Garrett McQueen
  • Home
  • Biography
  • Music
  • Press
  • Photos
  • TRILLOQUY/TrillWerks Media
  • Contact
  • Home
  • Biography
  • Music
  • Press
  • Photos
  • TRILLOQUY/TrillWerks Media
  • Contact
Search by typing & pressing enter

YOUR CART

5/29/2013 0 Comments

The Cage

          Ever since the DSO went on tour to New York a couple of weeks ago, I've had Ives on the brain. Despite some of the inherit challenges involved with playing his music, I'm glad to say that I know a little bit more about this American composer that sometimes goes overlooked. (Plus, being in New York again was really crazy but a lot of fun - I made it back to Detroit with all my fingers!) I was first exposed to Ives as an undergrad in a Music History since 1800 class through a short song called "The Cage". Here are the lyrics to this song: 

                                                                      A leopard went around his cage
                                                                  from one side back to the other side;
                                                   he stopped only when the keeper came around with meat;
                                                                 A boy who had been there three hours
                                                             began to wonder, “Is life anything like that?”


          I've been very fortunate to be able to do a fair amount of traveling in my career so far, experiencing different parts of our country and world from the perspective of not just a visitor, but someone who claimed those places as a home away from home. It's started to bother me that this may not always be the case, and I'll be like that animal trapped in a cage. Even if this cage is tenure in a great orchestra (which I'd be very grateful for, of course) it's scary for me to think that my roots will be firmly grounded in one place, instead of loosely connected to several. 
          On the other hand, maybe this IS a cage I'm trapped in. My money is fine right now, but whether it's a gig in this place or an audition in that place my travels definitely run parallel to getting more of it. Those little pieces of meat here and there keep me afloat, and I run towards them just like that leopard. It's like I can't decide which is scarier - pacing a cage with great benefits and fame in the same city for the rest of my life or pacing a cage with travel, fun, and the uncertainty of where the next check is coming from. I'm sure the cage is just a state of mind, but both outcomes represent what I look forward to and what I fear. Are you in a cage right now? Maybe we need to try to kill the keeper and steal his keys so that we can escape...
Picture
          Don't forget that today is the anniversary of Stravinsky's "Rite of Spring"! Have you picked out the virgin you want to sacrifice tonight? 
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Archives

    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    November 2017
    October 2017
    August 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    November 2015
    July 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012
    December 2011
    October 2011
    September 2011
    August 2011
    July 2011
    June 2011
    May 2011
    April 2011
    March 2011
    February 2011
    January 2011
    December 2010
    November 2010
    October 2010