The official debut of my blog took place on the 51st anniversary of the premiere of 4’33”, the birthday of Charlie Parker, Diamanda Galas, and Mark Morris, and unfortunately on the day of the year upon which, two years later, Katrina would hit New Orleans. At least three of those anniversaries have personal resonance for me. Five years later, I’m a little surprised to find myself still doing it. On the average, I’ve posted a new entry every two days and 53 minutes, a little short of the vague every-other-day goal I’d set; the shortfall all came this year, but I think I’ve more than compensated in word count per entry. (Is there any other music blog that goes over the 4000-word mark as often as I do?) I sometimes doubt whether it’s wise for me, as a creative artist, to be so omnipresent as a writer. I’ve probably already joined the ranks of Ned Rorem, Virgil Thomson, and Deems Taylor, composers forever better known for the fact that they wrote words than for their music. A friend commented recently that to get job interviews requires a certain air of mystery, so that people can project on you what they’re looking for, and I’m afraid that the weekly public airing of my views since 1983 has left me with no mystery to speak of. Nevertheless, I find writing therapeutic, and this blog allows me a freeform genre of writing that no self-respecting publication would ever support, while my articles – which I would never bother to polish without an audience as incentive – help me organize and, ultimately, change my thoughts. Without this blog my ideas might have gotten set in stone, and would not have evolved as quickly as they have. I am who I am. Like the crazy-going king in The Madness of King George, I occasionally have to speak to get the words out of my head. Sometimes I can’t believe anyone reads them, let alone responds thoughtfully. Thanks for doing both.
Kyle Gann on music after the fact
