Prodigy

Transcript

• 00:14

  Sarah Chang has been on the road for two decades,and she's not even 30.A classical violinist with the life of a rock star,hooked to the performing circuit.Every night is different, amazingly enoughafter all this time, being in a different hall.And just the energy that you get from being on stage,it can be quite addictive.

• 00:35

  So it's still a lot of fun.There is a certain amount of pressure.But it's more the pressure that I put on myselffor wanting to give a better performance todaythan I did yesterday.And tomorrow always has to be better than today.Those who work with Sarah Chang sayshe's easygoing, fun, and great on stage.

• 01:08

  Sarah is one of these incredible forces of nature.She never loses the sense of drama,and the theatrical element to this, and of the music,most importantly.So it's inspiring to work with her.Sarah started playing the violin at threeand performed with the New York Philharmonics at eight.For some, she's the quintessential child prodigy.

• 01:31

  It's OK to be eight years old, and then called a prodigy.It's kind of expected.But then when you're 18 and the label still follows you,and then you're 28 and it's still there,you realize that it's a label that'snever going to quite peel away.Yet her musical maturity is way ahead of her years.At her Great Performers debut at the Barbican,

• 01:52

  she played Cesar Franck's "Sonata,"which she says sums up her life.After a whole lifetime of experience,and turbulence, and emotions going up and down,at the very end you're at peace with yourself.

• 02:15

  And you reflect on the beautiful moments of your life.And I think that's why the fourth movement is my favorite.And with youth and talent on her side,Sarah Chang has a lifetime of beautiful musical moments ahead

• 02:36

  of her.

Prodigies (from Latin prodigium, meaning “omen,” “monster,” or “those who deviate from the natural order”) are individuals who have achieved an extreme level of talent equal to adult levels before the age of 10, and no later than the [Page 904]onset of adolescence. There appears to be some consensus in the classical realm, but much less consensus within other genres of music (particularly jazz and popular music), so it is important to distinguish between prodigious talent and virtuosity, fame, and commercial success. In Germanic countries, the term wunderkind (German, meaning “wonder child”) is often interchangeably used in the media with the word prodigy, even though it is used much less often in scientific literature.

In psychological literature, most research is focused on the musical skills of performing and composing, as compared to the media-driven success of young commercial performers. In studies of exceptional musical ability and prodigious talent, musical savants are often included because their talent frequently becomes evident before adolescence. Researchers are increasingly taking care to distinguish in their use of the term prodigy, with its emphasis on timing, and the terms genius, giftedness, and talent.

Prodigies are thought to have emerged as a result of evolutionary processes around 10,000 years ago, when rule-governed knowledge in human culture exploded in size and complexity. Documented accounts of child musical prodigies date back to the 16th century, and began to capture widespread public interest by the early 17th century. By the 19th century, musical prodigies were increasingly recognized and exploited, with a number of children touring throughout Europe where they performed to curious and often amazed audiences. This same fascination with prodigies can be seen today in the thousands of examples of child performances uploaded onto YouTube and other Internet providers by parents and significant others whose (often narrowly focused) abilities are thought to represent the talent of prodigies.

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