Surrendering is about being at peace with the things we cannot change. . . . that sad but easeful core of peace that is the reward when all is renounced. [Maestro Benjamin Zander commenting on the solo cello statement near the end of the final movement of Mahler’s Ninth Symphony] Control and surrender have to be kept in balance. [Brian…
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Value for Thursday of Week 45 in the season of Assessing
Being Rigorous
We empower ourselves by conforming to a relevant order or orders – through rigor.
- . . . people underestimate the creativity you use in science and the rigor you need in music. They basically have the same path. [attributed to Pardis Sabeti]
- The social sciences, I thought, needed the same kind of rigor and the same mathematical underpinnings that had made the ‘hard’ sciences so brilliantly successful. [Herbert A. Simon]
- We just can’t shake monogamy. It definitely demands a kind of rigor and discipline and selflessness. But it’s also fun. [Claire Danes]
Rigor is the art and practice of remaining fixed on a method or a way of doing things. In politics, it means staying on message. In art, it means adhering to the core principles of that art. In science it means disciplined adherence to scientific method, without taking shortcuts. In team sports, it means executing the game plan.
The essence of genius is the ability to contribute to the whole by departing from established methods: to see what no one else has seen and act on it. Yet it is the genius’ mastery of the discipline that allows her to see beyond it. For example, Einstein understood the prevailing theories in physics of his time but was able to see beyond, transcend and transform them. A person becomes a genius by rigorously mastering the discipline first.
Rigor is an important concept in education. “. . . when done correctly, academic rigor is an invaluable teaching approach that helps children learn to think deeply, make meaning for themselves, and become aware of their own learning process.” “Rigor and relevance help students become complex thinkers. Both in and beyond school, students will have to work in teams with individuals from varied backgrounds to make choices and complete difficult tasks.” “In courses with rigor, defined as a higher-order understanding of concepts and skills, students reported that they are more likely to employ critical thinking, appreciate the skills and ideas of the discipline, and enjoy the challenge of the class . . .”
“Scientific rigor is the strict application of the scientific method to ensure unbiased and well-controlled experimental design, methodology, analysis, interpretation and reporting of results.” “If science isn’t rigorous, it’s reckless.” Several factors are essential to scientific rigor. The National Institutes of Health has developed research guidelines focused on rigor and transparency.
Though music is a creative art, it is also a rigorous one. Rigor applies to music composition, performance and teaching.
Rigor is of the essence in any discipline. That is why it is a discipline.
Real
True Narratives
- Masha Gessen, Perfect Rigor: A Genius and the Mathematical Breakthrough of the Century (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2009), about how Grigori Perelman solved Poincare's Conjecture.
- Settimo Termini, ed., Imagination and Rigor: Essays on Eduardo R. Caianello's Scientific Heritage (Springer, 2006).
- Kaoru Nonomura, Eat, Sleep, Sit: My Year at Japan’s Most Rigorous Temple (Kadansha International, 2009).
Technical and Analytical Readings
- John P. Burgess, Rigor and Structure (Oxford University Press, 2015).
- Todd Stanley, Promoting Rigor Through Higher Level Questioning (Routledge, 2020).
- Barbara R. Blackburn & Bradley S. Witzel, Rigor for Students with Special Needs (Routledge, 2014).
- Settimo Termini, Imagination and Rigor: Essays on Eduardo R. Caianiello's Scientific Heritage (Springer, 2006).
- James T. Kinard, Sr., and Alex Kozulin, Rigorous Mathematical Thinking: Conceptual Formation in the Mathematics Classroom (Cambridge University Press, 2008).
- Barbara R. Blackburn, Rigor Is NOT a Four-Letter Word (Eye on Education, 2008).
- Betsy Moore and Todd Stanley, Critical Thinking and Formative Assessments: Increasing the Rigor In Your Classroom (Eye on Education, 2009).
Photographs
Documentary and Educational Films
Imaginary
Fictional Narratives
Poetry
Music: Composers, artists, and major works
Johann Sebastian Bach is widely regarded as history’s most rigorous composer. No one composed so tightly, and yet so freely and creatively as he did. His French and English suites for keyboard illustrate this point as well as any of his other works. “Confoundingly, we have no way of knowing where these two appellations, 'French' and 'English', came from. We know only that they had been attached to these suites by someone other than Bach and that the names had come into use in the intervening years. Forkel took a stab and suggested that they were in the 'French taste' but there is little stylistic evidence in them to merit that label beyond the presence of the names of certain movements.”
English Suites, BWV 806-811 (1715) (approx. 113-140’) (list of recorded performances), are performed (on harpsichord unless otherwise noted) by:
- Helmut Walcha in 1960;
- Zuzana Růžičková;
- Gustav Leonhardt in 1973;
- Glenn Gould on piano in 1977;
- Gustav Leonhardt in 1985;
- Bob van Asperen;
- Robert Levin on piano in 1999;
- Christophe Rousset;
- Andras Schiff on piano;
- Richard Egarr in 2013;
- Piotr Anderszewski in 2014 (Suites 1, 3, 5);;
- Masaaki Suzuki in 2019;
- Sophie Yates in 2021; and
- Alexandra Papastefanou on piano in 2025.
French Suites, BWV 812-817 (1722-1725) (approx. 87-150’) (list of recorded performances), are performed (on harpsichord unless otherwise noted) by:
- Helmut Walcha in 1961;
- Glenn Gould on piano in 1973;
- Christopher Hogwood in 1984;
- Tatiana Nikolaeva on piano in 1984;
- Pieter-Jan Belder in 1999;
- Blandine Rannou in 2002;
- Christophe Rousset in 2004;
- Bob van Asperen in 2005;
- Andras Schiff on piano;
- Richard Egarr in 2016;
- Murray Perahia on piano in 2016;
- Xiao-Mei Zhu on piano in 2017; and
- Andrew Arthur in 2026.
Other compositions:
- György Ligeti, Violin Concerto (1993) (approx. 28-29’) (list of recorded performances): “The rigorous composition process was characteristic of Ligeti. In the 1990 programme booklet he wrote: ‘I compose very slowly, destroying ten or 20 attempts before attaining the final score … the creation of art is not an everyday task and I must achieve, without compromise, the end result which is my imagined ideal.’”
- Frank Martin, String Trio (1936) (approx. 15-16’) has the stern feel of trying to control an enfant terrible. Martin wrote: “. . . I wrote it more rigorously than any of my other compositions with the same technical material. This pleased my craftsman’s taste for a job well done and another sort of taste similar to a fear of failure, for a particular problem which needs to be solved stylishly.”
- Jean Louis Nicodé, Piano Sonata in F minor, Op. 19 (1879) (approx. 39’) features complex counterpoint and structural integrity, as opposed to melodic thrills. Nicodé worked hard at staying true to traditions established by masters such as Beethoven and Brahms.
Jascha Heifetz, who was among the great violinists of the 20th century, was known for his rigorous practice routines. For Heifetz, the amount of time spent practicing was not the issue. He practiced three to four hours every day. His advice is well-known among top violinists and violin teachers. He said:
- “I do not believe in practicing too much — it is just as bad as practicing too little.”
- “The discipline of practice every day is essential. When I skip a day, I notice a difference in my playing. After two days, the critics notice, and after three days, so does the audience.”
- “Practice like it means everything in the world to you. Perform like you don’t give a damn.”
For Heifetz, practice was about its quality, and in particular, its rigor. He would practice a seemingly simple phrase, beginning so slowly that the phrase was not recognizable, then increase the speed and repeat the phrase many times, until he was satisfied. Heifetz was the main subject of this 1953 documentary. Many videos are available of his playing. His playlists are extensive.
Angela Hewitt is a classical pianist known for the rigor she brings to her interpretations of Bach (also here), Liszt, Beethoven, and in general. Here is a link to her playlists.
Conductor Otto Klemperer was known for his rigorous interpretations. Here are links to his playlists, and to him conducting live.
Franz Liszt, 12 Transcendental Études (12 Études d'exécution transcendante), S. 139 (1852) (approx. 60-70’) (list of recorded performances), “are arduous and complex musical studies, inviting the pianists to present own interpretations and readings of the music.” Top performances are by Cziffra in 1955, Berman in 1963, Arrau in 1977, Ovchinnikov, Bolet in 1985, Berezovsky in 1996, Berezovsky live in 2002, Trifonov live in 2014, Trifonov in 2016, Gugnin in 2018, Giltburg in 2019, Beisembayev in 2022, Lim in 2022, and Zhang in 2023.
Music: songs and other short pieces
- Charles-Valentin Alkan (composer), 48 Motifs (Esquisses), “Inflexibilité”
