{"id":1500714,"date":"2022-06-02T08:01:35","date_gmt":"2022-06-02T12:01:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1500714"},"modified":"2022-06-02T08:01:43","modified_gmt":"2022-06-02T12:01:43","slug":"dont-miss-the-cliburn-piano-competitions-celebration-of-transcendent-beauty","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/dont-miss-the-cliburn-piano-competitions-celebration-of-transcendent-beauty\/","title":{"rendered":"Don\u2019t Miss The Cliburn Piano Competition\u2019s Celebration Of Transcendent Beauty"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">20<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fdont-miss-the-cliburn-piano-competitions-celebration-of-transcendent-beauty%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1500714&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/piano-e1654022742640.jpg\" class=\"ff-og-image-inserted\" alt=\"image\" \/><\/div>\n<p>At a time ugliness has saturated the world, with trash piping into everyone\u2019s eyes and ears from all directions, it becomes close to impossible to discuss concepts like art and beauty unironically. These days, what most people call \u201cart\u201d is really just entertainment, and the closest thing people have to \u201cbeauty\u201d is the dopamine-induced addiction accompanying that entertainment. Most people no longer behold beautiful works of art at their leisure; they binge on an addictive entertainment in their free time.<\/p>\n<p>Fortunately, there\u2019s an antidote, a transcendent experience for our transcendent-starved population: <a href=\"https:\/\/cliburn.org\/\">The Van Cliburn International Piano Competition<\/a>. It\u2019s called the Cliburn for short. This event takes place every four years in Fort Worth, Texas, as pianists aged 18 to 30 from all over the world play some of the most complex and technically difficult music ever composed for a live audience at Bass Hall. For two-and-a-half weeks, the best performers will advance through three rounds, the top three winning cash prizes and medals.<\/p>\n<p>Naturally, an event that has musicians in their prime performing the works of the very best composers in history will have an abundance of musical riches. Even the weakest competitors who never make it past the preliminary round are giving world-class recitals that could easily fit in any concert hall or studio recording. <\/p>\n<p>These are beautiful pieces of music demanding everything from the pianists, not only in terms of technique but also in soul. It is the auditory equivalent of sampling the best dishes from the best chefs around the world and trying not to be overwhelmed.<\/p>\n<h2>Comparing Styles<\/h2>\n<p>Occasionally, the pianists\u2019 repertoires overlap, with multiple competitors playing the same <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=1vANAaifYu4\">sonatas of Sergei Prokofiev<\/a> or <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=v9fo3FoHDBc\">etudes of Franz Liszt<\/a>. But instead of inducing boredom, this gives listeners a chance to develop a vocabulary for judging performances. <\/p>\n<p>They will sense when performers mess around with dynamics, exaggerate tempos, or misinterpret motifs, all robbing a piece of clarity, logic, and expressiveness. If they are watching the pianists, they will also see the over-the-top flailing and facial expressions \u2014 what my family calls the <a href=\"https:\/\/interlude.hk\/the-lang-lang-effect-good-bad-or-ugly\/\">Lang Lang performers<\/a> \u2014 of some competitors along with the stoic, machine-like character of others.<\/p>\n<p>Modern audiences may take issue with the competition format, which pits pianists against one another in a contest that many would deem subjective and opposed to the idea of art for art\u2019s sake. They dislike the idea that art can be rated by any objective standard, that competition brings out the best in people, and that non-experts in the crowd are given the opportunity to judge the expert on the stage. These are usually the same people who equate art to personal expression and propaganda.<\/p>\n<p>But this is a postmodern mindset that considers beauty relative and undefinable, and thereby rejects it. If nothing else, the performances of the Cliburn triumphantly refute this view.<\/p>\n<p>The competitors cannot fake their way into the competition, nor can they advance by supporting the \u201ccurrent thing\u201d or having the right look. They need to be extremely good, and have nerves of steel that withstand the pressure of delivering a flawless live performance while maintaining an authentic connection to the music.<\/p>\n<h2>Intensity of Competition<\/h2>\n<p>Not surprisingly, the competitive element brings much more intensity to these performances. Much like amateur athletes in college sports playing their hearts out of love for the game and the honor of victory \u2014 as opposed to money and fame that drive professional athletes \u2014 the Cliburn competitors <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=AapjpeqmviM\">play their hearts out with each piece<\/a>, often sweating and crying more than most athletes. <\/p>\n<p>True, many of them will go on to record albums, tour around the world, and become resident musicians at prestigious universities, but their run in the Cliburn marks the apex of their careers, where they draw the largest audiences and hit their personal limits in playing ability.<\/p>\n<p>What results from this is an experience of beauty that leaves an indelible mark on the souls of the listeners. For those with little experience in classical music, let alone virtuosic piano music, the Cliburn is a great introduction. And for those who are already initiated in this world and have a personal list of best pianists ever, this is a musical feast that will remind a person just what beautiful music can do.<\/p>\n<h2>Sparking an Abiding Love of Music<\/h2>\n<p>I say this from experience. Even though I took violin lessons growing up, played in orchestras and ensembles, and had parents who made a point of taking us to concerts at the Meyerson Symphony Center in downtown Dallas, it was the Cliburn that sparked my love for classical music. <\/p>\n<p>I remember the moment it happened. I was listening to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=Jz1JR_t_9sc\">Roberto Plano in the 2005 competition playing \u201cNotturno\u201d by Ottorino Respighi<\/a> and was utterly blown away. I discovered what music could do if one just sat still and listened. I realized what philosophers like Immanuel Kant meant when he talked about \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.the-philosophy.com\/kant-sublime\">the sublime<\/a>\u201d or why Friedrich Nietzsche couldn\u2019t help but <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thoughtco.com\/why-did-nietzsche-break-with-wagner-2670457\">worship Richard Wagner<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>As with any experience of beauty, it kindles a profound love and awe of humanity in one\u2019s heart. To reflect on the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=DevG2ENlTbw\">countless hours of practice, memorization, meditation, and transformation<\/a> manifested in these young performers, one can\u2019t help but marvel at a divine element at work. These pianists don\u2019t leave the world with a physical product or immaterial idea, but with a special moment in time. <\/p>\n<p>As Micheal De Sapio <a href=\"https:\/\/theimaginativeconservative.org\/2022\/02\/purity-music-michael-de-sapio.html\">explains<\/a> in \u201cThe Imaginative Conservative,\u201d there\u2019s something pure and absolute in classical music: \u201cIt exists in its own world and is subject to its own rules and laws, which are not the rules and laws of literature or philosophy.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s no exaggeration to say that the experience leaves one with the reassurance that so long as something like the Van Cliburn Piano Competition exists, there\u2019s hope for humanity. Man really is \u201ca little less than divine\u201d and \u201ccrowned with glory\u201d as Psalm 8 proclaims. He really can do great things, and beauty really can save the world.<\/p>\n<p>Although today\u2019s popular culture obscures this important truth, it doesn\u2019t have to have the final say. People can make the choice to remove themselves from the noise, tune in to the performances of our finest musicians (from <a href=\"https:\/\/cliburn.org\/watchparty\/\">wherever they are<\/a>), and allow beauty to do its work and make them a little more human.<\/p>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\" \/>\n<div class=\"article-author-description fst-italic\">\n  Auguste Meyrat is an English teacher in the Dallas area. He holds an MA in humanities and an MEd in educational leadership. He is the senior editor of The Everyman and has written essays for The Federalist, The American Conservative, and The Imaginative Conservative, as well as the Dallas Institute of Humanities and Culture. Follow him on <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/MeyratAuguste\">Twitter<\/a>.<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>At a time ugliness has saturated the world, with trash piping into everyone\u2019s eyes and ears from all directions, it becomes close to impossible to discuss concepts like art and<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":551,"featured_media":2315279,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1500714","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1500714","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/551"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1500714"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1500714\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2315279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1500714"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1500714"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1500714"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}