Music as a way of being

I was reading a book by Danny Gregory on keeping an illustrated journal (which has something in common with keeping a blog, I feel) and I came across a quote from Frederick Franck (no bibliographic details were provided):

Art is neither a profession nor a hobby. Art is a way of being.

Given that Franck was a painter and sculptor, he was probably talking about visual art. I think the sentiment applies equally to music, too. According to Wikipedia, Franck was a dental surgeon by trade, so I can see why he should feel the necessity to make such a statement. I like it a lot.

Current debates in Second Life Music Community Forum seem to focus on music as neither profession nor hobby, but as business. I remember the way a lot of folks at the university where I taught stopped thinking about teaching as education and started to talk about it as a business. It was awful. I do hope the entrepreneurs in Second Life will not put the kiss of death upon the Franckian notion of music as a way of being.

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