Obedience and liberty in creativity

A great work, I believe, is made out of a combination of obedience and liberty. Such a work satisfied the mind, together with that curious thing which is artistic emotion. Stravinsky said, “If I were permitted everything, I would be lost in the abyss of liberty.” On the one hand he knew the limits, on the other he ceaselessly extended them.

If we look at the history of human production we note that there is a kind of tacit and profound accord between what has been achieved and what has been transcended. Take a work of the importance of Bach’s Well-Tempered Clavier; the obedience is such that when Bach makes a decision, it always corresponds to a rule, to a convention that can be explained in clear terms. Thus he begins by obeying. But within that obedience, he is absolutely free. He doesn’t submit to obedience, he chooses it.

Mademoiselle: Conversations with Nadia Boulanger, ed. by Bruno Monsaingeon, trans. by Robyn Marsack. Cited in: O. Strunk, Source Readings in Music History: The Twentieth Century, New York, W. W. Norton & Company, 1998, p.218.

— Nadia Boulanger

Posted

in

by

Greg

Tags:

,

Featured Content

You cannot hope for substance
“You cannot set art off in a corner and hope for it to have vitality, reality, and substance.” – Charles Ives, American composer
Through a Looking Glass
Title: Through a Looking Glass Composer: Greg Smith Instrumentation: Piano Duet Level: Piano I – level 1 (five finger position) Product medium: PDF score and MP3 accompaniment track (Audio sample of accompaniment track only
Abstraction X
Title: Abstraction XComposer: Greg SmithPerformer: Greg Smith (7 August 2010)Instrumentation: PianoProduct medium: MP3Related products:– Abstraction X (PDF score)
Life is green
“All theory is grey, but the precious tree of life is green.” Maurice Ravel to Hélène Jourdan-Morhange, describing Schoenberg’s intellectualism.  Hélène Jourdan-Morhange, Ravel et nous (Geneva, 1945), p. 104.  Cited in:  Nichols, Roger (1987) Ravel Remembered.  London: Faber & Faber., p. 61.
The significance of the individual
  “You are an extremely valuable, worthwhile, significant person even though your present circumstances may have you feeling otherwise.” – James Newmann, American mathematician
Mack the Knife
Bobby Darin’s 1959 recording of “Mack the Knife” from The Threepenny Opera (Lyrics: Bertolt Brecht; Music: Kurt Weill) not only hit number one on the charts, but was also the first non-R&B pop hit for Atlantic Records and helped establish the label’s future. Source: Creswell, Toby (2005) 1001 Songs: The Great Songs Of All Times. […]
Steering the audience’s taste
The following advice appeared in the British Journal the Musical Times in January 1879: A young student wishes us to tell him what to do under the following circumstances: He has been carefully educated in music, for which he has considerable aptitude and an intense love; he is an efficient pianist, and knows most of […]
Julius Asal on pairing Scriabin with Scarlatti
In 2024, Julius Asal released an album that interwove works of Scriabin and Scarlatti. He stated: …in finding a composer from another era who is totally different in style and aesthetics, then finding a new ‘room’ where they meet, I felt that perhaps they share an inner space through their miniature pieces and their quantity […]
The Queen Stands at Your Right Hand (piano)
Title: The Queen Stands At Your Right Hand Text: Psalm 44 (45): 10-12. 16 Composer: Greg Smith Instrumentation: Piano Product medium: PDF score     Related products:     – The Queen Stands At Your Right Hand – Piano solo (mp3 recording)     – The Queen Stands At Your Right Hand – SATB and piano (score) Sample:
Music as a means of common meditation
“There is also in this music an extraordinary sense of control over the passage of time; a moment will be held still as if suspended, and then released, with a rush.  Einstein has told us that time is relative, flexible and elastic; I have noticed these qualities whenever I have tried to play to the […]