Re: GG and Competition and Showing Off

[Kate Clunies-Ross <goldbergs@TALK21.COM>]

Good afternoon f-minors

I think competition is fine if (a) the competitors enjoy what they are doing
and don't invest their activity with too much importance (is it really of
world -shattering import that you should be The Best at something? or beat
all other comers? and (b) if what they are competing at is actually a
measurable quantity. For instance, it is easy to see if someone is running
faster/throwing further/ jumping higher etc than the other competitors, but
how can you measure artistic effort in a comparable way? Its far too
subjective a matter. What criteria do you choose to say that A is "better"
than B?

I have never felt that art (especially music) is a suitable subject for
formal competition.

I would hazard a guess that this in fact  was one of Gould's main objections
to competition,  especially in the music world.  The winner has of necessity
to be a personal choice; there is no objective way to measure  the artistic
value of a performance, really. Especially not at a high level of
competition, when all the performers may be expected to have great technical
competence as a matter of course.

And choosing a "winner" seems to some to devalue the other performers'
efforts. It is so easy to fall in to the trap of feeling that if there is
only one 'winner' then the otherers must  by definition be 'losers'.
Music competitions may give a helping hand to the emerging career of the
winner and this is a positive result , if restricted.  But it seems to me
that nobody bothers to remember the second or third placed
competitors....who may   also have an enormous amount to offer us,
artistically, even if they did not win on this occasion. Maybe they were
just having a few off-days  and were left bemoaning  the fact (like our Mr
Gould) that the confines of the competitive stage did not offer
take-twoness!

(Having said this however, I admit I have watched musical competitions on TV
and thoroughly enjoyed seeing ALL the hopeful new performers getting a
chance to show what they can do...I think its just a pity that this
opportunity has to be in the form of a competition.)

Competition in general encourages a "them or me" kind of attitude, a feeling
that in life in general, there must of necessity be winners and losers.
Maybe this is true; we only have to look around us to see examples of both.
But - in an idealised dream-world perhaps! -  our society might be  a nicer
place to live if we supported each other more, and didnt make such a
division between the successful and the not-so-able among us. Of course we
honour  and value those who (like Glenn Gould) can  bring us joy, beauty,
and awesome achievement. But not everyone is born with such gifts.

I think competition can be very divisive. It is a shame that we seem to
encourage kids to expect competition in all aspects of life. Sometimes this
can  be fun,  yes, and helpful. But encouraging a supportive attitude, with
more cooperation and helping each other wouldnt come amiss either.

Gould evidently felt no need to compete or "show-off'. He simply felt a
total need to communicate with his music, it was as natural to him as
breathing. indeed, he seemed to dislike the cult of the virtuoso. He had a
good point too: it is easy and natural to be impressed by  virtuosity that
we can't aspire to in our wildest dreams , and so we  may listen in
awestruck wonder to a performance of technical brilliance, but lets be
honest: don't  many  of us also feel a sneaky sense of satisfaction when
some high-achever comes a cropper and gets it wrong (whatever "it" may be? )
its a feeling akin to the scarcely admitted hope that we might witness  a
fall from the pinnacle of perfection, that an idol might have feet of clay,
that the trapeze artist might tumble from on high (even though we accept
there is a safety net) Is it jealousy? Do we resent the super-successful?
Is their  very existence seen as a  mute criticism of those with lesser
abilities?If so, why encourage the cult of the winner with inwanted
competitiveness, when only one  individual can win?

OK. Rant over. Sorry, everybody. I just dont like unnecessary competition.
At school ( a long time ago now) I found it on the whole  scary  and
pointless, so I'm with GG on this one. But I will look forward to any
replies explaining the positive side of the argement!

Kate