Practice and Artistic Editing
“Both art and virtue are always concerned with what is harder; for even the good is better when it is harder.”-
Heraclitus (Nicomachean Ethics of Aristotle Book 2)
Sketch of Beethoven’s Sixth Symphony “Pastoral”
Artistic Development and Practice
All artistic development requires long range practice. As we see above, Beethoven sketched his Pastoral Symphony. Listen to a wonderfully inspiring live performance of the Pastorale conducted by Michelle Merrill leading the Detroit Symphony.
All artists edit their work. I attended a lecture a number of years ago by Issac BaShevis Singer. I asked him how much time he spent on rewriting. To my surprise, the author who wrote in a seamless literary style revealed that he spent the whole night editing his stories!
Dancers work out the steps, instrumentalists practice and rework both written works and improvisation Orchestral conductors study scores to express their interpretation of a work. Painters sketch, and x-rays have shown that they have painted over original canvases. Authors are in a constant state of rewriting and editing their work. Actors intensively study the characters they portray.
Artistic editing is a long range process which builds artistry. It is the Sine Qua Non component of artistry.