Many of the music students at Queens College have been classically trained, like Alexander Markov. However, if given the opportunity, could they suddenly change persona and electrify an audience with a rock show?
This fascinating instrumentalist can. With electric violin at hand, Markov introduced himself twice while performing at Carnegie Hall last Saturday. His rock piece, cleverly titled “The Rock Concerto,” was co-written by James V. Remington, Neal Coomer, and Markov himself (he is obviously quite multi-talented). But, of course, he saved this awakening work for the end, right after playing an intimate rendition of a Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto.
This is not the first time someone has tried to fill in the space between orchestral music and modern rock. Although the idea may seem monotonous and unoriginal, it is still intriguing to an audience, since it represents his interpretation on how to combine the two. Yet, according to the article, it was easy to become enveloped in the popular genre and stop listening to the classical elements. Markov’s electric violin solos resembled those of heavy-metal hits and Led Zeppelin riffs. The outgoing characteristic of this pulse-raising music could easily overshadow the more mature and timid quality of symphonic music.
As a musician myself, I find Alexander Markov highly inspiring. It is not easy to master such contrasting genres, if you can even bring yourself to master one. However, such a talent is very beneficial; a musician who can perform in more than one style has a greater understanding for music, and a magnificently expanded repertoire.
Here is a sampling of the performance. The quality is not the best, but it helps to better visualize the performance:
If I had to list the kind of music that I like, rock/alternative would be the first on my mind and orchestral music would come much later. Even though you mention people have attempted to make the two closer, I’ve never heard of it. I listened to a bit of the video that you posted in the blog, but the quality of the sounds were kind of bad. It makes me want to hear it live, to really experience the music.
As a non musician, I find it pretty amazing that people can play one instrument, let alone many of them. The fact that he’s so versatile is very impressive. It’s nice to know there are many talented people in the world.
I loved this blog post! It’s so true about Markov being an inspiration because he really is. Extending his talents to play more than one type of music and to do both so well is amazing! I actually went to go see him perform at LeFrak in March and he is now one of my favorite violinists. His playing was so beautiful and truly captivating that it seemed the audience (my mom and I included) was under a spell. He played some extremely difficult pieces for the violin (the Devil’s Trill Sonata, a few Paganini caprices, a whole Bach sonata). I really enjoyed this video with his twist on rock music. It’s eye opening for the possibilities for violinists!
As a musician, I have always hated the idea of confining myself to one genre. While I do love classical, jazz is also a favorite. However, the two are extremely different. There have been countless times in my music theory classes when I would hear my teacher say something like “That would be acceptable for jazz, but it is forbidden for classical.” This always bothered me; why should certain things be allowed in jazz — certain intervals and figured bass — but not in classical? I play classical flute, but I also play jazz on alto sax and am a jazz vocalist. I remember preparing for a classical NYSSMA solo in 11th grade; it was my first time really singing a classical piece, and I kept trying to put some jazz flare into the music. My teacher told me that I couldn’t really do that because the judge would be looking for more traditional classical singing. There have been so many times that I wished I could successfully bridge the gap between jazz and classical. And who knows, maybe one day, I will!
I find it very interesting to hear that Erica heard him play a traditional recital and also to hear that ToniAnn had the experience she had with singing classical in the 11th grade. there are enormous challenges to mastering more than one genre, and different challenges if one seeks to COMBINE more than one. this is something that has occupied my musical life for 30 years in one way or another!