The arts must deal with objects and experiences one by one: the painter paints one painting at a time; the musician must play each piece as though he were just creating it. The result is what Toffler calls the Law of Inefficiency in Art … The glory of the arts, which is their individual humanity and uniqueness becomes their fatal flaw. They are fixed in place while the rest of the world advances. The result becomes a system of self-perpetuating poverty … For those who care about them, the arts are their own justification—which is one reason why we defend them so badly and why some people still regard them as unnecessary.
Eric Larrabee, in “Music Education Journal,” Sept. 1973, 34
Nr. 29
