The careers of many famous musicians began with victories in international competitions. Béla Bartók, however, once said that “Competitions are for horses, not artists”—and he wasn’t alone in thinking that Art is high and competition low, and that the reliability of competition results is dubious. At the risk of puncturing some preconceptions, though, I have to say that far more often than not, the musicians who win competitions are those who play the most beautifully. It’s really true. It’s also true, however, that there are invariably people who play beautifully who don’t win, which is very disturbing. Can it ever be right to call someone who plays music beautifully a “loser”? And isn’t the price of competitions often the disillusion and discouragement of gifted musicians? Well, yes, it is—that’s a real danger and a real drawback. The good news is that practice makes better, and win or lose, performers benefit enormously from the many hours of practice that come before the competitions. In musical competitions, as in competition in general, the costs and benefits are all mixed together.
A Minute with Miles - a production of ETV Radio made possible by the JM Smith Corporation.
