A reaction to Ainan’s musical compositions.

A couple of days ago, we had a visitor to our house. He was there for a very specific reason: to listen to Ainan’s musical compositions.

Now, I cannot reveal why our visitor was interested in hearing Ainan’s musical compositions, just yet, but I can say this: our visitor had spent five years of his life at a music school, though he was now in another creative profession.

He listened most attentively to Ainan’s pieces as I played him recordings. 

"This is the first piece he ever composed.", I noted. 

There seemed about him, a little surprise.

I played him the second piece.

“I like that one.”, he remarked, “Very suitable.”, for what he had in mind.

“That’s very interesting.”, he observed of another.

“A good piece...but not for this project.”, he said of a fourth. There were others, too.

Then Ainan took to playing him some pieces on the piano.

Our guest watched him most intently. “How long has he been learning the piano?”

“He taught himself, six months ago.”

He considered this for a moment. “It is amazing how fast he has picked it up.”

Ainan, 12, played on, piece after piece...all from memory. Some of the pieces were his own compositions, others, as is his wont, were pieces he had heard in the course of his life – the Matrix theme tune, a couple of the pieces from the game Portal 2 and Bioshock.

At the end of the display our guest had decided to work with Ainan on a forthcoming project. He was most pleased with Ainan’s compositions.

I will let you know, when I am free to do so, just what Ainan will be doing, musically. Personally, I was very happy to hear that our musical guest liked Ainan’s music. It is the first time we have allowed Ainan’s work to be heard by a musically informed outsider – so his appreciation means a lot to us. It is the first “nod” from the musical profession that Ainan really has something going for him, in this area. That, in itself, is a bit of a surprising development considering that he is primarily a scientist – but then, again, Einstein was a passable violinist and Leonardo da Vinci was a composer who could play any stringed instrument, though I believe the lute was his primary one. Thus, musicality has been found allied to scientific gift in the past, too.

One of my greatest pleasures, now, is listening to Ainan play his compositions, on the piano. His is my favourite music. Perhaps, one day, it will be other people’s favourite too. We shall see.

Posted by Valentine Cawley

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Talent will out

There is a saying in Britain: "Talent will out". This means that those who are talented will eventually succeed - but is this true? One doesn't have to be very observant, in life, to come across many people who are evidently talented, but not very successful. Clearly, all is not as it seems.

My contention, supported by a lifetime of experience and observation, is that talent, in itself, is not enough to guarantee success in any field. There are simply too many other factors at work, as well. Often, it is not the most talented person who succeeds - but the best connected. This is an example of the "who you know, not what you know" phenomenon.

Acting is a case in point. What is the background of the actors who "make it" in public life? Well, very often, in fact, too, too often, they come from families who are already connected to showbusiness. This explains something I was often confronted with, when I was an actor: the best actors did not necessarily get the jobs - and the ones who did get the jobs, weren't always that good as actors. They had something else going for them: they knew the people involved in the projects. This happened a lot.

I met many good actors in those days. I met many actors who seemed to have much more talent than their famous colleagues - and yet, they were relatively unknown. They had talent but they didn't have the opportunities provided by good connections in the business - and so, ultimately, they failed to succeed.

I use acting as an example, but this phenomenon will apply, in varying degrees, to almost all areas of life: knowing the right people really helps - in fact a lot more than actually being the right person (in the sense of having the talent).

Let us just check out the backgrounds of a couple of famous actors as examples. Ewan MacGregor - of Star Wars fame. Now, those who know him well, won't be surprised, but others, who don't, might be surprised to learn that he had a relative in the original Star Wars film. No doubt that connection helped put him in touch with George Lucas, at the right time. Furthermore he is related by blood or the marriage of his relatives, to three established figures in British showbusiness: Denis Lawson, Shelia Gish (very respected) and Lou Gish. With such a base of connections to start out with in the showbusiness world, it would have been a lot easier for the young Ewan MacGregor to establish himself than his unconnected contemporary competitors.

Another example is Daniel Radcliffe of Harry Potter fame. He started out his career as one of the most connected individuals you could imagine. Both of his parents work, in some way or other, in showbusiness. His mother is actually a casting director. That is the person whose job it is to select people for roles on behalf of production companies: they are the people who cast actors. Clearly, she would know, personally, many key players in the business, many people able to give her son a job. The same could be said for his father. He is a literary agent - which is more relevant that it seems. A literary agent is connected to the film and tv worlds through the sale of books to them. So, his father, too, would have good showbusiness connections. It is impossible to run Daniel Radcliffe's life again, without his parents connections, but undoubtedly he would have had a hard time of it - and may, in fact, never have succeeded at all, without them. That is what I would expect, anyway, from what I have seen in other talented but unconnected individuals.

There are many talented people in this world who never really get the chance to shine. I met many on my way in England. None of them made it. Yet, many of them "had it" - in the sense of talent. It is a pity really. I have often thought how much better films and theatre would be if the person who was cast was actually the best person for the role - rather than just the best connected person (as it usually is). I rather feel that the quality of that particular art would be so much higher if it were so.

No doubt this observation applies to many other areas of life, too. Everything would be so much better if it was genuinely the best, most suited person doing it. Indeed, it would be good, indeed, if the saying: "Talent will out", was true - but it isn't.

(If you would like to learn more of Ainan Celeste Cawley, a scientific child prodigy, aged eight years and four months, or his gifted brothers, Fintan, four years and nine months, and Tiarnan, twenty-six months, please go to: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2006/10/scientific-child-prodigy-guide.html I also write of gifted education, IQ, intelligence, the Irish, the Malays, Singapore, College, University, Chemistry, Science, genetics, left-handedness, precocity, child prodigy, child genius, baby genius, adult genius, savant, gifted adults and gifted children in general. Thanks.)