…that most of the revered composers attributed their gifts to the grace of God? They felt that without divine inspiration from a higher power their work could not and would not exist. They also felt that they owed it to the Creator to work hard at it as best they could.
Beethoven said: “What will be the judgment a century hence concerning the lorded works of our favorite composers today? Inasmuch as nearly everything is subject to the changes of time, and -more’s the pity-the fashions of time, only that which is good and true will endure like a rock and no wanton hand will ever venture to defile it. Then let us all do what is right; strive with all our might towards the goal which can never be obtained; develop to the last breath the gifts with which the gracious Creator has endowed him, and never cease to learn. For life is short, art eternal.”
This quote certainly describes the life, and especially the end of Mozart, who feverishly worked and reworked a requiem which he would never finish; one of his students did. He is quoted as saying:” Music is my life and life is music. Anyone who does not understand this is not worthy of God.”
Elsewhere he says: “Let us put our trust in god and console ourselves with the thought that all is well, if it is in accordance with the will of the Almighty, as He knows best what is profitable and beneficial to our temporal happiness and our eternal salvation.”
But it is not only the composers who have realized that their talent has a divine influence. Leonardo da Vinci said it best: “We, by our arts may be called the grandsons of God.”
I guess that is why we revere artists, because we recognize greatness and where it stems from.
– Sybille Forster-Rentmeister