spinlock wrote:I don't suppose you have a recording of that available? I would be very interested to hear your musical interpretation of the words.
The idea of there being a pure essence of something, reminds me of platonic idealism - although there it is argued that everything that exists here is merely a flawed instantiation of a perfect ideal version of that object that exists in our imaginations but cannot be in this imperfect world.
Why do you see cleverness as a weakness? Perhaps because it can be challenged and reasoned with, and so distracts from the emotion and expression of the art? But without cleverness, in the composition and in the reader, the art could not be so concisely expressed, and would lose a great deal of its power.
In any case, thank you very much for posting here, I have found the discussion you have created to be very thought provoking.
Thank you for sharing further thoughts with me...... and to everyone who does......
I'm afraid there's no recording, although the score is availbale from AMC. If you'd care to email me through my website (
http://www.phillipwilcher.com) a postal address, I can look into having one sent you. My pleasure. I'm presently reading a fascinating book by Peter Kivy titled "The Possessor And The Possessed" - it's underlying thread seems to be the idea that "genius" (whatever that is) is either as Longinus viewed it, something you can possess, or Platonic - something that "happens" to you. It's a comparative look, I suppose, between Handel (Longinusian, I think or a combination of both), Mozart (Platonic) and Beethoven (Longinusian) etc etc.....
"A flawed instantiation of a perfect ideal" ?? I wonder what perfection is? What about that almost fatal flaw - that very thing that more often than not gives to something its perfection. Beauty, after all , limps. I can learn more about a piece of music through a flawed performance than one hammered to perfection, most definitely, I'd say......but then, if we achieved perfection, why would there be a need to go on. For myself, I've always struggled (now and then) with the the fact that I can't
be my work and perhaps that is how it is for all of us. Way leads on to way - we keep chipping away at what we do never to actually outdo what we will come to do. That's the absolute joy of it though - that we always have something to look forward to, as frustrating as it can sometimes be, but how good is that!
From T S Elliot:
We shall not cease from exploration
And the end of all our exploring
will be to arrive where we started
And know the place for the first time.
A while ago I shared some thoughts with my friend "Billy's Little Trip" about plateauing. Delacroix said something similar to T S Elliot - although he was writing in his journal about revolution - that everything must return to its natural point of departure in order to progress. Over time I have come to realize this and it helps my "process" of creativity. It helps to be able to recognize it......
Why do I think cleverness is a weakness? Perhaps not entirely, but sometimes I feel it covers up for a lack of natural ability - that phenomenon Plato believed "happens" to you - and getting back to Peter Kivy's brainy book - perhaps cleverness is part of the Longinusian idea - if an idea fails you, get out your building blocks. I'm probably not making much sense here, but when the idea of a thing and the thing itself happens simultaneously, you strike gold. You can also pan for that gold, if you are clever enough, but then the trick is to make that gold sound innate and spontaneous. Cleverness can also be a disguise, I daresay, and although it's definitely a part of craftsmanship, so too it can simply be just "click" to impress. I like sincerity, and most certainly truth in all things. I would rather something be well crafted than clever. I see cleverness as being perhaps a tad superficial or overly calculated - but this is just an interpretation and my thoughts only. I think cleverness becomes a weakness when it's used as a gimmick. But then, gimmicky things have their place too. Still, all this comes after the fact......
I'm touched you have thanked me for posting. It's lovely to share thoughts with people and it's been lovely to spend some time
in thought with you.
It's great to touch base with everyone again!
