“As instruments go, you might say the viola drew an unlucky number in the musical lottery.” This is how Jennifer Stumm began her TEDx talk called An Imperfect Instrument that went viral in 2011.
Next week, the American musician will begin touring Ireland with a show of the same name, showing through performance and words how that imperfection “can be the very thing that gives us our voice”. Specially curated for audiences here, her programme ranges from Bach to Sting along with a new Music Network commission by Irish composer Jonathan Nangle.
“The viola is a musical chameleon, a character actor,” Stumm says. “I’m quite content not being the leading lady. I like the fact that I’m able to exploit the flaws of the instrument and find new worlds of sound.”
Here is a playlist of tracks which have inspired Stumm over the years, along with her reasons why.
1. Dolly Parton: The Bridge
Dolly is the oracle. I don’t know of a smarter, gutsier musician more ahead of her time. She grew up in Appalachia not far from where my grandparents were from and her music has been a running soundtrack through my life. The Bridge was written more than 50 years ago for an album about female liberation that could have been released now: it still shocks. Her voice, an unforgettable mix of sweetness and acid, stands alone.
2. Franz Schubert, Mark Padmore and Paul Lewis: Der Doppelgänger (from Schwanengesang)
Schubert is my main man. I live in Vienna, so often when I’m walking around I think about how he did the same things. He’s just the most human composer: whatever he writes goes straight to the heart of the matter. This song, which I recently recorded for solo viola and strings, is weird, dark and bitter. A teenage friend heard it and said: “Whoa, that’s so emo.” Accurate.
3. Nina Simone: Wild is the Wind
If the viola was a singer, it would be Nina Simone. This perfectly imperfect voice, with its flaws and cracks, breaks your heart. I love the subtlety of how her piano playing floats through her vocals, like water around earth, and the power of every word.
4. Jordia Savall: Folia: Rodrigo Martinez, 1490
Hello, my name is Jennifer, and I have a thing for repetitive music. Patterns that repeat make us listen in a different way for what is special. They give birth to innovation and improvisation. Folia originated in South America and travelled to Europe, like so many musical traditions. This is from the 15th century and you can hear all the hallmarks of great Latin music still with us today.
5. Hughes de Courson & Le Berre: O’stravaganza (After Vivaldi’s Sinfonia, RV 168)
On days when I need to just forget the world and dance it out, I listen to this. Hughes de Courson takes a Vivaldi sinfonia and somehow turns it into a Celtic rock show. Classical music has often made the mistake of setting too many rules about what’s “acceptable”. What I’m looking for is just great music, played with brilliance, abandon and courageous creativity.
6. The Weeknd: Alone Again
This was one of the pop songs I listened to most last year. It’s just totally masterful, the layers of sound and the small details you don’t notice unless you train your ear to them. There’s also a bass drop that makes your heart drop with it into the pit of loneliness. An anthem for the pandemic.
7. Johannes Brahms: Piano Quartet No 3 in C Minor, Op 60: II. Scherzo. Allegro
I remember the moment I played this for the first time, at a summer music camp in Maine. My 17-year-old mind was set on fire. A rocket of a piece with the piano like jet fuel propelling the strings, it still sounds radical to me. There’s nothing “classical” about this: it’s like Brahms wants to burn down the world.
8. Johann Sebastian Bach and Lorraine Hunt Lieberson: BWV82: Aria: Ich Habe Genug
To think that Bach, as his day job, had to write one of these every week for church and then managed to make them works of absolute genius is something that blows my mind. There are more than 200 and I wonder if this structure somehow brought out the full spectrum of human experience. Lorraine Hunt Lieberson’s voice is heart-shatteringly beautiful here. What a tragedy that she died before recording more.
9. Chico Buarque: Roda Viva (Circle of Your Life)
Chico Buarque wrote this incredible song in 1968 as a protest against the Brazilian dictatorship. Its feeling of helplessness in the face of a “giant wheel” of history repeating itself has certainly been ever-present in recent times. The naive, simplistic harmonies turn the knife even more.
10. Artemis: The Sidewinder
Artemis is an incredible “supergroup” of female jazz musicians, in a field where gender equity is pretty woeful. Their entire self-titled album is a wonder: tautly powerful, breathing together flawlessly, every edge crisp. I love collectives, how a mix of personalities somehow creates its own new and consolidated form. My own family of artists around the world bring so much to my life. They’re a mirror of my solo self.
Jennifer Stumm is touring Ireland from March 29 to April 6, with shows in Bray, Dublin, Roscommon, Clifden, Listowel and Waterford. For full details, see musicnetwork.ie. To hear her playlist, visit the Business Post page on Spotify.
*Article by Andrew Lynch Sunday Business Post 27/03/2022