That is a rather personal story. And yet, it is a story that ever so often is repeated in different ways in society. This story is just one example of how, what should be considered the most valuable of all in the universe - human talents and gifts - gets wasted. It is just one example of a contribution to the world that was never given a chance to emerge. So it is forgotten as it had never existed.
If someone has a special aptitude, a gift or a talent, every thinking person would expect that this to be a treasure that belongs to the peoples of the world. For the individual concerned there is no reason whatsoever to feel superior because of such a gift. It is given to them by a fluke, a genetic combination. Then, however, it is nature that demands nurture in order to allow its potential to unfold.
And so let me tell you my story.
My mother was an accomplished pianist, having inherited musical abilities way back from her father's side. In turn, my father was a composer, conductor and pianist in the silent film days, church organist later. His father was a military trumpet player who composed lots of music, mainly marches and songs. So, in hindsight it comes as no surprise that music is in "my blood" as the saying goes. However, due to family circumstances I was separated from my father from the age three and I lost my mother soon after. When my interest in music emerged around age six or seven, it was ridiculed and discouraged in no uncertain terms. In my teen years, when at last I had the chance to study music it was delayed for almost a year by unsympathetic officials. Finally, when I really had made it - I was able to learn cello and trumpet, world war two interrupted all that.
Music, much later in life, however, demanded to find an outlet. So I taught myself the keyboard and allowed my musical talents to be expressed in all sorts of musical ideas - hundreds of them. Recording techniques became available and so the MP3s you find on my web site are improvisations, performed at the moment of composition (that's why some are not always studio quality. Also note that the pieces for grand organ are exeptions. I wrote them down first, at least partially.) and later copied from the original tapes.
There you have it. IF I HAD KNOWN ONE SYMPATHETIC PERSON WHEN I WAS A YOUNG CHILD who would have been willing to listen to me and taken my interest seriously, if I had consequently received the missing nurture to develop this talent, would I have been able to get the proper training and make a worthwhile contribution to the world of music during my lifetime? That did not happen. So, as a composer I remain 'in hiding'.
And yet, I am no exception. There are the unrecognised and unfulfilled architects, doctors, innovators, scientists, artists, inventors and whatever else "in hiding" whose contributions would have enriched the lives of all of us. But my example shows how vital it is for any parent or others working with children to allow them, indeed, encourage them, to explore many different occupations and activities in a world that grows in complexity with every passing year. What are the aptitudes, the talents? Where is the passion? From early in life that has to be discovered, stimulated and respected as a natural gift that, as I said, demands nurture for such potential to unfold.
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Link to the music index, part one.
Link to the music index, part two.
