People are mistaken thinking that the creative artist uses art to express what he feels at the very moment of experience. Joy and sorrow are feelings expressed retrospectively. Without any particular cause for rejoicing I can be immersed in a mood of happy creativity and, conversely, I can produce, when cheerful, a piece saturated in gloom and despair. In short, the artist leads a double life: the ordinary human one and the artistic one, and moreover, these two do not always coincide.
S. Hough, Rough Ideas: Reflections on Music and More, London, Faber & Faber, 2019, p. 54.
— Alexandra Orlova, Tchaikovsky: A Self-Portrait
The double life of an artist
by
Tags:
Featured Content
Anton Arensky: Trio in D minor for violin, cello, and piano (op. 32)
I. Allegro moderato II. Scherzo: Allegro molto-Meno Mosso-Allegro molto III. Elegia: Adagio IV: Finale: Allegro non troppo Accounts of Arensky are of a juxtaposed nature. On the personal level, he was described by Tchaikovsky as incredibly nervous, and he was never known to have a romantic attachment. He was considered “the most delicate person by […]
The Fox (New Year’s Day)Composer: Greg SmithTitle: “The Fox (New Year’s Day)” from Tableaux Performer: Greg Smith (January 2025)Instrumentation: Piano
Articles, papers, program notesARTICLES & PAPERS: PROGRAM NOTES:
Waste no note“Never write an unnecessary note. Every note must live.” Jean Sibelius, in a radio interview with Kalevi Kilpi, 1948) Cited at: www.sibelius.fi [accessed 31 Mar 2010].
Pavel Kolesnikov on historical instrumentsFor me, one of the ultimate goals of a performance is to make pieces come across as something new, something unexpected and fresh. As soon as you start working with historical instruments, you are jeopardising this aspect. It is very difficult to get away from that; some performers manage it magically, but I don’t see […]
Beauty Around Us – Bernhard Severin IngemannTitle: Beauty Around Us Composer: Greg Smith Based on text by: Bernhard Severin Ingemann Instrumentation: Piano (easy) Product medium: PDF score Related products: – Beauty Around Us (piano version) – Beauty Around Us (easy piano version) – Beauty Around Us (mp3) SAMPLE:
A practice regimeAfter a year’s sabbatical in 1953, the pianist Horowitz found a routine and rebuilt his technique: I realized I had to work out new daily schedules for myself – so much time for study, for rest, for reflection, for exercise … Soon my days had a new rhythm, a new serenity. Every day I start […]
Abstraction XVIIITitle: Abstraction XVIIIComposer: Greg SmithInstrumentation: PianoProduct medium: PDF scoreRelated products: – Abstraction XVIII (mp3 audio) Sample:
At the core of Beethoven’s “Diabelli” Variations, an esoteric and astonishing piano piece lasting some 50 minutes, is one of the intriguing mysteries of music history. Why did Beethoven, during the difficult last decade of his life, when he was deaf, chronically ill and often in financial straits, become nearly obsessed with writing an extensive […]
Copland on film musicAmerican composer Aaron Copland on the role of film music: I was very fascinated by the medium because a composer can be a real help in the making of a film. The way you can prove that, of course, is to see a film before the public has seen it, in the studio room, and […]