Monday, February 14, 2005
awards
Congrats to John Adams for well-deserved recognition at the Grammies. Surely it is fruitless to expect any award to give an unequivocal ranking to any work of art, so arguing about which piece should get which award, which composer is over- or under-rated is bound to be nothing more than an endlessly diverting pastime.
As for those who may taste a tinge of sour grapes, I recommend Samuel Johnson’s words on the life of a writer, from 1750: “But, though it should happen that an author is capable of excelling, yet his merit may pass without notice, huddled in the variety of things, and thrown into the general miscellany of life. [The person who] endeavors after fame by writing, solicits the regard of a multitude fluctuating in pleasures, or immersed in business, without time for intellectual amusements....appeals to judges prepossessed by passions, or corrupted by prejudices, which preclude their approbation of any new performance. Some are too indolent to read any thing, till its reputation is established; others too envious to promote that fame, which gives them pain by its increase. What is new is opposed, because most are unwilling to be taught; and what is known is rejected, because it is not sufficiently considered...The learned are afraid to declare their opinion early, lest they should put their reputation in hazard; the ignorant always imagine themselves giving some proof of delicacy, when they refuse to be pleased: and he that finds his way to reputation, through all these obstructions, must acknowledge that he is indebted to other causes besides his industry, his learning, or his wit.”
Sorry for the lengthy quote, but I just love it when truths cross continents and centuries!
posted by Lawrence Dillon
5:56 PM
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