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Oberlin Portrait: Steven Plank
Story and photo by
Michael
Chipman
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the Conservatory |
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faculty, staff & students |
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Steven Plank is a professor of musicology, a member
of the Historical Performance Program faculty at Oberlin,
and director of the early music ensemble, Collegium Musicum.
A widely published author, he has contributed articles and
essays to Early Music, The Musical Times, Music and Letters,
Bach, The Consort, Franciscan Studies, Religious Studies
Review, American Choral Review and The Courant. He is
associate editor of Historic Brass Society Journal,
co-translator of Edward Tarr's The Trumpet, and author of
The Way to Heaven's Doore: An Introduction to Liturgical
Process and Musical Style. He received a Bachelor of Music
and Master of Music from University of Louisville, and a
Ph.D. from Washington University (St. Louis). Prior to his
appointment at Oberlin in 1980, he taught at University of
Massachusetts, Washington University and St. Louis
University.
What is your first memory of
music?
My first memory of music that I can really identify
centers on a wonderful recording of international folk songs
sung by the Roger Wagner Chorale sometime in the early
1950's. But I also can't remember a time when music wasn't
in the air. My mother taught piano back then, and the piano
itself seemed to be quite prominent in our house.
How old were you when you started
playing?
I started taking piano lessons -- informally, at least
-- from my mother when I was about five. Lessons became more
formal with a move to another teacher when I was eight;
trumpet followed the next year.
What inspired you to be a musician?
What keeps you inspired on discouraging days?
It's almost impossible to remember a time when being a
musician wasn't what I wanted. Much of the inspiration came
from the modeling of my early teachers. I wanted to grow up
and be like them, and much of that which sustained things
was simply the fun of it all.
What is the most memorable
performance you have ever seen and why?
When I was a teenager, Stravinsky came to town with
Robert Craft to conduct the Louisville Orchestra in a
concert of Fireworks, Firebird and Rite of Spring. The
charge of hearing those pieces as relatively new (to me
then) and in the presence of the composer and the aura he
brought to things was quite overwhelming. Still a very fresh
memory.
If you could perform with one
musician living or dead, who would it be and what would you
perform?
I would dearly love a chance to make music with the
English Chapel Royal at almost anytime between say, 1500 and
1700. On the other hand, a Monteverdi Vespers with the
composer on hand sounds rather tempting, too.
If you could master another
instrument, what would it be?
In the next life maybe I'll play bass.
If you couldn't be a musician what
profession would you choose? Which profession would you
definitely not choose?
Maybe being an English teacher or an actor would be a
nice way to go. Possibly a poet. Photography also has its
appeal. It's hard to imagine doing anything too
scientific!
What do you listen to after a long
day?
If it has been a really long day, the sounds of silence
have a certain appeal. But my listening, in general, is so
wide ranging that it's very hard to pick one thing over
another. There is a deep love for all the things I am
professionally in tune with, but I also listen to a lot of
jazz, Celtic music, and music from when I was growing up
("Pet Sounds" gets a lot of play at my house, for
instance).
What do you like to read?
I'm rather a big mystery fan, and gravitate to the
English ones with great frequency.
The three words that best describe
you:
"Loves fountain pens."
