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 1986-1999.  Cambridge: MA: Da Capo Press, p.99.


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Ode I
Title: Ode I Composer: Greg Smith Instrumentation: Piano Product medium: PDF score SAMPLE: Your browser does not support the audio element.
I’ll Softly Sigh
Title: I’ll Softly Sigh Composer: Greg Smith Instrumentation: Piano Product medium: PDF score SAMPLE:
Believe in Luck
“I am a great believer in luck and the harder I work the more of it I have.”— Stephen Leacock, Canadian author American Opinion, volume 2, issues 8-11, page 20
The Lord is Kind and Merciful – Psalm 102 (103)
Title: The Lord is kind and merciful Text: Psalm 102 (103): 1-4, 9-12. R. v.8 Composer: Greg Smith Instrumentation: SATB and piano Product medium: PDF score and part Sample:
Tears in art
In art there are tears that do often lie too deep for thoughts. – Louis Kronenberger L. Kronenberger, Company Manners: A Cultural Inquiry into American Life, Indianapolis, Bobbs-Merrill, 1954, p. 42.
Parry on choral music
Hubert Parry, who taught Vaughan Williams composition, instructed the composer to “write choral music as befits and Englishman and a democrat.” Vaughan Williams recalled that “this attitude to art led to an almost moral hated of mere luscious sound…” Vaughan Williams, cited in Holmes, Paul (1997) Vaughan Williams. London: Omnibus Press, p.17.
Abstraction XIII
Title: Abstraction XIII Composer: Greg Smith Performer: Greg Smith Product medium: MP3     Related products:     – Abstraction XIII (PDF score) Sample:
Stokowski and singers
Leopold Stokowski was staging a concert version of Mussorgsky’s Boris Godunov. Natalie Bodanya, one of the finest singers at Curtis at the time, refused to audition, noting how “impersonal and impossible Stokowski was. Stokowski had filled all the roles, with the exception of that the Princess. “Is it possible” Stokowski asked Sylvan [Sylvan Lenin, a […]
Handel and the soprano
The great singer, Cuzzoni, refused to sing an air of his the way he wished it. He seized her, and, dragging her to a window, threatened to throw her out, thundering, “I always knew you were a devil, but I’ll show you that I am Beelzebub, the prince of devils.” Hughes, Rupert (2004) The Love […]
Brahm’s first meeting with Schumann
He [Brahms] sat down and began the sonata which had so impressed Joachim [a violinist].  As he played, a swift change transformed [Robert] Schumann’s impassive features.  The Master listened with growing interest, then suddenly sprang to his feet. “Please”, he cried.  “Will you wait just a moment? Clara -” He hurried to the door and […]