|
Encouraging curiosity is more problematic with an art form that skews toward the repertoire of only about a third of its history, and of that, stays in denial of the last 50 years or so of that history, as well as the present. At least for Zadie Smith, Joni Mitchell was in the air, allowing for an aesthetic epiphany. This, unfortunately, cannot be said of Thomas Ades, George Benjamin, Brett Dean, etc.
But how often do any of us turn to art to discover? Even as you walk through a fine-art museum, how often are you just looking for the hits?
On a Joni Mitchell live recording, with the audience calling out for the familiar, she comments on how it may be easier for painters: "Nobody said to van Gogh, 'Play Starry Night again, man."' But in truth, Starry Night is where people congregate at MoMA.
Symphony orchestras try everything to open audiences to the music, whether it be Beethoven 5 or In Seven Days. Pre-concert talks, program notes, video, podcasts, info online and in print, and much more--and much more will be tried and added--to make the music accessible (the buzz word of the business).
But to truly hear a piece of music, or to truly be aware of anything for that matter, calls for more than, or other than, all these infomercials. I often quote Valery, "Seeing is forgetting the name of the thing one sees." To truly see or hear, there is a momentary loss of what one knows, even a momentary loss of self. This is what happens when, as Zadie Smith puts it, her defenses were down, and suddenly Blue wasn't annoying, but beautiful.
|