JAVS Spring 2022

classes. After participating in the pedagogy class drills and reading in studio class, Michelle culminated her experiences by reciting selected poems of Emily Dickinson in the world premiere of Augusta Read Thomas’s Stardust. Michelle has graciously agreed to share her experiences and outcomes from reciting poetry for this article. The Discussion Why did you choose to recite poetry as a performance substitute during your injury? Michelle Manson: Personally, I had previous experience in the creation and performance of poetry and spoken word, which is why it initially seemed like the best option for me when deciding on a substitute for my viola performance. I studied poetry rather intensely during my high school summers. During this time, I was always above average in writing poetry, many of which went on to be published; but I never seemed to be able to present it in a way that I felt comfortable with. And strangely enough, I seemed to have a similar problem in my viola performance. The piece that I was hearing in my head was not able to reach its full potential in my performance. When I first experienced my injury in the beginning of 2021, I tried to finally take the time to realize what the root of the problem was, and this led to a much deeper understanding of sound, performance anxiety, and overall musicality in both poetry and music. How did focusing on controlling the sound of your voice give you a deeper understanding of sound production on your viola? MM: There is nothing to hide behind when performing poetry—no instrument, notes, ensemble—which can induce higher levels of anxiety because we are so exposed. But it does have certain advantages. One of which is it allows for the performer to pay more attention to sound and tone. When we are playing [the viola], it is so easy to have too much of an internal focus, only paying attention to the movements that we are making. This is especially true when the technique is difficult—relatively and subjectively. If we are not listening to ourselves though, how are we meant to have good tone and intonation and play the pieces as they are intended? Since the act of speaking is so natural, we can take the focus away from the physicality of the act and focus instead on how we sound in the moment. When performing the Emily Dickinson poems, I took time

to practice in the hall so I could truly listen to myself. I listened to the reverberations and exactly how I sounded, and I micro-adjusted as was needed. This was the missing key in my previous poetry and viola performances. Because I was not truly listening to myself—instead focusing primarily on the physical aspect of playing—I could not make the needed adjustments to perform the works in the way that I wanted. Even now, after practicing scales and etudes, and before I begin my repertoire, I take a moment to speak a few sentences into the air. I speak, I listen, and acknowledge my sound in this room. Listening to the full acoustic of our sound in the performance space is essential for everything we do as performers and easily becomes an atrophied skill when we spend so many hours in a small, dry space such as a practice room. It makes perfect sense that removing the physical act of playing the viola and solely producing sound with your voice, which you have used since birth, would allow you to focus on listening. Let’s talk about phrasing, a term that carries equal weight for music and poetry. What were the challenges of delivering a clear meaning of the text in a spoken phrase versus a musical one? MM: As previously mentioned, there are many similarities between music and poetry performance, including phrasing. This appears to be the most obvious connection between the two, especially given the abstract nature of their other similarities; there is a very direct connection between musical phrasing and language phrasing. Phrasing is a transferable skill that can be learned and applied in many ways. The highs and lows, articulation, intonation, tempo, and connectivity of what is being presented is obvious in both art forms and is what makes each piece truly special. Below is Emily Dickinson’s “Tell all the truth, but tell it slant,” which is an example of this phenomenon:

Tell all the truth but tell it slant — Success in Circuit lies Too bright for our infirm Delight The Truth’s superb surprise As Lightning to the Children eased With explanation kind The Truth must dazzle gradually Or every man be blind – 3

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Journal of the American Viola Society / Vol. 38, No. 1, Spring 2022