Temianka’s Performance Lectures
By the mid-1950s, onstage lectures had become a staple of Temianka's performance style. Concert programs from as early as 1951 note "comments from the stage by Mr. Temianka," and his long-running concert series, aptly titled "Let's Talk Music," prominently featured lectures and discussions on topics like music history, appreciation and performance techniques.
[Short clip from Haydn lecture]
Temianka often stressed that it was just as important to learn about the composer behind a performance as it was to learn about their music. Many of Temianka's commentaries made sure to include "behind the scenes" anecdotes about composers and their experiences in everyday life, as everyday people.
In doing so, Temianka worked to broaden the way his audiences understood composers and their works. Instead of portraying performances only as artistic or technical achievements, these stories demonstrated that musical compositions were the products of people with distinct personalities and experiences that influenced their work.
"The verbal introductions to the performance have often served to remind us … of the background and events against which many of these masterpieces were conceived, composed, and performed," Temianka wrote of his commentaries in a 1986 concert program.
At times, Temianka used his own personal anecdotes as a way to communicate musical ideas or facts in a way that was more personable than simply stating them outright.
Taken from Temianka's "Sunday Evening Concert" radio show, the clip below describes a discussion the virtuoso had with Soviet violinists Igor and David Oistrakh about whether their large audience would be able to hear a harpsichord — which usually cannot change the volume at which it is played.
Temianka recalls David arguing that the harpsichord would be a nice visual addition to the performance, possibly hinting at the historical prestige behind the instrument, which predates the piano. On the other hand, it's possible David simply thought it looked nice.
[Oistrakh from JH-1]
When explaining the first movement of a piece by Haydn, Temianka told his audience that it's comprised of "two contrasting themes: one is … the male actor, and the other is the feminine lead." The two themes replicate the dramatic performances of an opera, Temianka noted. He played a short but sharp series of notes, quickly rising and falling in tone.
"This, of course, is the angry male," Temianka said, as the concert hall erupted in laughter. Temianka's sense of humor was another powerful tool he often used to make his lectures approachable for the general public. One reviewer said of Temianka's intersection of humor and commentary: "I did not know it was possible to learn so much while laughing."
[Haydn angry male joke]
Also quite the historian, Temianka was a founding member of the Paganini Quartet, which ran from 1945-1966 (check) and used original 17th and 18th century instruments that were once owned by Niccolò Paganini, an Italian virtuoso who is often considered to be one of the greatest violinists of all time. It may be no surprise, then, that Temianka regularly infused his lectures with ruminations on the history of a particular music genre or the evolution of an instrument into its modern day form.
[Live performance demonstrations, "dissecting" the performance]
"There is a piece by the contemporary German composer Paul Hindesmith in which the second violins come in after the first violins, playing the same tune one beat later. This is like two actors reciting Hamlet’s soliloquy at the same time, but one syllable apart. When I let the first and second violins take turns playing the theme, the audience was able to understand what went on."
[Explain the reception]
Sometimes, large portions of the audience would stay back after a performance to ask questions and hear more of his remarks. But audiences weren't the only ones enamored with such commentaries. One program from a 1963 performance mentions the acclaim surrounding Temianka's approach to program notes:
"When someone like Temianka comes along to annotate verbally with human interest, accuracy and excellence, program notes give music a lift." — Herbert Donaldson
Despite the praise from audiences and critics alike, not everyone enjoyed Temianka's style of commentary.[some not-so-sweet choice words on his commentary, while not unprecedented it was out of the ordinary and perhaps portrayed in a different light than other commentaries from the era]
[prompt questions]