{"id":38,"date":"2006-05-03T08:21:49","date_gmt":"2006-05-03T16:21:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/?p=38"},"modified":"2013-02-07T17:43:38","modified_gmt":"2013-02-08T01:43:38","slug":"a-failure-of-imagination","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2006\/05\/03\/a-failure-of-imagination\/","title":{"rendered":"a failure of imagination"},"content":{"rendered":"

Next week, my orchestra begins rehearsals for John Adams<\/a>\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 On the Transmigration of Souls<\/em><\/a>. With the release of the critically-acclaimed<\/a> United 93<\/em><\/a> this past weekend and the Adams work on my music stand, my thoughts have returned to the tragic events of nearly five years ago. Today on the National Public Radio program Fresh Air<\/a>, the guest was former Department of Homeland Security<\/a> inspector general Clark Kent Ervin<\/a>. In the course of talking about the response of the government to the attacks and the 911 Commission\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s report<\/a>, a phrase from the commission\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s report was repeated several times, and it caught my attention:<\/p>\n

\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153The most important failure was one of imagination.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n

In fact, lack of imagination was so central to the failure to interdict the attacks that there is a subsection in the report entitled \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Institutionalizing Imagination\u00e2\u20ac\u009d. [1]<\/p>\n

Studies link music education in children to improved academic achievement [2], and I think that one of the leading factors in this improvement relates to imagination. Music, of all the fine arts, makes the highest demands upon the imagination, in both of the participatory guises: performer and listener.<\/p>\n

As performers we are called on to decipher symbols which tell us the length, loudness, tempo, and articulation of each note. Years of training help us to discern what is \u00e2\u20ac\u0153in between\u00e2\u20ac\u009d those notes, as it were, but much of the interpretive process that remains is left to our artistic imagination. If we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re playing a modern score, there is relatively little left to the imagination than if we are performing a solo sonata, partita or suite of J.S. Bach, where there is little indication of what lies underneath, with a minimum of instructions given by the composer.<\/p>\n

As a listener, we have to make sense of sounds which may be foreign and\/or distasteful to us, to concepts which we have not yet experienced, and take an abstract form and relate it to emotional concepts from our own emotional history.<\/p>\n

The rigor of facing these dilemmas from an early age really do, I believe, give those who have had a musical education a real edge in reasoning and conceptual skills. By combining these skills with the increased aptitude demonstrated in other subjects, mathematics chief among them, we enable a generation of children to better take on the challenges that will face them in the future.<\/p>\n

So, as September 11, 2006 draws closer, and there is much talk of the lack of imagination demonstrated by our government, industry, and citizenry – view it as a call to arms on behalf of a renewed dedication to arts education in our schools. We cannot afford not to take up this call.<\/p>\n

1 http:\/\/www.9-11commission.gov\/report\/911Report_Exec.htm<\/a>
\n2 http:\/\/www.amc-music.com\/research_briefs.htm<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Next week, my orchestra begins rehearsals for John Adams\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 On the Transmigration of Souls. With the release of the critically-acclaimed United 93 this past weekend and the Adams work on my music stand, my thoughts have returned to the tragic events of nearly five years ago. Today on the National Public Radio program Fresh Air, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":303,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[2],"tags":[117,3655,55],"class_list":["post-38","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-the-orchestra-world","tag-critic","tag-news","tag-orchestra"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pa8kC-C","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":7458,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2012\/03\/29\/progress-in-louisville-lockout\/","url_meta":{"origin":38,"position":0},"title":"progress in louisville lockout?","author":"Charles Noble","date":"March 29, 2012","format":"aside","excerpt":"This press release was issued today from the Louisville Orchestra Musicians' Association: Louisville Orchestra Musicians Association Proposes End to the Lockout LOUISVILLE, KENTUCKY, March 29, 2012 \u2013 The Louisville Orchestra Musicians Association is pleased to announce that they have taken a very positive step in ending their lockout, and returning\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "labor issues"","block_context":{"text":"labor issues","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/category\/music\/labor-issues\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1985,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2009\/02\/26\/inside-the-orchestra\/","url_meta":{"origin":38,"position":1},"title":"inside the orchestra","author":"Charles Noble","date":"February 26, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Violist Sam Bergman has a great illustration of how different it is to hear an orchestra from the audience's point of view than from a seat in the orchestra.\u00c2\u00a0 Sam's a violist with the Minnesota Orchestra, which is on a European tour right now.\u00c2\u00a0 Their first stop was the Barbican\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "acoustics"","block_context":{"text":"acoustics","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/category\/music\/acoustics-music\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":5349,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2010\/09\/23\/orchestra-map\/","url_meta":{"origin":38,"position":2},"title":"orchestra map","author":"Charles Noble","date":"September 23, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"This was too good to pass up - thanks to Chantal for first posting this!","rel":"","context":"In "the orchestra world"","block_context":{"text":"the orchestra world","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/category\/music\/the-orchestra-world\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1453,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2008\/11\/19\/worlds-top-orchestras\/","url_meta":{"origin":38,"position":3},"title":"world’s top orchestras?","author":"Charles Noble","date":"November 19, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"I don't know how one could actually come up with a list like this and keep a straight face, but I guess it's akin to the coaches\/journalists polls that determine college football\/basketball rankings.\u00c2\u00a0 At least orchestras don't have to navigate the inanities of the BCS system... UPDATE: Robert Levine skewers\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "appreciation"","block_context":{"text":"appreciation","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/category\/music\/appreciations\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":3294,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2009\/10\/26\/a-new-way-to-look-at-the-oregon-symphony\/","url_meta":{"origin":38,"position":4},"title":"a new way to look at the oregon symphony","author":"Charles Noble","date":"October 26, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"After our last classical series concert, the orchestra stayed for an extra 30 minutes to get an important job done: it was orchestra photo night.\u00a0 Every few years, a new portrait of the orchestra and its music director is taken.\u00a0 In virtually every other year, the photo is a standard,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "the orchestra world"","block_context":{"text":"the orchestra world","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/category\/music\/the-orchestra-world\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"RCO001_VanBoxteljpg","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/RCO001_VanBoxteljpg-400x322.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":390,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2007\/07\/14\/orchestra-meetings\/","url_meta":{"origin":38,"position":5},"title":"orchestra meetings","author":"Charles Noble","date":"July 14, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Orchestra meetings should most likely not be held outdoors, in the summer, and in Chicago all at the same time. This is the conclusion I came to after reading the CSO Bass Blog entry today. It's a small peek into what happens at meetings between orchestra players and management (and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "the orchestra world"","block_context":{"text":"the orchestra world","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/category\/music\/the-orchestra-world\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/303"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=38"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=38"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=38"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=38"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}