Can Talent be Explained?

In this groundbreaking look into the world of classical music, David Jacobson interweaves his educative experiences at the Curtis Institute of Music with his quest to understand how performers such as Jascha Heifetz, Nathan Milstein, Sergei Rachmaninoff, Vladimir Horowitz, and Glenn Gould achieved such unsurpassed levels of musical expression and technical skill. What were their secret techniques and musical insights?

Jacobson, founder and director of the San Francisco Institute of Music, has spent many years analyzing the approach of these and other master players uncovering their secrets which he reveals in clear, precise, non-technical language, supplemented by diagrams, photographs and annotated musical examples. His conclusion: the methods, paradigmatic shifts and musical approach of these masters are fundamentally the same, yet diametrically opposed to what is taught by contemporary music teaching systems (such as those of Ivan Galamian and Shinichi Suzuki) for string playing, orchestral instruments, piano and voice. Jacobson’s exploration of the secret techniques and musical insights of great performers aims to revitalize the art of classical music in general. The rediscovery of these techniques and concepts, he argues, will:

Create many more outstanding performers and composers End the need for a conductor’s presence in orchestral performance Decentralize musical bureaucracies and power structures Alter our understanding of both opera and ballet Change our ideas about the nature of genius, talent and our own potential