VoxHumanae

Words that I heard from someone very close to me.

“Michael, you are too critical.”

I in no way consider myself to be a superior being. When I am with my church choir we have one goal in mind… to serve to the best of our means. Absolutely everything that I do with the Lourdes choir is housed within that statement.

Flashback to thus said previous post about being professional and having a touch of the mediocre in you…

Now…”Michael, you are too critical”

People in a professional atmosphere trying to be artists do not need to swallow the pill just because someone gives it to you. I am critical of choral music because I have experience in singing, conducting, and researching the area. I am in NO means a nationally recognized person for doing any of this, and I don’t seek that kind of life as well.

Recognizing what is good and what is not in the choral arts has become relatively easy for me over the past several years (I know that it is the culminating result of the many more years of active participation in the art-form, however).

Am I Critical?

Yes. As an expert in a particular field one should draw from past experiences and compare with the current trends. I’m not saying that someone can’t be kind to do this, but, it is essential that experts criticise their peers for the good of not only themselves but for the good of their peers as well.

If an engineer knew that a colleague of theirs, along the process of doing the math before hand, didn’t quite look as thoroughly through what they were doing (bad example, but anywho)… in-spite of everyone’s praises and pats on the back, is that engineer doing the right thing for his colleague? Sure, one can be tactful about the way that this information is relayed to the colleague. When one is tactful one is somehow trying to beat around the bush. I’m not saying that you should splay the information out for all to see so that the reputation of the colleague is tarnished…

I am honest and respectful to my church choir. I am also very critical of what they do. I pick music that is accessible, yet challenging and I always try and meet the needs of the group.

I am honest and respectful to the other ensembles that I participate in. I am also very critical of what they do.

Maybe, the original remark was to point out some type of cynicism…
A cynic, I am not. I give praise when praise is due.

I will not be part of the sheeple that exist. I am a breathing, living, thinking human being.

‘Tis a great confidence in a friend to tell him your faults; greater to tell him his.
~Benjamin Franklin