“Free the child’s potential, and you will transform him into the world” ~Maria Montessori
“Music expresses that which cannot be said and on which it is impossible to be silent.” ~Victor Hugo
I have recently been powerfully affected by two musical experiences.
The first is a joy. Her name is Susan Boyle, and she is an inspiration. The second is one of the most beautiful collaborations I have witnessed and it is a testament to mankind’s love of beauty.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9lp0IWv8QZY]
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oC4FAyg64OI&feature=player_embedded]
Britian’s Got Talent, a popular television show, debuted this unassuming 47 year-old spinster this past weekend. And she blew us all away. The YouTube Symphony Orchestra called for “professionals and amateur musicians of all ages, locations and instruments to audition for the YouTube Symphony Orchestra by submitting a video performance of a new piece written for the occasion by the renowned Chinese composer Tan Dun.” The winners are performing at Carnegie Hall tonight.
Both are absolutely world class musical compositions and yet both are a direct result of the actions of business projects: The state-funded British Symphony Orchestra did not give 12 million Britons and another 6 million online viewer access to that beauty. A television show did. All the symphonies in the world could not source the talent on the scale of that composition. But YouTube could.
There is a very interesting research being done by Professor Stephen Hicks in Rockford College, IL. (HT: Marsha Enright) His current book project is The Fate of Art under Capitalism and he makes the following observations:
- Artists have never had it so good as over the last century—the number of practicing artists has skyrocketed, as has the amount of money we spend on art, as has the number of media and genres, as has the quantity and quality of artistic raw materials, and so on.
- The last century has been relatively capitalism-and-business friendly. (I know what you’re thinking, free market friends of mine.)
- Most artists, especially those in the artistic establishment, are anti-capitalist and anti-business. (Picasso is representative, in word if not always in deed, here in 1918 speaking of his dealer Léonce Rosenberg: “Le marchand—voilà l’enemmi” [“The dealer—there's the enemy”].)
See the full article (with cartoons!) here
It is only because of the relative freedom of our society that we are able to enjoy these delights on the scale that we are able to. The joy and beauty of the arts is no longer limited to wealthy and the privileged. Even those of the lowest means can purchase a violin and lesson books for less than $100, access the wealth of human experience from the touch of a few buttons, and come to experience beauty of human expression. That is a something that no government could ever make possible.
*Update: At the tech blog Gizmodo, there is a beautiful article about audiophiles and how an expert listener experiences the world, “This is the detail that matters: Audiophiles are basically synesthesiacs. They “see” music in three-dimensional visual space. You close your eyes in Fremer’s chair, and you can perceive a detailed 3D matrix of sound, with each element occupying its own special space in the air. It’s crazy and I’ve never experienced anything like it.” It is a truly wonderful read: Why We Need Audiophiles
If you enjoyed this article, please consider sharing it!
I love that cartoon about artists and capitalism, it makes me laugh every time – how about the exact same berets, in different colors – so individualistic, aren’t they?
Seriously, your comment about audiophiles alone points to the tremendous increase in art – previous generations were lucky to hear a piece by Beethoven once, if ever. I can listen to it any time.