Spiritual Dimensions In Creativity

 

Hilma af Klint "Svanen, nr 17 (1915)

Artists and musicians are probably more protean than other people because they can find themselves in situations where they might get interested in certain things. One that comes to mind is theosophy. There were a lot of artists and musicians who were into that, and they probably wouldn’t have gotten into it just on their own by reading a book. There were probably clubs and meetings where composers and artists congregated, shared ideas, and found opportunities. 

This also works with political art as well: I was surprised that Stravinsky had a number of meetings with Mussolini, and they had a mutual regard for one another. This was the time when he went into his neoclassical period, when he was getting away from the dissonant music and into things that were more conservative and traditional. 

Composers and artists and even pop musicians can suddenly do a 180 and start doing things that most people wouldn’t, but I think largely it’s because there’s a certain opportunity that they’re interested in, or had gone through a long dry period and weren’t able to make anything. And so when they stumble on these things, it gets them going. 

Stravinsky didn’t continue composing neoclassical works the rest of his life, as he revisited The Rite of Spring in 1948 when he reworked it. Creative people tend to be more flexible in their choice of styles that they work in. #riff 

2/28/2023