“Music can transform our lives. We all have favourite
musics, or even music that takes us by surprise, that we can in retrospect see
as a crucial, defining moment in our lives, which has changed us in some way.
But in order for music to do that, I think the human soul has to be ready to
sacrifice something, sacrifice a certain amount of our time; something of our
attention, something of our active listening. Music’s not something which can
just wash over us. It needs us to sacrifice something of ourselves to meet it,
and it’s very difficult sometimes to do that, especially the whole culture
we’re in. Sacrifice and self-sacrifice – certainly sacrificing your time – is
not valued anymore.”—Scottish classical composer and conductor Sir James
MacMillan, “High Priest of Music,” Classic CD, May 1999
The image accompanying this post of Sir James
MacMillan was taken Aug. 9, 2012, at "Meet the Composers," a panel
discussion hosted by Music Director Marin Alsop, at the Cabrillo Festival of
Contemporary Music, and provided by CTV Santa Cruz County.
No comments:
Post a Comment