# Quitting While You're Ahead



## Mephistopheles (Sep 3, 2012)

One of the great things about the music profession is that, to be in it, you must be passionate about it. Unlike many of the jobs that we all suffer for the sake of making a living, being a musician can be _enjoyable_! Because of this, many of the best musicians - composers, conductors, and performers at the top of their game - quite happily keep on going until the day they die. We could all make an instant list of composers who died while in the middle of a composition, and many conductors and performers practically drag themselves onto the stage looking decrepit, beautiful music aside.

But what do you think about these folks quitting while they're ahead? Do you think that there is an inevitable decline in the quality of a musician's music as they age? Do you think there's an optimum age to retire, or do individuals need to be attuned to their own decline?

Personally, I think it's less of an issue for composers than it is for performers. Composition is a purely intellectual exercise, and, saving anything horrible like mental illness, compositional technique tends to mature to greatness throughout the life-span, even right at the end. Performers, however, rely more on physical attributes that deteriorate with age. A conductor's stage presence and hearing must be at their best, and a pianist's fingers need to be in top shape. Of course, any sane singer retires early because the voice more obviously degrades than any other instrument.

I can understand the frustration though - it must be horrible to retire from something you love beyond all else.


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## Krummhorn (Feb 18, 2007)

I have been a professional church organist for 50+ years - I cannot even think of never doing this at any point during my life. 

With age, at least for me, has come a certain loss of dexterity in the fingers ... thankfully I've not been hit with arthritis. 

My playing ability was a gift from birth I think, as I demonstrated a keen interest in keyboard at age 5. I do not just play the notes on the page ... I put my entire heart and soul into those played notes and make the music more pleasing to the listener. 

When my wife retires in about 4 years, I may consider backing off from the weekly schedule a bit, but refuse to hang up my organ shoes until I can no longer physically play the instrument I love so dearly.

The bigger problem is not the old musicians retiring, rather there are no young people coming up through the ranks, at least in the church organist profession, to take our places once we get too old to play. I began playing in church at age 12 ... haven't spent an Xmas Eve at home since that time ... it was a huge commitment to make at the time, and I have absolutely no regrets having made that choice. 

Kh ♫


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## MaestroViolinist (May 22, 2012)

But if you can still play and your sound is still good (at least reasonable) THEN KEEP PLAYING!!! (That's my advice... ) 

I agree, of all the jobs there are out there, being a musician has got to be the most enjoyable one ever. Enjoyable for the performer and for everyone around. I'm only just beginning (well, when I say beginning, I've been playing for about 4 years plus), but already I can't imagine being without my beloved violin. (Lol!)


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## bigshot (Nov 22, 2011)

I'm sure glad Horowitz and Rubinstein didn't quit!


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## drpraetorus (Aug 9, 2012)

Sometimes the creative well just dries up. Sibelius ans Rossini both just stopped because they had said all they wanted.


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## QuietGuy (Mar 1, 2014)

I quit composing in 1993. I had big dreams as a kid of writing symphonies, ballets, operas, chamber music and song cycles. I majored in composition in college, thinking all along it was the right path for me to follow. I worked very hard at it, but all the time my composition professors were trying to tell me that I didn't have enough talent to compete on that level. I definitely had enough talent and training to be a songwriter, say, or an arranger, or a theorist. (My time in college was a complete waste of time because I had had a thorough training in harmony and counterpoint and orchestration before I ever set foot in a School of Music.) But I had this idea of being a composer and doggedly pursued it. It was until after I got out of college that I realized that they were right. Plus, a few life events happened to me back then that consumed my time and soul - and took away my desire to write. I could've written dozen of things to formula, but I didn't want to be just another hack writer. 

Nonetheless, I have the enjoyment of other people's music, the interest and I still have my ability. I may write my magnum opus yet, who knows?


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## Ingélou (Feb 10, 2013)

Or maybe you will write a song which is not just hack work but will make you immortal.


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