By: Azad Karimi
I have always enjoyed baroque music, but when I discovered the theorbo and tried it out I was immediately sold. I found myself a teacher and started learning.
Interview
Belgian Musician Walter Zwiekhorst
By Azad Karimi
My dear friend Walter is a Master of Applied Economics and a musician. Unfortunately, I am neither an economist nor a music expert. But since we live in this world and economics and music are human phenomena and you and I deal with them on a daily basis, it is not possible that we did not have any information about them.
I have written various introductions to music in previous interviews, but in this introduction, I prefer to write a little about economics, very briefly ... because I do not specialize in this field.
I remember many years ago when I was studying law we had a book called Fundamentals of Economics. In this book, economics was divided into two categories, Micro and Macro.
Macroeconomics is about how to run a country's economy nationally and internationally. Basically, economics is about wealth, the proper use of this wealth, and the management of trade profits and losses. Macroeconomics is a very complex issue and is directly affected by political factors and global crises. Look at this hellish Covid-19 and see how terrible the damage it causes to the economic markets of countries large and small.
However, along with that, some people have been able to obtain large fortunes through brokerage and intermediation. But globally we are witnessing a loss of wealth and a recession. At the same time, we are facing a new trading phenomenon called Bitcoin, the value of which is growing at a tremendous rate.
I would like to talk about bitcoin and conclude this introduction.
Bitcoin is a new global digital Cryptocurrency and has recently become very popular as a means of payment and exchange, and El Salvador has accepted it as a currency.
I wish my dear friend Walter happiness as well as success in music and economics.
Thank you!
Østland-Norway
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1-Please present yourself: (Name, education, Civil status and...)
.I am Walter Zwiekhorst, Master in Applied Economic Sciences and currently pursuing a Bachelor of Arts in Music (expected in June 2022)and in a happy relationship!
2-What is your artistic specialization?
.I have been playing music since I was 7 years old. My first instrument was the violin and later on I added the piano.
Currently, I’m specializing in early music, especially baroque, which is also the field in which I am pursuing my Bachelor degree at the Conservatoire Royale de Bruxelles.
I mainly play the theorbo and the baroque guitar, but I’m also having a taste of related instruments such as the vihuela de mano.
3- When and how did you become interested in this field of art?
.I have always enjoyed baroque music, but when I discovered the theorbo and tried it out I was immediately sold. I found myself a teacher and started learning.
4- Who was your motivator?
. The first theorbo player I saw in a live concert was Xavier Diaz-Latorre. Hearing him play motivated me to take up this instrument... A few years later, my first teacher, Floris De Rycker (Ratasdel Viejo Mundo), started pushing me to pursue a professional degree and contacted Nicolas Achten (ScherziMusicali) who accepted me as his student at the Conservatoire Royale de Bruxelles. They have somehow all played their part in my musical development!
5- What was your parent’s reaction?
.I was raised by my grandmother. Her reaction was: “What is that giant instrument? You should play the violin!”
6- When started you such as professional musician?
.I would say in 2019, when I started at the Conservatoire Royale de Bruxelles. I am working in another field based on my degree in Applied Economics but I consider myself a professional musician “in training” and hope to combine my current job with performing professionally in concerts as a continuo player.
7- Are you thankful and happy because of your activities as musician?
. I am very thankful to be a musician and to be able to successfully combine my music studies and my job (so far so good!).
8- What is music culture? What is music logic?
. I’m not sure if I understand this question correctly, but I will try.
Music culture is what brings people together. It’s more than just music, it’s the events where it’s played, it’s what people do, what they believe in, and how they behave. If somebody defines himself as “punk”, it’s not only because he or she likes punk music, but also because of the identification with the punk community and it’s values. Who knows, maybe someday people will also identify themselves as baroque?
.Music logic is to me the whole process of analyzing music before performing it. It’s the rational choice of interpretation, which musical phrasing to use, which dynamics, which playing techniques, all in order to express the emotional content of the music. You can’t simply “be” expressive, it demands work if you want to do it right.
9- Why does some melody become immortal?
. I would say both a combination of the inherent quality of the melody (Does it stick? Is it an earworm?) but also the opportunities it had to be spread and survive. If most people know the opening bars of Beethoven’s 5th symphony, apart from being great music, it’s partly because he already was a successful composer in his days, his music was performed and his written music survived.
I’m sure there were many occasions that people thought of the most beautiful melodies, but it never spread further than the local town fair because of the lack of opportunity or simply didn’t survive because it wasn’t written down. Even Bach was largely forgotten until his works were revived by Felix Mendelssohn.
10- How you see the Music, art and culture in your perspective? I mean your prediction for the future of music!
. In my opinion, the popular understanding of “classical music” should disappear. The average Joe might say that classical music is boring or only for the elite and of course not everybody likes Mozart or Bach.
On the other hand, I firmly believe that in over a thousand years of documented (Western) musical history, anyone can find music they love and want to see live in a concert! It is merely the elitist reputation of so-called “classical music” that creates a barrier for many people.
I would love to see parties with young people going wild on, for example, Spanish baroque music, which can be very vibrant, invigorating, and danceable, the opposite of boring.
I would love to see people having a good time at the bar with a small group performing a 17th-century song about love, even if it’s arranged in a more modern setting. Early music purists who will call it heresy would be right in terms of historically informed performance but are so wrong in relation to keeping this music alive with a broad audience, which is very much needed. It can remove barriers and get people interested to explore our music history and, of course, also attend concerts that are historically informed.
11- Can you become one part of the cultural movement for motivation in youth or new generation in your country and so than?
.I hope (and will try) to be part of spreading the beauty of early music to more young people and make it more accessible to the general public.
12- How can you help our world become a better place to live?
. Be kind to other people. Try to understand how everybody is different and holds different opinions and views. Be respectful to each other and don’t believe that your way is the only way nor the best possible way.
13- Have you more word to say or suggest for our readers?
. Go to lots of concerts, discover new things, be moved, and share your enthusiasm with people around you!
Oh, and maybe like my sociale mediapages.
https://www.facebook.com/WalterTheorbe
https://www.instagram.com/waltertheorbe
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCiIPGzpSKwC6GyheVbEZHJw
