Bernard Chasan wrote:

>But there is a puritanical strand in all of this- how much better to play
>music than just to LISTEN to music!!!  Yes, and how much better to grow our
>own food.  And make our own clothing !!!  But that is not the world in
>which we live.

I don't think of this as being puritanical.  In fact, I feel deeply sorry
for people who never learned to read music, never experienced playing in
a musical organization, never played or sang well enough to be invited
to play chamber-music or sing madrigals, never went to an adult music
camp, never fiddled or tooted in community orchestras, never sat down and
sight-read sonatas with a terrific pianist or flute player just for FUN.

I don't say this to make people feel uncomfortable with their own level
of understanding or appreciation.  I say it with deep concern for the
young generation.  I know that my love of music has blossomed because of
my early experiences:  from childhood I had access to free music lessons,
free violin, scholarships, school orchestras, public school music classes,
community orchestras where I could play with people of all ages and skill
levels, access to free libraries where I could listen to music and follow
scores even before I knew how to read scores (librarians who told me how
to do it!).  How much of this is available in your community? How many
librarians nowadays would even know how to help a child to read a score?
How many minutes a month is music taught in your local schools? What is
the level of accomplishment in your local high school orchestra? Can they
manage to play a real symphony and not some derangement?

I was happy and felt fortunate that I was the kind of kid who could take
advantage of all the opportunities around me.  I don't think it's easy
nowadays for a child to get that involved.  Things are more centralized.
Parents must make the effort to bring their children to the music because
it is not as local as it once was, and they must insist that music is
taught in the schools, too.  Nothing is automatic any more.  The arts
fight for the bucks and the clock.

The most important part of my message, however, is that it is FUN to play
music.  It is also a social experience.  It was delightful to hang out with
friends and play chamber music, wonderful fun for me to read a score and
hear the music in my head the way I "hear" words as I read them in a novel.
I love to listen to music in many different ways, too ...  I have it as
background when I do quiet chores, and I also set aside time to listen with
concentration with or without notes in front of me.  I get a kick out of
hearing lots of different interpretations of pieces I played years ago.  I
don't play an instrument any more, but the pleasure of listening has never
faded.

So it's Puritanical to make your own clothes and bread, grow your own
food? I don't think many city people who do that nowadays do it for any
reason but the love of it, and the challenge.  I sew house-dresses that
don't quite deserve to be seen in public, but it's fun for me to follow a
pattern.  I make bread that is better than any store-bought stuff because
it's a kick to do it.  I don't mind being enslaved to my sourdough pot.
I certainly wouldn't garden if I didn't get satisfaction from it, because
it is cheaper and easier to get food from the market (but their raspberries
aren't as nice as my once-a-year back-yard beauties).  And I listen to Bach
as much as possible because he makes me happy.  It isn't DUTY that keeps me
going.  It's fun!

So, Bernard - Yes!  It is better to play than not to play an instrument.
It is better to be good at it than to be weak.  It is better to sing than
be silent.  It is better to sing in tune than out of tune.  It is better
to know how to read music than to be a musical illiterate.  It is better
to read books about music than to learn about music history from Hollywood
movies.  Knowing about music this way can only make your listening
experiences more vivid.  Yes, yes, yes, a thousand times yes!

Would I lie to you?

Mimi Ezust <[log in to unmask]>