Doing what I can’t do“I am always doing what I can’t do yet in order to learn how to do it”. – Van Gogh, painter, in a letter to Anthon van Rappard, 1885
To be a good playerBach was once complemented on his organ playing: “There is nothing remarkable about it. All one has to do is hit the right notes at the right time, and the instrument plays itself.” Quoted by Johann Friedrich Köhler, Leipzig, after 1776. Hans-Joachim Schulze, ed. Dokumente zum Nachwirken Johann Sebastian Bachs, 1750-1800. Bach-Dokumente, III. 1972, no. […]
A lock of Beethoven’s hairOnce a devoted admirer, wife of a Vienna pianist, longed for a lock of the composer’s outrageously unkempt hair, and asked a friend to get her one. At his suggestion, Beethoven, who was a practical joker of boorish capabilities, sent her a tuft from the chin of a goat. The trick was discovered, and the […]
Einstein as a musician“If I were not a physicist, I would probably be a musician. I often think in music. I live my daydreams in music. I see my life in terms of music… I get most joy in life out of music.” – Albert Einstein Cited in: Lyth, David (2019) The Road to Einstein’s Relativity. Boca Ranton: […]
Peace Is What I Leave You – John 14Title: Peace is what I leave you Text: John 14:27 Composer: Greg Smith Instrumentation: SATB and piano Product medium: PDF score and part Sample:
The role of the arts in societyThe Eighteenth Weimar Classicists’ (e.g., Goethe, Shiller) conception of art expanded past the arts themselves, but also embraced all elements of society. John Armstrong states: The aim of art is to ennoble us, to make us whole and balanced; then we can engage maturely and sensibly in political processes. The aim of their “classical art” […]
Imagination disposes and creates“Imagination disposes of everything; it creates beauty, justice, and happiness, which is everything in this world.” — Blaise Pascal, French mathematician, physicist, and religious philosopher. Ramage, Craufurd Tait (1866) Beautiful Thoughts from French and Italian Authors. Liverpool: Edward Howell, p.232. Digitally archived at https://play.google.com/books/reader?id=nDErAAAAYAAJ&hl=en_AU, accessed 12 September 2021.
The path of an artist“A good traveler has no fixed plans and is not intent upon arriving. A good artist lets his intuition lead him wherever it wants.” – Lao Tzuo, Chinese philosopher. Cited at: QuotationsBook
What is an artist?“What is an artist? An artist is a tortured being who, when he opens his mouth to scream, only beautiful sounds emerge.” (Or something like that.)… Do I believe this at all? It was John Cage who first exposed us to this gorgeous phrase. In 1945? Cage the Romantic? Ned Rorem (2000) Lies: A Diary […]
Searching for expressionWhen my students compose, I prefer them to be mistaken if they must make mistakes, but to remain natural and free rather than wishing to appear other than what they are. I remember a day when Stravinsky was dining here. He took his neighbor at the table by the lapels, violently! His neighbor crushed, said […]
