Films of Seymour Bernstein
and excerpts from the 2014 documentary, Seymour: An Introduction
These films—a superset of the documentary—encompass
meditations
on art,
the practice of craft, and a worldview informed by a highly developed sense of wonder and gratitude. |
Credit: Courtesy of IFC Films/Sundance Selects
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When Hawke mentions artists who have struggled under the weight
of success or failure, Bernstein seemingly brushes them off. (In
the film the late pianist Glenn Gould is dismissed as “a
total neurotic mess”.)
“Mostly those people who are unfocused and neurotic; they can be great artists, but they are doing it for the wrong reasons. They are doing it for self-aggrandizement or to make money or because they don‘t know what else to do. They have no idea that they are emissaries for the greatest minds the composers and the writers – what a responsibility it is, what a privilege it is.” —The Guardian, 12 Mar 2015 |
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Seymour Bernstein’s
website
and
video channel
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“[T]he film’s theme ... is as much the story of Bernstein as
a meditation on art and the practice of craft. ‘The film opens with
me at my piano, practicing a Scarlatti piece, and I kept missing a leap
– that was already a struggle. It wasn’t staged, it was a
real, live moment of a pianist practicing,’ said Bernstein.
‘Do you know what that does to a person? One moment you can’t
do something and through the effort – the struggle – you find
out how you can survive that particular challenge. You get a rush of
pride and a love for yourself. Parents get that with their children.
Teachers get that with their pupils. What a rush!’
—The Guardian, 12 Mar 2015
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