JAVS Spring 2011

I N THE S TUDIO A S UMMER ’ S I DYLL : S OMMERAKADEMIE WITH T HOMAS R IEBL

by Janice LaMarre

Violists did not travel from as far as Japan, Korea, Spain, Canada, and the United States to study Qi Gong with Thomas Riebl, professor at the Mozarteum and winner of the 1982 Naumberg competition. However, this fresh Austrian morn ing finds us spread out into a circle on the grassy field, our faces warmed by the sun. Thomas ges tures for us to shift for the strag glers, and we begin with the eight deep peals of the church bells. He smiles toward us and beyond, to the clear sky, leading each exercise with the same physical power and precision that are signatures of his playing. We all breathe in together, molding space with rounded arms, first in small circles, then in full gestures with fingers extended toward the sky, and finally back again to our center and to the earth. Our experience of the solid ground and the infinite sky, the intake and exhale, the force and release, the swing and step, and the ringing of the church bells contain the foundations of viola playing that Mr. Riebl aims to teach us in Bad Leonfelden. I have observed over one hundred hours of his teaching, having attended four previous sessions in Austria and Prussia Cove. During

Sommerakademie participants in Qi-Gong

these latest summer classes in Bad Leonfelden, I am able to ponder the connection between his ideas instead of scribbling down every comment into my Bach and Brahms parts. His three funda mental teaching points of smile, swing, and step are applied in lay ers. Each is worked out first in the body and next in the areas of sonority, vibrato, phrasing, bow use, and in the concept of inégal playing. He tells us to start the music before we begin to play, moving with springing knees that are “the gates of tension and release.” We take strides in the character and pulse of the music in order to put motion into our bodies. We also take a metaphorical step away

from the head and into the body in order to feel the music rather than think it. Every stress in the body blocks energy, and we must “get used to smiling” in order to release muscles, since we often hold tension in our faces and mouths. We also tend to play and breathe up in the chest rather than closer to our core. We observe our body sans instrument—even play ing without it—and keep this free dom when we return to the instru ment. Now the music can resonate through us, and we are free to use our body’s strength and flexibility. Most students bring Bach to at least one lesson with Thomas Riebl, because his understanding of this repertoire is deep, and his teaching is detailed. He intends

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