On the… molar

You have to be in love to be able to fall in love

How widespread has the study of music become in recent years? Much? But no, much more!!! In short, when I was in high school, there were two of us in class (and four or five in the entire section) playing something. Today if you take 25 children, at least half study some instrument, then there are kindergartens, schools, musical high schools, as well as an unspecified forest of private musical institutes such as our Laboratorio del Suono Academy, and this (at least from my point of view ) is a great good; music brings with it healthy fun, general culture, discipline, love for art, brain development, growth of human and interpersonal relationships and a lot of other benefits, however… Ah yes, there is a but, and perhaps more than one.

Decades of spreading this healthy practice are not (at least from my point of view) bringing us the results we could (or should) expect. If you take a tour on the net you will certainly notice that the latest trends (with very rare exceptions) are not enriching us with something new and above all beautiful and, despite the schools, the level of musical acculturation is frighteningly low (especially among the younger ones) . Concert halls and theaters are almost punctually semi-deserted, even when tickets cost as much as a hamburger and a drink, but on the other hand a large portion of the public is willing to shell out even hundreds of euros (therefore the point is not the money) for the concert of the pop star of the moment, which is good and right, for heaven's sake, but I ask myself some questions. That there are dark lobbies working secretly to keep us in mediocrity? Or – worse – are there others who are plotting not to make us intelligent? Does the packaging of the aspirin that we all consume actually conceal a poisonous compound called Rimbambene Plus?

In addition to a tooth, did the dentist also devitalize our brain? But no, on the molar, I say it above all to dentists, a lineage of workers that I bless every time I go there, because in taking away my toothache they literally help me recover my smile. If we have to blame someone, it falls more easily on people like me, teachers, musicians, parents. I'm the one who can't make an art as beautiful, rich and profound as music, as old as man yet still so wonderfully topical, passionate, fully loved. It is people like me who must strive to convey all the good and beautiful life and art have to offer. Maybe I'm not convinced enough, credible enough, not at all contagious and least of all viral. The network, the connection is giving everyone the opportunity to express their thoughts, and this is certainly a great thing, but the price we pay is that even imbeciles can say and act, even appearing to be intelligent and cultured people, and stupidity , that's really viral.

I'm not advocating censorship (which hasn't proven to be a good solution in the past). I'm just saying that if I want to make beautiful things more loved, I have to fall in love with them first, every day. This is the true and hard struggle of my time, in which my dentist is an invaluable ally (as well as a good friend).

Mauro Tabasso

NP Febbraio 2023