No-talent Genius

There is some deep, intrinsic quality about the honest creation of something which has come to me by thought and inspiration and must be written down and made real in sound and time through the connection of minds and souls in performance and hearing by an audience. This is no mere entertainment – this is not very commercial – it is for the hearing, for the listening, for the humming, for the singing, for the remembering, for the dreaming, for the knowing. And if someone wants to give me money for this, great! Terrific! But that’s no reason to write it and I’m not going to stop composing if it’s not commercial enough or if no one buys it.

But there I go – defending myself and my work. And I don’t need to defend it. I have always been aware of the fact that the world is full of people who have a vested interest in the failure of the artist, people who are ready to reject new art, new music, new ideas in the name of commercialism. So what? If Mozart had quit writing when his patron said it was “too complex, too busy, too difficult to understand,” what a bleak and empty world this would be today… how the sound of all music since then might be different. I am confronted by the safe, scared, bland and unchallenged pablum of the commercially acceptable aesthetic every day… it is the food for tiny, empty little minds…

We are just beginning to understand how the complexity of Mozart’s music is the very stuff of genius, Not too long ago the governor of Georgia, in a rare moment of enlightenment, set aside money to give a free CD of music for every infant born in the next five years. And what is on that CD? Mozart, Bach, Vivaldi, Beethoven – and not the easy stuff that lulls and puts to sleep – but the intellectually challenging and brain stimulating stuff that helps children grow inquiring minds with the confidence to explore, develop and acquire a variety of taste and interests… yea, even in the womb.. helping to raise a new generation of people who enjoy and value new art.

Okay… So I’ll keep working on it. And make it perfect and send it out and see what happens. Nevermind, the road is full of disappointments and rejection. Just nevermind and go on.

“…pick yourself up; dust yourself off and start all over again.”