When a tree is young, one worries that it may not survive, that the battering of the elements may overcome and destroy it, so one protects and shelters it. Most of its resources are directed towards extending its roots, creating an ever more secure base. But once it is mature, the tree can safely reach out, adding new branches and leaves every year. Now the winds do not harm it, and the outside elements help the tree to grow even stronger, to add extra rings to its trunk, to reach ever further upwards. So it is with music. When the roots are secure, the branches can reach out. Indeed, if the music is not growing, then it is dying.
