Art & Creativity Quote by John Eaton

John Eaton voices the tug between perfectionism and posterity that intensifies with age. A lifetime in music teaches that the ideal performance is rare, maybe even illusory, yet the urge to let the work circulate grows stronger. He weights the balance toward access: better that people can hear the music, study it, and live with it, even if some renditions stumble, than to keep it locked away until a flawless version appears.

That stance recognizes the gap between the work as conceived and the work as realized. Scores, arrangements, and concepts carry a durable core that can survive imperfect execution; the architecture of the music still stands when a column is nicked. For composers of demanding or exploratory music, and for performers who prize spontaneity, errors are not anomalies but the cost of vitality. Eaton accepts that truth and trusts listeners to listen through the blemishes to the intention, the timbre of an idea, the shape of a phrase.

There is also a shift in responsibility. Early careers often orbit control: choosing venues, guarding tapes, withholding releases that do not match an inner standard. Later, legacy comes into view. Availability means influence, dialogue, and continuity; it invites students, younger musicians, and curious audiences to engage. The archive matters more than the manicure. A flawed recording can still spark insight, model risk, or preserve a practice that would otherwise be lost.

Eaton’s realism is not resignation but generosity. It affirms that music is a living exchange, not a museum piece, and that circulation beats concealment. He acknowledges the pang that accompanies a wrong note or a frayed ensemble, yet he refuses to equate purity with value. In doing so, he aligns himself with an ethic of openness: let the work go, let it be heard, let it find its listeners, and let the inevitable faults become part of its human record.