Peter, that is the same lesson demonstrated by the late Jesuit from India, Father Anthony deMello. He would tell this parable: "There was a little town in America where people gathered in the evening to make music. They had a saxaphonist, a drummmer, a violinist, mostly old people. They got together for the company and the sheer joy of making music, though they didn't do it very well. So they were enjoying themselves, having a great time, until one day they decided to get a conductor who had a lot of ambition and drive. The new conductor told them, "Hey, folks, we have to have a concert; we have to prepare a concert for the town." Then he gradually got rid of some people who didn't play too well, hired a few professional musicians, got an orchestra into shape, and they all got their names in the newspapers. Wasn't that wonderful? So they decided to move to the city and play there. But some of the old people had tears in their eyes, they said, "It was so wonderful in the old days when we did things badly and enjoyed them." So cruelty came into their lives, but nobody recognized it as cruelty. See how lunatic people have become!"
The word "amateur" comes from the root amare, to love. I hope we never lose the practice of making music just for the love of it... Alice in Montana