"The old idea
of a composer suddenly having a terrific idea and sitting up all night to write
it is nonsense. Nighttime is for sleeping." Benjamin Britten
This quote by Britten is one of my favorite quotes by a composer. I have always had some strange thoughts on composers in general. I always pictured them as these, "god like," people that would compose music all the time and were more like myths and legends than people.
In our seminar we talk a lot about how "anyone" can have a genius musical moment. At first, I wasn't really convinced. I feel like part of this was the result that "great" composers were the only people that were able to have these incredible moments in music and the rest of us were too "normal." So I did some digging. Here are some interesting facts about some very famous composers.
1#. As a boy Joseph Haydn once cut off the pigtails of a fellow choir member as a practical joke.
2#. Schubert was given the nickname "little mushroom" due to his height.
3#. Mozart wrote the Overture to Don Giovanni the morning of the opera's premiere and did so with a massive hangover.
4#. Elgar wrote the main theme for his cello concerto on a napkin after waking up from dental surgery.
So, why do you ask am I mentioning all this anyway? Well like Britten said in his quote earlier, "night time is for sleeping." These composers were normal people. They had clearly had a gift for music, but they were also normal individuals. It convinces me in a small way that everyone should try, "musicking." Everyone should participate in music and stop looking at it as some unattainable art form meant for only the elite.
Music brings joy, understanding, communication, and empathy into lives. Shouldn't everyone be allowed to experience that themselves? Don't be afraid to have a "music" moment. It is for everyone
People are people. I totally agree
ReplyDeleteIdolizing and demonizing are the worst ways to dehumanize any historical figure. Because music is such a human thing, remembering composers in context is even more important to reiterate because of the intense reverence that history and time seems to build.
ReplyDeleteThinking about great composers and musicians being completely human, and making really dumb yet funny mistakes, makes me feel so much better about choosing music as my career choice. I must remember that everyone went through adolescence and they all did silly things just like I do - like forgetting to write a blog post for seminar on time. It's all part of being human, and that's comforting to me.
ReplyDeleteI love the fact that Mozert wrote the Don Giovanni overture the morning of - and hungover! Although, I got to say, I think that does take sort of a superhuman to do that. The other facts, though, do kind of make us realize that these people aren't magical beings sent down from the musical gods, but people just like us. I love that we're continuing to enforce the fact that all of us can have "genius" moments. It's so important to realize that we all can be great, and we all have flaws. EVERYONE IS HUMAN. Even Mozart.
ReplyDeleteI too think of composers as God-like beings. This is bad because I, not being a God, have created a barrier. I am not God, therefor I am incapable of composing anything great. Clearly I need some self-reflection here.
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