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Eine Kleine Marathonmuzik
Can Classical Composers Teach
Us How To Train?
by Hal Higdon
Is there a lovelier piece of music than Mozart's 21st piano concerto, the C-Major? Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra Conductor Fabio Mechetti, introducing the work to a packed house, recently compared at least the second movement to "elevator music," not unfavorably. "You attend a concert," said Maestro Machetti, "and suddenly remember, "I've heard that tune before."
For those in my age category, we heard the second movement as the theme song for the evocative 1967 Swedish film, Elvira Madigan, but most of those running marathons today were not even born before that year. If they train wearing earphones with iPods attached to their arms, they most likely run in rhythm to some artificial electronic beat, not subtle melodies written by some eighteenth century composer.
Mechetti and other promoters of classical music have had to struggle to keep their art alive in an era more attuned to Hip Hop than Hayden. Despite a symphony orchestra that at least approaches greatness, Jacksonville, Florida does not even have a classical music station. I get my musical fixes online by listening to a station (KING-FM) streamed from Seattle.
Choices for working out
I don't own an iPod. I don't listen to music when I run--except in my head. And, despite my love of Mozart, I concede that his 21st piano concerto would be a poor choice for working out. You'd get off to a good start with the first movement, the Allegro, as majestic an opening to a concerto as can be found in the artistic repertoire.
But then you collide with the second movement, marked Andante, a word that tells the orchestra to play it slowly. It would bring you to a halt as a runner. Even the tumultuous Rondo in the third and final movement, marked Allegro Vivace Assai, might not get you moving again.
Nevertheless, the waters of classical music run deep, not shallow. Classical music is not merely to be heard; it is to be savored, like a fine wine, say, a Pinot Noir. As runners, we can learn as much from the format in which the music is written as from the music itself. When I write training programs for runners, I usually prescribe a hard day to push the muscles followed by an easy day in which to rest them, followed by another hard day to build on what went before. When Oregon track coach Bill Bowerman conceived the hard/easy approach that most coaches and their runners embrace today, could he have had Eine Kleine Nachtmuzik running through his mind? Mozart knew how to blend fast and slow movements just as Bowerman knew how to blend fast and slow workouts.
Learning from the classics
Thus, the opening movement of Mozart's 21st piano concerto, the Allegro, might be compared to a tempo run in which the runner pushes to the edge of his ability the goal being to improve lactate threshold. The Andante is the next day's workout: soft, smooth, soothing, a run of several miles, as much to relax the muscles as to strengthen them. Then the Rondo, from the word "round," meaning the melody keeps coming back again and again and again. Sounds a bit like interval training, doesn't it?
But perhaps I am stretching to suggest that Mozart can teach us how to train for road races. Maybe it is enough merely to enjoy a performance by a great orchestra led by a charismatic conductor. Then the next morning be inspired to do your long run in three-quarter time, a waltz. But wait a minute. Mozart didn't write many waltzes. I'm getting him confused with Strauss.
In the meantime, save me from Hip Hop!
A previous column: Mozart and the Marathon
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