Scott writes:

A common dilemma facing all artists is how much effort do you put in regarding the details at the expense of the underlying communication of the work? Or, in other words, one can get so caught up in perfecting every detail that one loses sight of the original intention and energy of the
work.

In my field of classical piano playing, this is a very common malady. There are literally scores of competent musicians out there that can do a respectable job of performing what are frightfully long and complicated works. Performing these things requires extended study for most of us, difficult memorization and intense practice and concentration to perfect.

But how many of them can make an audience go crazy after the performance? Not many. Celebrated pianist, and now, conductor, Vladimir Ashkenazy has remarked on this very phenomenon, wondering out loud why so very few artists inspire an audience and most others don’t. It, frankly, mystified him, but it could be that since he is one of those rare artists who does inspire audiences, he was just being modest.

The fact is that most pianists lose themselves in the details of what they’re doing, losing the original impetus and motivation of the work. In music, the ideas of momentum, balance and architecture to keep the “IT” of a work going often gets lost in the intricacies of the individual notes, phrases and harmonic progressions. Trying to keep one eye on the details while simultaneously never losing the overall emotional impetus of a large piece of music, is, admittedly, a Herculean task; which is why most never achieve it.

One has to ask, ‘For Whom Am I Displaying My Soul?’ For only the cognoscenti and those in the know? Or for the general public at large? For those rare few who actually know exactly what you’re doing or for the child who has never been to a classical concert before? For the critic from the New York Times or for those innumerable souls that desperately love what you’re playing but can’t read a note?

Well, the answer, for the ultimate success in art, is both. That’s what makes artists “great.” The fact that they can simultaneously satisfy the critics in all those fine details and nuances yet, at the same time, they can move a general audience to tears and a raucous standing ovation. We artists treasure those priceless moments when it all comes together as a perfect unity, with everything in place and, at the same time, it stirs the deepest reservoirs of human emotion. That’s a great performance, and it doesn’t happen very often.

The key, in my mind, to great art, is universal communication that everyone can feel. Not whether you dropped 17 notes in the 3rd measure of the 3rd movement. Most of the time, performances are adequate and run-of-the-mill. They’re competent, with few (sometimes no mistakes) but they don’t move us necessarily or make us

Usually, there’s some mistakes and the performance doesn’t move us to ecstasy or tears either. That’s the run-of-the-mill everyday concert occurrence and I’m sure it’s the same in all the arts, whether it be sculpture, painting, the theater or something as mundane as a television movie of the week. Usually things are just “OK” and we go on about our lives as usual after words, having enjoyed the experience, but not having been really transformed by it.

But those special occasions when a performance really blows us away whether it be a Rolling Stones concert or a fantastic movie that you’ve just got to tell everyone you know to see, we are forever transformed by the event, and thereafter, are never really the same. These kinds of transcendent performances are when there’s that precious communication between an artist and his audience and both know something special has occurred. More often than not it might not be a “note perfect” performance, but the artistry, heart and passion come through to uplift an audience to its proverbial feet afterwards and shout “bravo”.

If I have to choose, I’ll take heart and passion over perfection any day. If you’re an artist I’ll let you in on a little secret: so will most of your public. Sure, if you give a less than perfectionistic, but emotionally driven and alive performance, those 1 or 2 persons out there that really know what you’re doing might be inclined to dismiss you and your work as unacceptable but, the majority of that audience might walk away transfixed and you may have changed somebody’s life.

Scott Leather

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Scott is a Cancer with an Aquarius Moon. Venus, Mars, and Pluto are conjunct in Virgo