Self-reliance

I've been meaning to post about this for a while now, but when I saw the Trimpin documentary (mandatory) back in March I was struck by a photo of Conlon Nancarrow at work. I don't remember if this is the one, but it has the same effect:

Fans of American classical music (the real stuff) have sometimes been guilty of fetishizing the archetype of the solitary artist. Nancarrow, of course, is often cited as exhibit A in this regard. There is no doubt that many, if not most, of our highly creative composers have met with widespread ignorance or hostility. I question the maverick myth, though--so many of these figures met and interacted and self-consciously developed their work with the others' in mind. Nonetheless I find something stirring in these solitary composer photos, showing these artists at work, ignoring general ignorance, just doing their thing and not giving a damn what people think. And that's so American, right? The self-made man? Transcendentalism and inner law? This shot of Julius Eastman has the same qualities, I think:

That represents more positive American qualities than fireworks, I'd say. On that note, check out Paste Magazine's list of 12 patriotic songs better than "God Bless the USA." They even include Appalachian Spring, although as usual I'm forced to advocate the lesser-known original chamber instrumentation (which I listened to this morning, actually) over the orchestral suite.