Simplicity

“Simplicity is the final achievement. …it is simplicity that emerges as the crowing reward of art.”

Quote attributed to Chopin.

Simplicity is the most refined state. After exploring all the musical possibilities while writing a piece, the composer returns to the most essential. A piece reveals it’s true self when it is stripped of ego and excess.

With artistic maturity comes the realization that expressiveness, clarity of orchestration, and emotional depth are not dependent on complexity or flash. The pursuit of “newer, faster, higher” eventually becomes dull. True mastery is the ability to say something profound without all the extra noise. This is economy of means…where one chooses every note with extreme intentionality. It’s the wisdom to remove anything that doesn’t serve the heart of the piece.