Alma Deutscher Violin Concerto in G minor & Piano Concerto

[Gareth Vaughan]

I expect, at the very least, that she will stop stitching together disparate pastiches of composers from Bach to Bruch. Korngold had his own voice early on. She needs to be allowed to develop her own and not over praised on social media (or elsewhere).
And no, it is not a "damned tall order". Rachmaninov (for example) sounds like Rachmaninov, not Elgar, not Sibelius, not Richard Strauss, all of whom were writing in the Romantic idiom at roughly the same time.

[Alan Howe]

And, we might add, that Brahms doesn't sound like Bruch, even though they're much closer in idiom than the composers Gareth mentions.

It is hard these days to avoid comments being put out on social media. That's the world we (unfortunately) live in. Let's hope that her head is not turned by all the adulation; if she survives it, she may emerge all the stronger.

All we can do at the moment is wait and see whether she's more than a child phenomenon - and whether she will develop a mature, adult voice of her own. I'm sure I speak for everyone in wishing her well.

[Gareth Vaughan]

Absolutely,  Alan.

[Christopher]

Hear hear!

[Alan Howe]

All I would add is this: Alma Deutscher is 13+ years old. Did Elgar sound like mature Elgar in 1870? Or Rachmaninov like mature Rachmaninov in 1886? Or Sibelius like mature Sibelius in 1878? Or Richard Strauss like mature Richard Strauss in 1877? Of course not! Not every great composer was first a child prodigy (as a composer). Korngold was clearly an exception. If Miss Deutscher achieves compositional maturity in her twenties or thirties, she'd simply be like most other composers - such as the abovementioned geniuses.

Note, though, that she also plays the piano and violin to a very high level. And she can improvise. Oh, and she seems to have a remarkable command of German. My sense is that she does have extraordinary abilities. As we've said, though, whether that will extend to mature compositional ability is another thing entirely.

[Gareth Vaughan]

I see I was not perhaps very clear. Jerfilm asked what we expected her to produce "as she matures" and thought it was a tall order for her not to sound like other Romantic composers. My point was that I expected her, as she matures, to develop her own voice so that eventually she has the individuality, within the Romantic idiom, of composers like the ones I mentioned, and I didn't think that was a tall order. I was not suggesting that they all (like Korngold) began speaking with an original voice. I am very worried that her charming immature music, which is nothing more than accomplished pastiche, is being hailed as the work of a genius. There is no doubt that she is a fine and talented performer - this does not always translate into being a fine composer. (And, incidentally, I know a few 13-year-olds who are fluent in more than one language; that is no evidence of genius if their parents were bi- or tr-lingual as they would have learned the languages from the cradle. Of course, I don't know if this was the case with Alma Deutscher, but i suspect it may have been.) I am not trying to belittle her achievements. But some people are, it seems to me, getting carried away.

[Alan Howe]

I know exactly what you were getting at, Gareth. And you are quite right, of course. And you are also right to question the silly media hype that has arisen in the wake of public performances of her music. Comparisons with certain composers who preceded her are silly because, as you say, up till now all she has been producing is pastiches of their music. (Mind you, that in itself is pretty remarkable.) And you are also in all likelihood correct that her linguistic ability comes from her parents, though there's no evidence of German being spoken in the home (she has learned the language using textbooks) and Alma does more than just speak German - she actually sets the language to music, as in her opera Cinderella.

So why do I hesitate to agree 100%? Maybe it's the sense (impossible to articulate) - more from the documentaries about her than from examples of her music - that this is an extraordinary young girl, someone who has more than mere talent. So it's a guess on my part, really - a guess that this is a child genius; but of course she may turn out to be no more than that. Her drive to compose may burn itself out once she realises that there is more to beautiful music than naïve childlike attractiveness. But maybe I just I want to believe...

This article is an interesting read:
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/women/life/meet-prodigy-alma-deutscher-12-year-old-opera/
..as is this one:
https://www.theguardian.com/music/2016/feb/05/alma-deutscher-10-music-world
And try this heartwarming documentary:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=19WORtE3xuM&feature=youtu.be

[Christopher]

I am so pleasantly surprised by the overall positivity of this thread - three times hear hear!

[Alan Howe]

In the abovementioned BBC documentary available on YouTube Simon Rattle avers that he has never met anyone with Alma's range of abilities. Dare we hope that his comments are rather more trustworthy than those posted on YouTube and other social media?

[matesic]

That's easy to concur with - quite astonishing

[Alan Howe]

Quite so. You'd like to think that Rattle, with his range of contacts worldwide, would know of anyone remotely comparable. Still leaves us with hopes rather than certainties with regard to Miss Deutscher's future, of course.

The only two child prodigy composers I can think of in the modern era are Jay Greenberg (American, b.1991) and Alex Prior (British, b.1992).

Here's a very interesting article (written in 2008, so pre-Alma Deutscher) on the subject:
http://www.gavindixon.info/Prodigy_Composers.htm
And here's a rather scathing article on Greenberg, specifically his 5th Symphony, written at 15:
https://www.theguardian.com/music/2007/jan/24/classicalmusicandopera
Note the criticism that all he was doing was recycling others' music! Haven't we heard that somewhere before...?

So here's a challenge: apart from Korngold (maybe), which child prodigy composers actually wrote mature music that was recognisably in their own style/voice in their childhood - e.g. by Alma Deutscher's current age (13½)?

[der79sebas]

Alma Deutscher is a big talent. However, at her present stage of development, Deutscher's music is in truth uninteresting, empty and impersonal. Let us wait a decade - I hope to hear grandious music from her soon! Concerning Rattle: He has reached a state of mind and artistry, where it would be best to completely ignore him in any respect.

[Alan Howe]

Deutscher's music is in truth uninteresting, empty and impersonal

I think that's more than a bit harsh, but you're entitled to your opinion, of course.

Concerning Rattle: He has reached a state of mind and artistry, where it would be best to completely ignore him in any respect.

I'm not the world's greatest Rattle fan either. I don't like the way he often seems to micro-manage the music he conducts; but I think it's worth paying attention when he talks of not having met anyone with AD's range of abilities.

[eschiss1]

Interesting question re prodigies. Can't agree about Rattle, whose Suk, Szymanowski and Bruckner completion recordings e.g. seem, from what I've heard of them so far, to be remarkably good.

[matesic]

Alma isn't the only young violinist composing in 19th century style

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n2luD83eK20

but Roman Kim has an alternative persona

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ixLgdSD43Y