Jazz violinist connects with art at the Phillips

Bill O'Leary/The Washington Post - Jazz violinist David Schulman practices for Jazz ’n Families Fun Days at the Phillips Collection. He will be interpreting art through music.

By Moira E. McLaughlin, Published: May 28 E-mail the writer

When you look at a famous painting in an art gallery, you probably feel something: happy, sad, confused, uncomfortable. If you look at a painting closely, you may start to hear something: birds chirping, leaves crunching . . . or, if you’re violinist David Schulman, music playing.

This weekend at the Phillips Collection art gallery Jazz ’n Families Fun Days, Schulman will make up music based on particular paintings that the audience is looking at. (Composing music on the spot is called improvisation, which is a big part of jazz music.) Schulman said his goal will be to help the audience understand what the paintings are saying.

“I come to the paintings on their own terms,” he said, “and find out how they speak.”

Translating art

Can a painting really talk? KidsPost asked Schulman if we could see him in action. So on a recent day, he set up his musical equipment in a corner of the Phillips. He brought two violins (one was plugged into an amplifier, or amp, which made it louder) and a few small percussion instruments.

Schulman also brought effects pedals, which he put on the floor. The pedals allow Schulman to record his music on the spot and then play the recording back as he plays something new. This is called “looping.” By the end of a song, a listener may hear 10 violin parts even though there is only one Schulman.

Once Schulman’s equipment was ready, he picked out a painting by Francis Bacon called “Study of a Figure in a Landscape.” He looked at it. He blinked his eyes and looked at it some more. In the painting, there’s a shadowy man sitting in the middle of a field with his knees pulled to his chest, a blue sky behind him and trees that seem to be blowing slightly around him. After a few moments, Schulman picked up his violin.

He played some high notes pizzicato — meaning he plucked the strings — to represent the sky, long bow strokes for the grass and a more melodic, quieter part to represent the man in the field, Schulman explained later. The music created a mood that was mysterious and beautiful.

“I’m offering ideas,” Schulman said. Or “a soundtrack” for people looking at the painting.

Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/kidspost/jazz-violinist-connects-with-paintings-at-the-phillips-collection/2013/05/28/1e86c16c-be4e-11e2-89c9-3be8095fe767_story.html?wprss=rss_lifestyle