Art

[Allan MacLeod <allan.macleod@usask.ca>]

Hi;
    Anne Marble in her most recent comment on the Ex Libris site also
gave a reference to a site which gave the opening pages of Soseki's
Three-Cornered World.  It is essentially the rambling thoughts of a
walker on the meaning of art for human beings.  This, in turn, set off
my rambling thoughts on a topic which is something of a professional as
well as human interest for me.
Art, it seems to me, can serve three functions.  It can make us feel at
home in an otherwise hostile world by allowing us to transform that
world, to make it ours.  Or it can console us with beauty which makes it
possible for us to live with the pain and suffering that life entails.
Or it can disclose to us the meaning and purpose of the world and of our
pain and suffering so that we can learn to accept these--we feel at home
in the world because we have been transformed.  Beethoven represents the
first type; Mozart and Bach the second; and Bruckner and Mahler the
third. (These are not watertight compartments; Bach falls into group 3
on occasion and B and M into 2).
If we think about it, Gould should have been type 3.  But he acts like
type 1.  He imposes upon the scores he interprets his will; he makes
these works his.  If there is disclosure, it is of himself, rather than
the world.  And I cannot say that I find his recordings offer
consolation.  In a way I am impressed by his sheer audacity, by his will
and HIS imagination.  But it is sometimes so unique, that while he may
feel at home in it, I certainly do not.  Also, in a sense, he sets out
to destroy that second function of art by deliberately sabotaging
Mozart.
Now, a type 1 artist is highly aggressive and should be competitive.
But, we know that Gould hated competitions.  But, how can such an
aggressive person refuse to encounter others in a competition?  This
brings me back to an earlier message I sent in which I commented on
Pogorelich's analysis of the tragedy of Gould.  He liked to very
aggressively challenge others, but refused to allow others to challenge
him.  The result was he could not grow as an artist.

    Allan MacLeod