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Doublereed Archive - Posting 000020.txt from 2005/08

From: Oboeeee@-----.com
Subj: [DR-L] Quote of the Day
Date: Wed, 10 Aug 2005 19:34:56 -0400


"Now life is the only art that we are required to practice without =20
preparation, and without being allowed the preliminary trials, the failures=20=
and =20
botches, that are essential for the training of a mere beginner. In life, =20=
we must=20
begin to give a public performance before we have acquired even a novice=
=E2=80=99s=20
skill; and often our moments of seeming mastery are upset by new demands, f=
or=20
which we have acquired no preparatory facility. Life is a score that we pl=
ay=20
at sight, not merely before we have divined the intentions of the composer,=
=20
but even before we have mastered our instruments; even worse, a large part=20=
of=20
the score has been only roughly indicated, and we must improvise the music=20
for our particular instrument, over long passages. On these terms, the who=
le=20
operation seems one of endless difficulty and frustration; and indeed, were=
it=20
not for the fact that some of the passages have been played so often by our=
=20
predecessors that, when we come to them, we seem to recall some of the scor=
e=20
and can anticipate the natural sequence of the notes, we might often give u=
p=20
in sheer despair.

The wonder is not that so much cacophony appears in our actual individual=20
lives, but that there is any appearance of harmony and progression."

-Lewis Mumford (1895=E2=80=931990) U.S. social philosopher, "The Conduct of=20=
Life"
=20
Submitted by George T. Riordan
Director, Robert W. McLean School of Music
Middle Tennessee State University
Principal Oboe
Atlanta Baroque Orchestra
=20
=20
=20

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