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Richard Wagner: The Four C Model Of Creativity

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The creator I chose is Richard Wagner, a German composer born in Leipzig on May 22, 1813. He was well-known for his work as a composer and theater director, writing and composing operas such as “Tristan und Isolde” and “Der Ring des Nibelungen”. The two course concepts I will be applying to Richard Wagner are the Four-C model of creativity and the concept of incubation, as covered by Sawyer (2012) in Explaining Creativity: the Science of Human Innovation. According to Sawyer (2012), the four-C model of creativity consists of four levels at which one can create: mini-C, little C, Pro-C, and Big C. Mini-C is the sort of creativity which takes place when one learns, especially when children make new discoveries. Little C relates to everyday problem-solving abilities, such as fashioning a wire hanger into a corkscrew in order to open a bottle of wine. Pro-C is defined by Sawyer (2012) as “professional expertise in a creative domain that does not attain the level of transforming the domain” (p. 11; ch. 1). Finally, Big C relates to a …show more content…

Many of Wagner's common problems resulted in solutions better aligned with Pro-C creativity. One of the earliest examples of Pro-C creativity in Wagner's life took place after he first heard Beethoven's Symphony No. 9. Von Westernhagen (1978) describes the effort of an enamored Wagner to transcribe the symphony. The then-17-year-old would stay up late into the night, jotting down note after note until he was left with a perfect transcription; he then arranged a piano reduction – a simplification of a piece to allow for ease of practice and performance – of his transcription. Von Westernhagen (1978) states that, in some places, Wagner's “. . . rendition of the melodic line is superior to Otto Singer's later version [reduction]” (p. 24; ch. 4; vol.

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