time.  Automatically, this causes our brain to release adrenaline.  We feel many things in our bodies because we are more alert than usual.  Some people, whose brains work faster or who are more emotionally responsive, have very strong reactions and sensations.  These people can learn to be very good performers because they have so much to express.  Adrenaline is designed to help us perform even better.

    Unfortunately, these feelings can be confusing or very strong.  If we think they mean we are going to play badly, they can make us feel shy.  It is very important to remember that the feelings are meant to help you; they never mean you “can’t do it”.  The more we get used to these feelings and realise we have managed them before, the less strong they become.  So, the first important choice to make in performing is to accept how you feel and try anyway. 

    Since adrenaline gives us extra energy, we sometimes need to manage how we release this energy – so there is just the right amount when it is time to perform.  Finding the right mix of resting and being energetic can help.  Try working with these ideas:

Preparing Mentally:  Preparing mentally is about how we understand what our body is feeling and what we choose to think and believe before and during performance.  Start with knowing that your body is reacting to help you - nervousness is a good sign, and so is feeling calm.  Also, know and think about three very important things:

1. You have already done all the hard work – this is a chance to share all you have achieved.

2. Everyone makes mistakes, most of which are not noticed by other people.

3. Your audience wants to enjoy your music and your achievements with you – they are your friends.  They are more interested in the happiness you share than whether you play perfectly. 

    Before performing, use your thinking to help you play confidently.  If you start to worry, remind yourself how helpful your feelings are.  Remember, you have already done the hard work in practice and the things you have been careful to learn will come out in your playing – just as automatically as pushing pedals once you know how to ride a bike.  You have taught your body what to play and how to play and it is ready to do it by itself.

Choose to enjoy your performance and your audience will too!     

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Johann Nepomuk Hummel   

Johann Nepomuk Hummel, born 14^th November 1778 in Slovakia (died in 1837), was an Austrian composer and virtuoso performer whose influence brought together music of the Classical and early Romantic periods.  He was taught by both Mozart and Clementi, at different times in his childhood, and was friends with Schubert, Beethoven and Haydn.  He created musical forms and ornaments that led to Romanticism and that were popular in the music of Chopin and Schumann. 

    Hummel’s father was the director of a military music school and a conductor of an orchestra at a major theatre (Schikaneder’s Theatre).  It was at this theatre, at the age of 7, where Hummel was introduced to Mozart.  Mozart was impressed by Hummel’s natural talent and took him as a student, to live and tour with him for two years.  The young boy left home and gave his first public performance in one of Mozart’s concerts.

    At 10 years of age, Hummel’s father took him on a tour of Europe.  Once they reached London, Hummel began four years of lessons with the great teacher and composer Clementi.  While there, Haydn wrote a Sonata (in A flat) especially for Hummel to perform.  With the outbreak of the French Revolution (1789), Hummel cut short his European tour and returned to Vienna in 1792. 

    Back in Vienna, Hummel was student to Haydn, Salieri and Albrechtsberger – all three were great composers and teachers.  At this time, Beethoven learnt under the same teachers and became friends with Hummel.  The sometimes-competitive friendship remained for many years and, at Beethoven’s request, Hummel played at his memorial service. 

    Hummel held a couple of court-appointed high music positions in his adult years, but was not very good at organising himself and meeting all his responsibilities.  In his early 30s, Hummel was appointed as head musician at Weimar (in mid-Germany) – the same city where Bach was head musician 150 years earlier.  He achieved far more while in this later post.

    Hummel made Weimar the centre of music in Europe.  He invited all the best musicians of his time to perform and to retire in Weimar.  He supported other musicians once they were unable to earn for themselves and earned money through performances when group funds ran low.  He also started fighting for copyright laws so that musicians’ work was not stolen and they could keep earning income from works they had written and published.

    Beyond the above, Hummel influenced music through his composition and teaching.  He wrote a book, A Complete Theoretical and Practical Course of Instruction on the Art of Playing the Piano Forte (1828), which changed the art of fingering and ornamentation to suit the piano rather than the harpsichord.  His influence spread partly because he took Carl Czerny as a student – Czerny later taught Franz Liszt and was also very famous as a teacher.  Among Hummel’s other famous students were Ferdinand Hiller and Felix Mendelssohn. 

    Hummel’s compositions were very creative and modern for his time.  He wrote a number of solo piano works (as Sonatas), but more chamber works and conertos featuring the piano forte.  He altered the Sonata structure and challenged some of the Classically accepted rules of harmony, even using atonal structures that were ignored until 100 years later.  This made his work less popular than that of some of his contemporaries, such as Beethoven.  Nonetheless, his music was interesting and beautiful.  Hummel lived by the philosophy to "enjoy the world by giving joy to the world” (http://launch.groups.yahoo.com/group/johann_nepomuk_hummel/).  Composers of the Romantic period had a greater appreciation for his music, as evident in compositions by Chopin and  Schumann.  Musical soul and passion were more appreciated than pure structure in this period. 

    As with the great composers Bach and Haydn, Hummel’s work became over-shadowed by the succeeding generation of composers and performers.  Yet, in the same way as the earlier masters, his works are being revived and his over-looked influences are recognised. 

Annah-Valerie Hyrst (teacher)

Individual Dynamics

Rouse Hill, NSW  

Last modified: January 16, 2008