The clue was in their first names. For the eyes, legendary Dutch artist Vincent van Gogh’s painting came to life on a big screen. For the ears, Grammy-nominated concert pianist Vincent Corver’s piece, unsurprisingly titled Vincent, pulled the audience into a sea of scintillating melody. In the end, both reached the heart.
At a unique event titled Sound+Vision, an enlightening evening of discussion featuring Weill-Cornell Medicine - Qatar (WCM-Q) faculty at the HBKU Student Centre Cinema, Qatar Foundation, last week, focussed on the restorative powers of music and the moving image. The informal and deeply insightful talks featured Alan Weber (Music as medicine in the Islamic world), Mohamud Verjee (Striking a chord of empathy: Rachmaninoff in clinical practice), Rodney Sharkey (Bringing the outsider in: Pop music and identity).
Then, it all met a fitting high with the final act – a performance by Corver, fashioned as ‘Vincent and Van Gogh at the piano’. Celebrating the life of Vincent van Gogh 125 years after his death was Corver’s moving live performance of the piece Vincent, commissioned by the Dutch Ministry. What greatly elevated the experience was how it was performed in sync with an animated version of one of Van Gogh’s most popular paintings, Sunflowers – animation courtesy Alex Klim – blending the melody of the music with the magic of the painting.
As Corver started off playing single notes on his piano on one side of the stage, the empty canvas – which was the giant screen on which the animation was beamed – began getting filled with lines and colours. As Corver’s piece caught pace, so did the tiny patches of paint filling the screen in fast motion. The flowers bloomed and so did the music; Corver’s piano gently but swiftly leaping into symphonic goodness. As his fingers danced across the keys, Corver kept gazing at the screen as if his music somehow directed how the Sunflowers painting must take shape.
Eventually, the painting and the performance ended in unison, both forms of art having become inextricably interwoven in the process. The audience, almost unable to tell where the music ended and the painting began, applauded heartily, as Corver rose from his seat and took a well-deserved bow.
Corver later told Community, “I felt truly fortunate to have received the opportunity to present this unique program together with a selection of Qatar’s finest university professors. I am looking forward to continuing our outreach programme towards improving the musical and artistic awareness in our Qatar region.” Also the manager of Steinway Piano Gallery Qatar, Corver believes in redefining music – and his performances make us feel he can.
As for the various topics discussed in the evening, the upcoming story-telling workshop, A Knock on the Door, had an interesting introduction. Here, we are some notes from it: In this age of instant gratification our lives from a young age are consumed by the presence of iPhones, iPads, TV screens and other electronics that cause the decay of our own imagination, and thereby the failing desire to shape goals which may realise our dreams.
Social media is showing us a world of lifestyle illusions, which we desperately seek to imitate and identify ourselves with; portraying our desires on the wall as a moment in time, but not teaching us their factual realism, working hardship and the sweat and tears behind them. Our fears of social rejection are ever-growing. We choose to advocate jealousy, negative criticism and competitiveness over kindness and our willingness to share positive thoughts. We forget to actually see the opportunities that are given to us on a daily basis and how we may use them to open new doors and create new opportunities in our own life.
In this “social world” we all share a common desire: recognition – even in the smallest of forms. Yet we often fail to realise that recognition is reflected by outreach, which in turn creates comeback, which in turn generates recognition. We forget a compliment may have a profound impact on someone’s life, thus to be kind to others who are battling for their dreams. In all sincerity, the compliment is the very ‘seed’ that grows into the tree of talent existing in all of us.
People often forget that our human abilities are endless, and with the right passion and immortal determination we are granted the opportunity to achieve the impossible. Essentially, our curiosity is king. Education becomes the art form of teaching us to listen out for moments of opportunity. Often, the most meaningless moments may appear the most valuable in the end, like a simple ‘knock on the door’.