The leak in the dam

Proverbs 17:14 (NIV)

14 Starting a quarrel is like breaching a dam; so drop the matter before a dispute breaks out.

When a dam is breached the water may first trickle out slowly; but as the water presses forward the hole becomes larger, and larger, and larger until finally the dam breaks. So it is with a quarrel. The quarrel may start small, but as time continues and the conflict persists the quarrel can grow and destroy relationships.

In October, 2011, The New York Times ran an article about two musical giants whose longtime relationship unraveled over a tiny piece of music. Helene Grimaud, a brilliant and magnetic pianist, and Claudio Abbado, a revered conductor, have performed together at least a dozen times since 1995. They were supposed to perform in Switzerland and London, but organizers cancelled their concerts due to "artistic differences."

There was only one issue at the heart of their conflict—a 1 minute and 20 second cadenza from Mozart's concerto No. 23 in A. (The article defines a cadenza as "unaccompanied flights in a concerto that play on its themes and show off a virtuoso's mettle.") The conductor Abbado prefers Mozart's original cadenza, but the pianist Grimaud feels that Mozart's original work is "not the most inspired." Instead, she prefers another cadenza for No. 23 based on the later work of an Italian pianist named Busoni.

Ms. Grimaud said it was her prerogative to choose the cadenza. Anything else would have been "a sellout." But Mr. Addabo contends that it's his "territory." According to another colleague, Mr. Addabo "is very strong and probably, like most conductors, used to dominating the artistic process." Neither side was willing to compromise. An official for one of the cancelled concerts said, "[Their musical relationship] was just somehow sort of dead. I guess they didn't relate to one another." [Daniel J. Wakin, "Titans Clash Over a Mere Cadenza," The New York Times (10-31-11)]

Only a small piece of a larger piece of music caused the breakup of two artists. It makes one wonder how many times a small quarrel has grown and grown until a relationship finally fell apart. Once the dam has broken it takes a long time to mend it.