"Practice slow" says Hilary's 2-year old daughter

February 5, 2021, 5:15 PM · https://www.thestrad.com/video/hilary-hahns-two-year-old-tells-her-to-practise-slow/11744.article?utm_source=adestra&utm_term=Wa%20tch&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=24066

Replies (10)

Trevor Jennings

Edited: February 6, 2021, 6:03 AM · "Ex ore infantium".

What more can one say!

David Duarte

February 6, 2021, 11:01 AM · Amen.

Bruce Berg

February 6, 2021, 11:40 AM · From King James Bible, Psalms 8:2, "Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings hast thou ordained strength"

Paul Deck

February 6, 2021, 1:54 PM · Bruce, I heard there's a suckling born every minute. :)

Sander Marcus

February 6, 2021, 3:04 PM · It makes one wonder about a violinist such as, say, Zino Francescatti, whose teachers were his parents. What must that childhood have been like? And consider that Francescatti's father's teacher was Emilio Sivori, one of the only regular pupils of Paganini.

Christian Lesniak

February 6, 2021, 3:19 PM · Sander, if the parents are sensitive and are responding to the child's real desire to play, and aren't trying to mold the child or force the child to have some kind of predecided destiny, I'm sure it's a wonderful experience.

If the parents are trying to work some personal baggage out, I'm sure the child will grow up to have a very adversarial attitude to music, even if the child can play very well. I wonder if Heifetz was more a product of the latter system than the former. The story of Menuhin (despite not having playing parents) seems to be presented as the former, but I wonder if such an accelerated path can be healthy for the child.

Sander Marcus

February 6, 2021, 4:33 PM · Christian: Yes, absolutely. When all is said and done, it is a matter of the nature of the relationship. The typical and "normal" issues of parenthood and the stages of childhood certainly are complex enough. But if one adds to that the aspects of a child's God-given musical talent, it's quite a challenging situation for any family to do what is truly in the best interests of the child's development as an artist. And it is indeed inspiring to see it handled well.