The art within

“Only art experienced within, in which the personality plays a creative role can be of interest …To achieve this, those of you who are not already in this sense dead, must die an expiatory death of all superficiality, of all that you have already learnt, of all encumbrances and of all that is false. Then, like a seeker, you must go softly down into the darkness of your inmost being, where you were as a child and listen to the whispering of your desires and yearnings; become once more like a child, a tree, a flower,—genuine, pure, filled with abundant life. And when, full of reverence to God within you, you are still and lay your ear to the primeval rock to listen to the mysterious note that sounds through all creation. He will kindle in you the sacred fire of that imagination which draws power from your own being and nature. And if you are both humble and strong, then you will see into the realm of your inmost self, the realm of pure things, strength, too, you will find, greatness, beauty itself and sorrow also, tenderness and transfiguration. …You will become a creator.”

– Edwin Fisher, pianist

Cited at: Crisis Magazine (accessed 12 July 2012)

 


Posted

in

by


Featured Content

Boyd Neel on Vaughan William’s Fantasia on a Theme of Thomas Tallis
Boyd Neel was the first conductor to record Vaughan William’s Fantasia on a Theme of Thomas Tallis in 1935. He wrote: I often feel that this wonderful work is perhaps the greatest of all achievements in string orchestral composition. Boyd Neel (1986) The Story of an Orchestra. London: Vox Mundi, p.22. Cited in: Holmes, John […]
Peace Is What I Leave You – John 14
Title: Peace is what I leave you Text: John 14:27 Composer: Greg Smith Instrumentation: SATB and piano Product medium: PDF score and part Sample:
Abstraction X
Title: Abstraction X Composer: Greg Smith Instrumentation: Piano Product medium: PDF scoreRelated products: – Abstraction X (MP3) SAMPLE:
Culture is our fuel
“‘Culture is our petrol,’ says Toumani Diabaté, the Malian kora player who has collaborated with Damon Albarn and Björk, to name but a few. ‘Music is our mineral wealth. There isn’t a single major music prize in the world today that hasn’t been won by a Malian artist.’ ‘Music regulates the life of every Malian’, […]
Ode II
Title: Ode II Composer: Greg Smith Performer: Greg Smith Instrumentation: Piano Product medium: MP3 recording     Related products:     – Ode II (PDF score) SAMPLE:
Can you teach resourcefulness
Young musicians will need resourcefulness to make their way in the world. Music “jobs” in the future are likely to be less attached to institutions (many of which are troubled in one way or another), entrepreneurial, and varied beyond a straight performance career to include all manner of teaching, coaching,  and work we could loosely […]
Franz Schubert: Six Moments Musicaux (Musical Moments), op.94
(i) Moderato (C major) (ii) Andantino (A-flat major) (iii) Allegro moderato (f minor) (iv) Moderato (c-sharp minor)/ (v) Allegro vivace (f minor) (vi) Allegretto (A-flat major) In 1929, Oscar Bie reflected on Schubert: That face! . . . It is the face of a teacher, but not of a strict one. The hair curls about […]
Performance practice issues in Russian Piano Music
ABSTRACT The nineteenth and twentieth centuries witnessed the rapid growth of musical culture in Russia. This resulted in a large repertoire of piano music — ranging from miniatures to virtuosic etudes and sonatas. Growing out of the nineteenth century romantic tradition, and highly influenced by the social conditions of the time, Russian composers developed a distinctive style which […]
Rachmaninoff and phrasing
A student of Rachmaninoff, Ruth Slenczynska, recalled: I remember how Rachmaninoff explained to me the problem of phrasing: he showed me an elastic band and stretched it slightly, then allowed it to bounce back; next, he stretched it beyond a certain point, and it snapped. He meant to say that no part of a musical […]
Mass of Solidarity
Title: Mass of Solidarity Text: Roman Catholic Mass Composer: Greg Smith Sections: – Penitential rite – Gloria – Gospel acclamation – Creed – Holy – Eucharistic acclamations – Amen – Lamb of God Additional: – Gospel acclamations for Lent (Glory and Praise to You) – Gospel acclamations for specific Sundays or Feasts available on request. Instrumentation: – SATB […]