[ANITA]

Encouraging Musical Creativity
by Alan Belkin
Introduction: Why this essay?
I see creativity in musical composition as an example of the human capacity for problem solving, and for inventing rich imaginative worlds. These two elements are linked: For an imaginative world to be convincing, it has to be coherent and consistent, which requires problem solving, in combining musical elements in ways which fit the individual work.
It is a clich? to say that children are born creative, and that creativity usually decreases with age as people become more set in their ways. Perhaps a better way to describe the child's attitude is as one of fascination with the world, and as a constant and active attempt to make sense of it. Since the adult world is also rife with discouragement and distraction, it is often hard to enter a state of mind where creativity will flourish. But the task is important, if we are to encourage what is best in human nature, and undoubtedly we can learn from the young.

Two fascinating books, whose authors were artists themselves, explore the nature of creativity in complementary ways. Adele Wiseman's Old Woman at Play takes a deep and uplifting look at creativity in an unlikely place: her mother's activity as a doll-maker. Tillie Olsen's Silences, more somber in tone, looks at examples of artists, many of them very well known, who stopped creating due to discouragement, lack of understanding, or material privation. In an earlier generation, Virginia Woolf's A Room of One's Own also addressed some key questions about how creativity is stamped out.

Having taught musical composition myself for years, I have seen young talents wasted or diminished by discouragement and poor guidance. While it is easy to say that the stronger talents will always survive, this is impossible to prove, and in any case leaves unanswered a critical point: All creativity deserves to be developed and encouraged. While not everyone is a Bach or a Mozart, that does not mean that they have nothing to contribute. And indeed we will never know if humanity has in fact lost another Bach or Mozart because they were born the wrong sex, in the wrong time, or the wrong place, or simply lacked the conditions for full development.

I will discuss encouraging musical creativity here from three points of view: that of the outsider (i.e. the listener, friend, colleague, etc.); that of the teacher; and finally, that of the artist himself.

The outsider
Artistic creativity is not sufficiently valued in society. Apart from a very lucky few, most artists encounter obstacles to the acceptance of their work. Especially at the beginning of a career, acceptance is slow, and discouragement and indifference are the norm. Ideally, the interested non-composer should be open and encouraging.
However, even in the absence of any positive contribution, at the least, the outsider should attempt to do no harm.

This seems obvious, but various subtly destructive attitudes abound. Here are a few examples:

Minimizing the value and importance of art: The talented young person needs a minimum of support about the value of his ambitions. While it is true that making a living as an artist is difficult, the decision to pursue an artistic career should be respected. It seems to me better to look back on one's life and say "I tried my best to do what I wanted", than "I wish I had tried".
The private club mentality: One of the most common obstacles for fledgling composers is the idea that "real" composers make up a sort of exclusive club, whose admission is determined by a small elite. This elite is not an organized group (indeed, opinions can vary greatly over the details of who qualifies) but the focus remains exclusion (confirming, by implication, the impeccable judgement and taste of the arbiters). Typical of this attitude are phrases like, "The only real composer here is [x]", "[y] is just an arranger". People with this attitude publish articles and brochures listing "the ten main composers in [z]". Apart from the fact that history repeatedly shows that such judgements are almost always wrong, the attitude is fundamentally ungenerous and closed.
Artificial limits: Another very common exclusionary tactic is, implicitly or explicitly, setting up artificial criteria like age, race, or sex, or style as bases for judgement. The last point is worth elaborating. Style is the expression of an individual personality, not of some fashionable trend. In a serious artist it will emerge naturally over time. It cannot meaningfully be chosen intellectually.
The fetish of "modernity": History shows that several major composers were considered very conservative in their own times (Bach, Brahms). With hindsight it is clear that such judgements are superficial, and that modernity in itself is no guarantee of value: What is new today is not new tomorrow. If all a work of art has to offer is novelty, why listen to it again after the first hearing?