9.30.13 | Innovation

Innovation is usually brought into the world for direct practical advancement, but I have been thinking lately that innovation can be the product of ‘doing something just for its own sake’. I am familiar with much of the music of obscure composers, and people’s reception of it. Unorthodoxy in music is often frowned upon, but when I encounter an accusation upon a piece of music for being so, I take a moment to analyze it.

The concept ‘art for the sake of art’ has always had a strong effect on me. Although almost all art has a desirable structure to it, it is always enlightening to see something new. When most people think of ‘piano music’, they will most likely picture gentle, bright, resonating sounds with a strong melodic center. This is due to the rigid structure of music and its development in formally defined eras, coupled with its general portrayal. A harsh, percussive tone would be considered unorthodox.

*Caution: Should the attached piece of music below offend your senses, I offer an apology.

Such music in its respective time would have been denounced, and perhaps been called “anti-democratic formalism”. However, the composer continued to write his music, and without his will, we would not have his legacy of works today- a staple of the late Romantic era.

Objective improvement is a very important factor in innovation, but change, or radical change is sometimes needed to preserve the reputation of the tremendous elasticity and creativity of the human mind. Innovation is risky, but innovation means ideas, and ideas mean eventual advancement.

– Raymond