Klarinet Archive - Posting 000268.txt from 2003/02

From: LeliaLoban@-----.com
Subj: [kl] Castelnuovo-Tedesco Question
Date: Sun, 9 Feb 2003 19:10:44 -0500

Dan Leeson wrote,
>That one should do as one wishes and have a completely unfettered view=20
>of how to perform is a point of view often expressed by young people who=20
>want to feel no constraint working against what they see is their=20
>artistic development. And that view has some merit because it tends to=20
>encourage independent thinking.=20

Yes. The trick is learning to distinguish between honestly independent,=20
creative thinking and simple intellectual laziness. I respect independence=20
most when it comes from someone who already learned the fundamentals and who=
=20
pays attention to the details. The person who wants to know whether the not=
e=20
is supposed to be C or C# is stimulating his own creativity, even if the=20
original impulse only comes from a desire to impress a judge, because the=20
desire to impress the judge has led to curiosity about *why* the composer=20
might have preferred one note instead of the other.

>As a result of thinking independently, the party, if intellectually honest,=
=20
>can go no where but to the place against which they are arguing so=20
>emotionally. So such eventually people wind up doing the very thing=20
>that they rebelled against.

Unless they're the elderly drunk I recently observed being arrested in front=
=20
of a local strip mall, where he was noisily expressing his artistic freedom=20
from clothing, in below-freezing weather. I didn't notice whether he sang=20
any C or C#, but he was certainly old enough to have learned the=20
fundamentals, so maybe "strip mall" had sparked the creative juices, or at=20
least ignited their alcoholic content. Alas, an excessively liberal=20
definition of creativity is not limited to the young. =20

To the cop, he argued, "I gotta . . . First Amendant! Singing and dancing fo=
r=20
performances of money is a First Demendment, am I right or what? Am I right=
=20
or what? Or what? Or Amended Demendant? Whatever, it's a first and=20
foremost. I gotta, I gotta . . . artistic merit! I do. It's a right. You=20
could look it up."

The cop's gruff but compassionate performance review was, "Yeah, that's a=20
real nice willie an' I'm sure everybody's real interested in watchin' it tur=
n=20
blue, but just take this blanket--now hold still, lemme wrap it around you=20
like this, an' don't give me no trouble, okay? (Hey, you--get me his socks=20
and shoes, will ya? Over there by the sign. Thanks. Just toss =E2=80=98e=
m in the=20
car.) Let's go, hoss. Gotta right to remain silent, anything you say can=20
blah blah blah, into the car, please, watch yer head, gotta right to a=20
attorney--you know the drill. Bye, folks, show's over."

Lelia

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