Reflections on Innovators and other pests (Class #1)

The trouble with blogs for me is that I never get to them. You see, I have this perfectionist curse, that often leads to paralysis or at least the silence of good intentions. I guess blogs are not necessarily supposed to be finely crafted essays for each entry, but it is hard for me to write on line, as I would like to do a word document, then edit it, then read it again and, finally, post it. Hence the great empty spaces of my previous attempts. Enough apologizing and rationalizing. Here goes:

I wanted to summarize a few of the things I brought up in the first class, last Thursday, since three folks in the seminar were not there and because it may be helpful to read these things so that you know where the wild mind is swinging.

I know that this seminar could (and should) be a powerful learning experience for all of us. (I also know that it can be a flop and a disappointment!). We're in a relationship, all of us, and that always involves personal responsibility. My job, as I see it, is facilitating learning through a variety of techniques and tricks. As mentioned in class, some folks are intrinsically motivated and don't need kicks in the pants or threats to get them going--they're already gone! Others benefit by extrinsic motivation, in the form of deadlines, threats, fear of failure, etc. I'm usually long on inspiration and short on the threatening part, but I will try to be flexible enough to help you as individuals and as a group make this class the best you have ever had (a worthy goal, I think).

I encouraged people to consider a much bigger picture than just "American Innovators," presumably in the 20th and 21st centuries. Grappling with the two words in the title of the course already gives rise to a bigger picture: What do we mean by "American," and what by "Innovators?" America is more than the United States, although it is easy for those of us who live in the USA to think otherwise and forget all the other countries in the two continents called America. And what is "innovation," anyway?

One way of looking at a bigger picture is to consider the tension and relationship between Innovation and Tradition in music, as we discussed in class on Thursday, particularly within the history of music in the Western world. Tension runs through all of music history between the reverence for tradition, continuity, lineage, order, stability, maintaining values, etc., on the one hand, and the need to contribute something new, to explore, create, surprise, develop, progress, escape from boredom, and more, on the other hand. In fact, dissatisfaction seems to be in our very genes, and some argue that this is a good design, since it makes us adaptable and creative (good qualities to have when meeting change, as in climate change, for example!).

We (mostly I) talked in class about the relationship between innovation and tradition throughout music history and invoked the image of the pendulum, swinging between classical values of balance and restraint and the "romantic" values of individual expression and excess. And I invite you to think or reflect upon trends, genres, specific composers, and other forces that operate along this continuum. It's a good exercise.

I think you will find this exploration a useful exercise. Something interesting to do is to take the opposite view of the standard lines or stories. Schoenberg and Peter Burkholder (among others) maintained that Brahms was a "progressive," and the "first truly modern composer." (One can sense Wagner flipping over in his grave: Brahms!!) And what do you make of Schoenberg's statement: “I am a conservative who was forced to become a radical?!?” Was Bach an innovator? No? What about Brandenburg No. 5, with the long keyboard solo? Beethoven? What about the fugues he wrote in his late piano sonatas? Looking back, in an innovative sort of way?

We have lots to explore in music since 1900 or before even on the American continents. And I want to give you plenty of room to roam. But also, I am going to ask you to dig deep at some point, and focus on some specific composer(s) or trends. Perhaps this will help you look at all music history with different eyes.

I have come to think of all serious study of music as "music appreciation." The more we learn and understand, the more our "appreciation" grows, the more we value the music that has come to us and we make, the more we practice gratitude for having the precious opportunity to make, hear, and feel music. Enjoy, and happy sailing.