The unbearable ambivalence of a violin player

DAVID says:

Very interesting. The overall message in this clip to me suggests that the author either has had personal experience, or knows quite well, someone who has learned, or has had to learn, a musical instrument — and allegedly not in the healthiest of circumstances. The fact is, the discipline required to reach a high level of playing can easily be destructive on anyone’s psyche, especially given the fact that one must begin practicing at a relatively young age and thus exercise a high level discipline at an age when one might be more tempted to go play with one’s friends or simply be a child. I find this “unbearable ambivalence” to be more prevalent in instruments who seem predestined for solo careers — mainly piano and violin — and see it much less in woodwinds or brass players, and for some reason less in cellists as well. Music history is rife with people who either were “forced” to practice by their parents, elders, teachers, and/or who internalized an inner censor, thus forcing themselves to do something which perhaps they did not want to be doing. When the defense finally breaks down, they do indeed break their instrument — perhaps not as literally as the character in this clip, but more likely psychologically: by breaking up with it, either through neglect or through some sort of long-term unresolved bitterness which they are likely to keep hidden from themselves, as if remaining in an unhappy marriage. Others never reach that point and keep on dutifully obeying their inner censor. The great psychoanalyst Françoise Dolto touched on many of these issues in her important work on child psychology. Also, of great interest is Izabela Wagner’s book “Producing Excellence,” which is perhaps the best book I’ve ever read on this topic.