An award-winning composer and her middle school student

March 13, 2013 11:23 PM

Hilary Hahn performs Jennifer Higdon's remarkable Violin Concerto, for which Higdon won the Pulitzer Prize: 1726, the first movement, is challenging and prickly; Chacconi, the second, is calmer, slow and colorful; Fly Forward, the brief and exciting finale, is worth listening to even if you're not a fan of contemporary classical music. Here, Hahn talks about having Higdon as a teacher at the age of thirteen, and Higdon talks about writing for Hahn's individual style; after the concerto's world premiere, they recorded themselves talking to each other on what looks like a computer cam, which is both fun as heck and a fascinating look at the relationship between composer and performer.
posted by Rory Marinich (7 comments total)

Both of these amazing women have more talent in their little finger
than I could ever hope to have. And they have such a pleasant sense of
respect for each other. Jennifer Higdon sounds like she must be a really
great person to work with.
posted by quazichimp at 12:09 AM on March 14, 2013

To be fair, comparing the talent a violinist's got in her fingers is giving her an unfair advantage.
posted by Rory Marinich at 12:18 AM on March 14, 2013 [4 favorites]

Thank you for posting. Hilary Hahn is amazing, both live in concert and recorded. It's always nice finding "hidden" performances like this.
posted by booksarelame at 12:50 AM on March 14, 2013 [1 favorite]

Hilary Hahn's violin case's Twitter feed.
posted by aught at 6:11 AM on March 14, 2013 [1 favorite]

That conversation is, indeed, "fun as heck." Two really, really smart, thoughtful people talking in a wonderfully relaxed and open way about the process of composing and playing this piece. There's a terrific lack of pretense here and such evident mutual respect and admiration. Thanks for posting this.
posted by yoink at 9:46 AM on March 14, 2013

Hilary is one of my favorite musicians.
posted by gyc at 10:22 AM on March 14, 2013

For those that want more Jennifer Higdon there is a Complete Recordings (on Spotify) playlist.
posted by mountmccabe at 1:40 PM on March 14, 2013 [1 favorite]