Fifth Interview - Attacks on Asking Why are Attacks on Finding the Truth

“The somber picture presented in this book, in which human life is mainly a process of filing in time until the arrival of death, or Santa Claus, with very little choice, if any, of what kind of business one is going to transact during the long wait, is a commonplace, but not the final answer. For certain fortunate people there is something which transcends all classifications of behavior and that is AWARENESS; something which rises above the programming of the past, and that is SPONTANEITY; and something that is more rewarding than games, and that is INTIMACY. But all three of these may be frightening and even perilous to the unprepared. Perhaps they are better off as they are, seeking their solutions in popular techniques of social action, such as “togetherness.” This may mean that there is no hope for the human race, but there is hope for individual members of it.”

Eric Berne MD (1910-1970) – Games People Play (1964)
Emphasis mine

Have you just now gotten around to reading this book?

Yes.

You hadn't read it before?

No.

Why not?

Probably because back when everyone was reading it, in typical recalcitrant fashion, I decided it was too popular for me to want to read.

You're like that with other things too, aren't you?

About books, movies, the latest gadgets, things like that, yes.

Well, you obviously got through it. This quote comes right at the end of the book. You told me about something else that had been bothering you, that you weren't sure you would be posting here because you considered it a religious matter …

Political too.

… and I told you that there would be a time when you would have to reveal more of yourself to your readers, in order to be true to yourself, and to them. Don't protest either. You showed me what you were going to post here and I agreed that the matter was serious and somebody would need to step forward and let people know.

(sigh) Why me?

Don't play a game with me!

(laughs) Right. Yes, but sometimes it's dangerous to point out the obvious to some people. They don't always get it, and most don't like it.

So what are you trying to do now, be liked by everyone?

(laughs) If so, maybe I would have had to have read Dr. Berne's book years ago.

(more laughs) I read it years ago, during the fad for it and it didn't help me become any more popular. (laughs) But before we get into the real subject of this interview, perhaps you'd tell us something of your current activities.

Current Activities

Well, I just got my piano tuned and am still working on my repertoire.

Progress?

Some, yes.

I know the general outlines, the Romantic period, yes? (nod) You're still on course?

Yes, well mostly.

Out of it, you're concentrating on what?

Now there are five Chopin Nocturnes, the Mendelssohn Op 19 Songs Without Words …

You like those don't you?

Yes. I'm impressed with the subtleties they contain and I intend on playing them differently from how I hear most other people play them. They are really quite serious little pieces.

Anything else?

The Beethoven Andante favori is certainly coming along. I want to start my program with that one.

You have also had some changes in your family?

Yes. My favourite uncle, whom I saw for the last time in 2007, passed away late last year. I wasn't able to go out and be with the rest of the family at his memorial service.

And you are dealing with the terminal illness of another uncle?

Yes, we are rotating hospice care for him in his home. He's 90, will be 91 at the end of the month. Some days he seems better but he's bedridden and has cancer and doesn't want treatment. His wife passed away last year.

I'm sorry.

Everyone says that and I guess it's just what is expected. There's no need to be sorry, these things happen. It's the one thing we can be sure of, that we will all die some day. But these uncles had something else in common; physically they were strongly built, athletic even, both of Swedish descent, tall handsome and good natured men who were easy to like and to be around. They both liked to laugh. The one who is dying now was a World War II veteran. He served in Europe and had many good tales from those days.

They ever meet each other?

Nope.

You still doing farm work? I guess not, too cold.

Horses and chickens still need to be fed and watered. Firewood still needs to be brought in.

Still reading Marcel Proust?

Yep.

Really? How far into it are you?

I just read about the most purple prose on the subject of homosexuality I've ever come across in Part One of Cities of the Plain.

So you're right in the middle.

Yes.

You're just reading it to be one of the few who have read all of it, aren't you?

In part, yes. But there were a number of very intelligent friends who recommended I read Proust and I'm beginning to understand a few reasons why. After all, this is in part a mémoire, his prose a series of period photographs of a time almost exactly 100 years ago in France. They still had royalty then, ruling houses of aristocrats. (They still do actually, it's just that most people don't see them in public view much anymore.)  Reading Proust is one very good way to see what it was really like to move in their circles and to see the political dimensions of money and prestige running down through the social classes of those times and even have some idea of how the same mechanisms are still in use today. It's not just like reading literature in the sense of following a story, it's like reading social history with notes taken by a very articulate (verbose) reporter. But Proust's huge work is also about himself, his coming of age from a bourgeois background into the high society of his time and place. There's a sense in which this work is related to the huge Mahler symphonies and other artistic movements of the same period that strove for grandness of scale and an encapsulation of the whole world.

My, you're verbose! (laughs) 

 

The Main Topic – The Attack on asking Why

Look, painful as it is, I think we want to get into the main topic of this interview. So why bring up an attack on asking why? (laughs)

Well you know that everything of a news nature that we read or listen to is delivered to us packaged and accepted as having some authority behind it, the government or some other official body, offering a kind of guarantee that what is being presented is true, honest and reliable. Nevertheless, for at least the last three years, some of us have been watching great cracks develop in some mighty institutions. By now, these cracks are becoming more obvious to everyone. People are wanting answers about why things are happening to them. They are given answers that do not make any sense by what they can observe around them. Meanwhile, and despite attempts to hide or spin the obvious, larger schemes of deceit and treachery and looting on monumental scales are being disclosed daily. I hate to be among those to tell the people behind those institutions that they have no clothes.

You think there are growing attempts to stop people from asking why?

Yes. But the good news is that more people every day are waking up to the fact that they have been lied to and gaining enough self respect to start demanding some real answers.

Let's get into this. You told me that you had been bothered by something that you considered a matter of personal integrity to get off your chest and regardless of the nature of this topic, it's controversial, religious …

… and political ...

and political nature, you felt it necessary to …

(sigh) I don't know, it was maybe about six years ago, maybe more? I was encouraged to research a certain Italian Catholic mystic, Luisa Piccarreta (1865-1947), aka "Little Daughter of the Divine Will" who like Proust wrote a huge mémoire variously called The Book of Heaven or The Kingdom of the Divine Will. It runs to 36 volumes. 

Oh my, did you read them all?

No, I only got to the end of Volume 8 where I read this:

"My daughter, in almost all of the events that occur, creatures keep repeating, over and over again: ‘And why? And why? And why? Why this illness? Why this interior state? Why this scourge?’ And many other why’s. The explanation of ‘why’ is not written on earth, but in Heaven, and there everyone will read it. Do you know what ‘why’ is? It is egoism, which gives continuous food to love of self. Do you know where ‘why’ was created? In hell. Who was the first one that pronounced it? A demon. The effects produced by the first ‘why’ were the loss of innocence in Eden Itself, the war of untameable passions, the ruin of many souls, the evils of life. The story of ‘why’ is long; it is enough to tell you that there is no evil in the world which does not carry the mark of ‘why’. ‘Why’ is destruction of divine wisdom in souls. And do you know where ‘why’ will be buried? In hell, to make them restless for eternity, without ever giving them peace. The art of ‘why’ is to wage war against souls, without ever giving them respite."

From The Kingdom of the Divine Will, end of Book 8 The Writings of Luisa Piccarreta via by “channeling” (or something else)

These words are reputed by this “seer” to be those of Jesus.

Really? They sure don't sound like Jesus.

That was exactly my reaction too and it was at this point that I stopped reading.

But you'd read much before you got to this.

Yes.

Were you apprehensive that this was a fraud of some kind before you got to this quote?

Yes, but for different reasons. The words in that quote certainly don't square with these:

“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.”

Reputed to be the words of Jesus

Matthew 7: 7-8

No, it's the exact opposite.

Exactly and isn't it obvious?  These two quotes cannot be from the same person. Therefore the entire structure, including all attempts within the Roman Catholic Church to exalt this “seer” to sainthood, are laid bare as misguided at best and fraudulent at worst.

So it wouldn't be the best idea for the Church to go on promoting this, but so what? I mean why does this bother you? The Church stands accused of allowing its prelates to molest children without reporting it to the authorities. How does this square with Jesus' reputed words:

“Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.” Luke 18:16

It's a cynical perversion that they think people will just ignore because anyway they have certain powers and privileges and assume they can jolly well get away with it. But believe it or not, the real answer as for what these words of Jesus were about was in that book by Dr. Eric Berne; little children don't play games.

You had a good friend who made the connection between child sexual abuse and the unpardonable sin didn't you?

Yes, but don't change the subject. This is about daring to ask why on every level imaginable and having the right to ask why when the obvious truths are right there in front of us, more and more on a daily basis. The reason that Luisa Piccarreta's work has come to the fore is for some ulterior and political reason; they want people to become willing slaves of this or that new doctrine so they will accept repression easier.

So that's the other shoe that drops here.

If this “seer” for whatever reasons is a fraud misrepresenting Jesus, then who does this fraud help?

There are more questions than just why.

Of course, but they are all summarized by why. Their lies are easily discovered by the bare facts. Why are they lying to us? Why are they trying to cover up things? Then of course why pursue a course of action that is known not to work? Isn't that a definition of insanity? And then of course under what camouflage of authority is whose alleged interest being protected against the people's rightful interests? You see a lot of things happen when you start asking why. Maybe if they can't explain it they don't really know. Maybe if facts do not support their theory then their theroy is … mistaken. Maybe if they can't explain, they are really hiding things. Why? Whose purposes are being served by any of this?

Pull back the curtains, eh?

(nodding) There are people out there in the fields of religion and politics who want no questions asked by anyone, just blind loyalty and thoughtless servitude. For what? Why? In the case of Christianity, does this kind of blind submission have anything to do with Jesus?

You aren't going to answer that, are you?

Why should I? Maybe some of the followers of other religions need to start asking why too: it's not for me to decide. It's a personal matter for each of us to ask and do our own investigations. After all Jesus told us to seek and find, etc. not to be blindly submissive.

You wanted me to bring this up too, a friend of yours said that the biggest problems facing America today were caused by people who believe in God.

Yeah, and I agreed.

Why?

I was just waiting for you to ask (laughs) and my answer isn't going to be too surprising; it's because most of them don't really believe in God else they would behave differently. No, they're clearly just playing another game, this one called Let's Believe in God (LBG). It's ideological, has teams, has cheers and jeers, ways of making scores, etc. but it's just a game. Most people's idea of God is the bellhop in the sky, Santa Claus, or their local concierge who will take care of everything for them. Rather than accepting their problems as learning experiences where the real God may be the teacher, they prefer to complain. Most tend to connect their game of LBG with some political ideology the historical bases of which have been conveniently covered up so they are operating in a land of illusions that never existed quite the way they imagine.  Meanwhile other less religious, more candidly political game players play games like, King of the Hill (KOH) in which the goal is to keep everyone else below their line of vision, figuratively and literally. But it's just a game. Some people, maybe most people as Dr. Berne said, are perfectly happy playing their games. But they're built on deceit, every single one of them, and the worst part of it is that if we as a body of sentient creatures on this earth don't get with something a whole lot better than playing games, and that includes the KOH game devised by the current world leadership, then we don't stand much of a chance of survival long term, certainly not with some of the odious technology we now have to play with.

Yes, I see that.

Well, you don't really have to …

No, I get it. Why now? What's the biggest problem you see on the horizon?

War.

Yes.

Total war. The games people play shall lead to the End Game.

Yes.

So, you see we have to keep asking questions, just as little children would. But little children are still people the same as so called grown ups. The greatest issue between grown ups and children has never been stated better than Jesus did; be as little children, inquisitive and innocent in the sense that they are not yet poisoned by game playing to achieve ends by ulterior means. Grown ups need to catch themselves playing games and try and achieve awareness, spontaneity (which has nothing to do with spur of the moment compulsions at all) and maybe even intimacy. Berne was right though, most people can't handle it.

So you think they'd better?

Right now, the stakes couldn't be much higher.

FINIS

Carroll Quigley's Tragedy and Hope

(originally written around July, 1998)

[Despite my preference not to post anything of a political or religious nature on my blog, I found this recently and thought it appropriate for posting here at this time. It was a sort of book report I wrote for a former employer who had me read this large book. Of the many books I have read, I found this one to offer some very important information which actually could re-orient the world in a more hopeful direction. This is not an endorsement of Quigley's views as in many respects my opinions differ significantly from his; for example I happen to view certain things that are currently neglected or looked down upon as essential to life while other pursuits as either beneath contempt or a waste of one's time.]

Professor Carroll Quigley (1910-1977) was Bill Clinton's mentor at Georgetown. In 1966 he published his massive 1,310 page one volume history of the 20th century, Tragedy and Hope.  It's mostly tragedy.  I haven't gotten to the hope part yet except that he feels mankind was lucky to have survived the decade between 1953-1963, the height of the atomic bomb testing, etc.

Quigley has many surprises in this book. He says that communism is basically bunk and was used only as a pretense by some very unscrupulous  people, to take power over certain nations and peoples.  He says that Castro only embraced communism because he wanted to stay in power as long as possible, basically he's no better than Hitler, or any other dictator, all spoiled little boys.  He says that worldwide financial empires have helped create situations which have led to war.  He says that Great Britain isn't really a democracy at all.  He says that Russia has always been a separate civilization from Western Europe and of course from America.  He says that most American foreign policy has been mistaken.  But then again he sees British foreign policy in most respects as more devious still.  He views what happened to Germany as a tragedy that they largely brought on themselves, although he blames Britain as well.  He has more sympathy for the French positions than most.  He has high praise for Israel and for Japan.  But he describes a lot of the world as part of what he calls the Pakistani-Peruvian axis.  And the problem of the human race as Quigley sees it boils down to what he calls "outlook".

The Pakistani-Peruvian axis or the "Arabic" outlook as described by Carroll Quigley; "They were warlike, patriarchal, extremist, violent, intolerant and xenophobic" (Tragedy and Hope p. 1,116). Regarding the males raised in such societies, "usually they are spoiled, undisciplined, self-indulgent and unprincipled.  Their whims are commands, their urges are laws." (Ibid. p. 1,118). The Pakistani-Peruvian axis runs from Pakistan westward through the Middle East (except Israel) and then across the Atlantic and includes Latin America, all of it from Mexico south.  Pakistan and India just got the A bomb.  Are you scared yet?

Contrast this with what Quigley says about the salaried middle classes of Japan, they are "ambitious, hard working, loyal, reliable, very adaptable to bureaucratic organization, scientific training and rationalizing processes, they are suspicious of ideologies or extremist doctrines of any kind." (Ibid. p 1,151).  Quigley credits this outlook with the reason for Japan's success.  He could have said the same about the post war Germans, whom he similarly characterizes, although among Europeans, Quigley says that the French are the most civilized.

Quigley is very clear about the necessity for good leadership and often finds it lacking. He admired Kennedy's handling of the Cuban missile crisis. Although I think it's probably fair to assume he'd prefer the Democrats to the Republicans, he is not in favor of redistribution of wealth or disturbing the power and prestige of the rich.  He'd much rather see them take on a more constructive role than they usually do in the affairs of the rest of the world.  He is very realistic.

I recommend this book to any serious student of contemporary history.  They would soon discover a lot about economics and who really runs the world and why they have to. [Somewhat Swedish way to end a sentence, perhaps from my ancestors.]

FINIS

The Maturity of an Audience for Classical Music and Other Concerns

“I believe in God, Mozart and Beethoven,

and likewise their disciples and apostles;

I believe in the Holy Spirit and the truth of the one, indivisible Art;

I believe that this Art proceeds from God,

and lives within the hearts of all illumined men;

I believe that he who once has bathed in the sublime delights of this high Art,

is consecrated to Her for ever, and never can deny Her;

I believe that through Art all men are saved.” 

Richard Wagner (1813-1883)

A friend of mine from the city went to a piano recital a few weeks ago. The program was devoted to the three last piano sonatas of Beethoven. The pianist, interpreter, his name not known to me, apparently had quite a respectful following. The performances were, as expected, both technically polished and emotionally probing. But that's not the phrase that I remembered most from her description of the concert. She said that everyone in the audience probably knew the music before they entered the theatre, some knew this music very well, had decided to attend this concert because they knew these particular pieces and loved them, perhaps even a few in this audience were pianists themselves and may have had the same sonatas committed to memory and most importantly, everyone behaved reverentially toward each other, relatively quiet yet intensely joyful.

This audience's special quality included the reality of the ageing and aged as a significant percentage. And why not? Why wouldn't that be just what one should expect? There is much adverse comment about this these days, as if the perpetual pursuit of unattainable eternal youth must pervade even these precincts, and this specie of criticism really needs to be rebutted and its relevance refuted with the following points:

1) This music known under the moniker of “classical” is mature, serious, and intended to last forever. There is no other music like it, none with the distinctiveness, the uniqueness of any of its great works, intended for a serious and mature audience, not for emotional adolescents or those whose only interest in music is as to serve as a prop for other pastimes.

2) The people who originally sponsored this music were serious and had considerable resources at stake for its production and promotion. It was intended from its inception to be deployed only among a select few. This did not mean then and does not mean today, that interest in it is restricted by any overt signs suggesting that certain people may not apply. Application is available to anyone in theory. Nevertheless it is axiomatic that what this music demands of its performers and audiences alike, necessarily means that its appeal will be to the self selecting few.

3) This music is not intended to be exclusive, yet it selects those who are interested in it. Those who aren't interested today may become so in future as their emotions and outlook on life mature or perhaps they never will become interested in it. There are quite a few who just don't see the point to classical music and they have a right to their opinions. But anyway, exclusive it always was from the very beginning and such shall it likely be for the foreseeable future.

4) Classical music is a kind of “straight and narrow way” and such is why on finding it, as many describe their first recognition of this music, that it is in its unique way very like encountering a religion with its own saints, martyrs (we'll highlight one here), savants, and other people who are held in as much reverence as those men and women whom humanity have called holy. There is a sincere and unique reverence accorded classical musicians by their audiences that is really unlike that of the celebrities or the superstars of other musical genres.

5) Its concerts, even when they are the highlights of informal parties in people's homes, have many of the same almost liturgical elements as a religious service. There are traditional programs, some extensions of these for more modern works to be presented, or for “early music” which is still in the purview of what is known as “classical music”, etc. Sometimes there are intermissions dividing a concert into two parts, other times music is presented with minimum interruption. Those who attend enough concerts begin to see the patterns. It may be difficult for some of us to believe it now, but these concerts, where some of the greatest of the classics were first premièred included food and drink as integral elements, beer and sandwiches being about the most common refreshments, although we are aware of certain venues that included wine punches, cakes and pastries as well as the usual fare of sausages and pickles.

6) The survival of this music is certainly not guaranteed, but it will not survive being watered down by “crossovers” from music that is other than itself, of different intent, for a different audience, not intended to be the focus of conscious attention but merely as … props for other pastimes. Its devotees can examine, in some ways similar to the ways people describe theological or moral ideas in their churches or synagogues, the various ways classical music has succeeded and where it has failed. Our analysis cannot fail but to acknowledge that classical music owes much to its ties with academic institutions, particularly its conservatories. One of the ways this music survives is by its being taught to future generations: basic musical pedagogy is and always has been crucial. In this regard it is unfortunate that classical music had to rely on state sponsorship through public schools because in that regard its practitioners became lazy and did not seek out sponsorship from the interested themselves. And it can be argued with considerable evidence, that the greatest composers may not have been produced through these schools of music or systems of pedagogy. Some of the greatest composers had little formal musical education and seem to have grown into their art as if by a primary natural means, Mozart and Chopin among them. Discussions should concern as much why certain musical talent was allowed to suffer and even languish in obscurity only to be recognized by future musicologists, as Mendelssohn is credited having rescued Bach from obscurity for future generations.

This same friend recommended a certain documentary to me, After the Storm, The American Exile of Béla Bartók. It is a very sad story, one which demonstrated somewhat as Richard Wagner is known to have said to some of his potential sponsors, that he held them and society in general responsible for ignoring Mozart and others of supreme musical talent and letting them die in obscurity, those who intended their creation to last forever and were fated to live amidst the inattentiveness of their fellows. Yet in order for anything to last, it not only must be kept in someone's memory and passed along to the next generation, it must be LOVED and cherished, held in esteem in a place by itself, a hallowed place in the human heart, a place accessible to each individual and yet a place as universal as to encompass all of humanity, to be truly universal in its message and appeal. In order for this to happen, a music must say something about the reality of the human condition, its highs, its lows, its poignancy, the contributions made by nature all around us, and even more things than can ever be described by mere words alone.

Such was my reaction upon seeing this documentary on the last years of Béla Bartók (1881-1945). Yes, we can say that in 1881, the fateful year that Brahms premièred his magnificent second piano concerto or the year after that great symphony of Hans Rott appeared, the world was blessed by the birth of Béla Bartók, arguably Hungary's greatest composer and one of the greatest of the 20^th century. But what of composers? No, So What of Composers?  The New York City of the 1940's which offered Bartók a refuge and even more the sumptuousness for this particular and peculiar man to have access to the great folk music collections at Columbia University, nevertheless never really understood him. How could two so very different beings possibly get along: the sickly Hungarian composer who was a kind of austere ascetic anyway, and the spirit of the huge humdrum city of a still young nation, full of noise, full of its own common cares, without a consciousness of any culture or excuses for such niceties as fine art music?

It can always be said that were it not for what was offered Bartók, the commission which produced the Concerto for Orchestra (1942-1945), for which the conductor Serge Koussevitzky, wasn't even willing to take the composer's directions seriously, we might not have had the Third Piano Concerto (1945) or the Viola Concerto (1945) and Bartók might even have died earlier as he was a sick man anyway. We are also indebted to Bartók's disciple, Tibor Serly, who like Mozart's disciple Hummel, never equaled his master.  We will probably never know what the crucible of life required of Bartók to create what he did.  We are lucky to have these last works as they are among his very best.

Whether you decide to get this documentary and view it yourself or not, we can ask ourselves what of other Bartóks out there waiting to be discovered?  They wont be the same as he was nor will their music be like his.  What if their natural gifts are smothered by too much teaching, what if their lives are made too easy by too much fawning recognition received too easily?  What portion of the crucible of life is required to produce the pearls of a creative genius like Bartók?  We don't even begin to know the right formulas for any of this. Mostly we're probably too timid to be asking. And how much does it cost, how much should it be worth, etc.?  Are we any better at pricing the value of the invaluable today than we might have been able to in 1945?  Was the Concerto for Orchestra worth a mere $1,000 in 1940's money, which the composer was reluctant to take anyway as he wasn't sure he'd live long enough to complete the assignment?  In an earlier posting, I brought the case of that unfortunate young man Hans Rott to attention. Today I bring that of Béla Bartók to similar attention.  But as I said above, the numbers of those who could and would possibly care have always been small and maybe that's the way it must be, “the straight and narrow way which leads to salvation” in the deepest sense of finding meaning in life that few people ever find anywhere else.

FINIS

Making Ever New Discoveries in Old Classical Music

Over the next several weeks, I will be considering various aspects of the music that we usually refer to as “classical” which distinguishes it from other kinds of music. One of the first things to notice is just how much classical music is out there, a veritable ocean, as an area of exploration to provide one the deepest possible rewards in human existence.  There is so much of this music that it becomes a usual practice for the interested to discover for themselves new pieces of old music by known or unknown composers and make it their own; part of their own lives, their shared memories, their additional concert repertoire.

As a demonstration, today I'm showcasing an excellent performance of a seldom heard work by an oft neglected master of classical music; the Concerto for Violin and String Orchestra of Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847), pictured above. He wrote it at the age of 13. It appears to be without opus number. Opus numbers were by tradition given published works at the time as a means to catalogue them. The manuscript for this work only turned up around 1951 and was originally premièred by Yehudi Menuhin (1916-1999), who it is said purchased the rights to the piece as if it was brand new at the time, from relatives of Mendelssohn then living in Switzerland. We are certainly grateful to have this piece and such a brilliant performance of it on You Tube by Arthur Grumiaux with Jan Krenz leading the New Philharmonia Orchestra. The clarity and power of this performance reveal the gifted and accomplished French violinist with a crack British orchestra.  This concerto is in the traditional three movements:

1^st Movement: Allegro

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yH1LXhNVxEU

We begin in territory firmly staked out by Mozart and Haydn. But Mendelssohn is extending the form, while at the same time making references to music that's even older than the two aforementioned grand masters. Grumiaux is technically spot on, defining the lines creating the landscapes between soloist and ensemble. We will hear all of this somewhere else, and that isn't even really the point. Mendelssohn's role was more conservative in the true sense. He was arguably the father of all we recognize today as classical music; the careful recreation of the music of long passed composers. And yet with all this, note the often unexpected glimpses into more emotionally charged territory, anticipation of even operatic elements, all still grounded in the stylistic framework of Mozart and Haydn.

2^nd Movement: Andante

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OMU5x7Yh5Kg&NR=1

You'd think this was again Mozart or Haydn, but wait. It was 1822 when this was written. Haydn had died the year young Felix was born and Mozart had been dead 30 years. Beethoven, though at the peak of his powers, had a mere five years to live. Already, Mendelssohn is stretching the violin concerto as it had been known into some clearly unprecedented territories, the use in this movement of repetition of a theme (really only a phrase) of ascendency and yearning, including a cadenza, and then something like a dramatic departure just prior to the conclusion, yet all kept within the bounds of strict classical form. I frankly marvel, as I have for some time with much of Mendelssohn's work, at the breadth of musical knowledge, prescient and deliberate craftsmanship and sheer discipline required to create it.

3^rd Movement: Allegro

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LUm82FgyH6c&feature=related

Here's the standard four step rondeau with much influence from Mendelssohn's ethnic roots, a masterful combination, plus some startlingly brilliant counterpoint, operatic interludes almost comparable to a Paganini light. There's much “fun” going on here, but none of it, and I mean exactly none of it, is going to come off without tremendous technical effort, which is also, ladies and gentlemen, quite simply a key part of the spirit and soul of all classical music.

One cannot attempt this music without a degree of discipline and serious intent. Nothing else will do and this distinguishes it from all other music. We all know of lack lustre performances that we wish we'd never heard or been part of. But they are not what we strive for. We are not merely recreating the old, this is not a museum art form as some might like to suggest, we are releasing the spirit of the music itself, with every performance, and for most of us who actually play this music ourselves, this includes those performances we play while practising, away from the stages and other probably more critical ears than our own.

As the next year is rapidly upon us, I wish to extend my best wishes to all my fellow classical musicians and aficionados of this art form, for peace, prosperity, happiness and continuing to network among ourselves and find each other throughout the world, mindful that what we are about is preserving the jewels of our civilization for ourselves and for future generations. Here's for extending the reach and growth of the cultural tribe that visionaries like Felix Mendelssohn helped begin.

Of some interest, the entire Op. 19 Songs Without Words (first book of them) also by Felix Mendelssohn, is one of my goals at this time, as I strive to extend my potential concert repertoire. I have found this music both challenging and emotionally mature beyond the years of the composer who wrote it and highly recommend it to others. It is not only old music one hears as new that classical music offers us, but the same is true for those who play a musical instrument as well.

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Fourth Interview - Sisyphus takes a nap

First, a note about reading and the lengths of some of these posts:

For those who will not read, no matter how lengthy, I have nothing much to say. For those who insist on getting “sound bites” or infer that knowing anything amounts to getting a piece at a time so as to avoid getting bored, I may suggest that this is not the place for you. We can only make adjustments to people's gut responses as far as they get our messages across, otherwise … let Nature take its course. For the interested, the following conversation is submitted for your edification and pleasure. There will be breaks in it so as to accommodate those who are not habitually used to reading a lot of material at a time.

Changes:

It's been several months. What's going on?

There have been some changes. I've traded my land line for a new cell phone with a camera. Those who need to get in touch with me can still use my e-mail address. At about the same time, the battery in my wristwatch ran out. As some know, a few years back eye operations eliminated my lifelong need for glasses, now my cell phone eliminates my need for a wristwatch. Anachronisms are created by the advent of new technologies all the time, especially when the new combines or displaces the work done by the old. That's real evolution.

How about your agenda, your piano practising, etc.?

We'll get to that. But there have also been a few changes to my personal computer, one which should become noticeable on this blog; from now on, as near as possible, all spelling shall be in British English, which in my opinion no other English speaking nation has the right to change.

You've thought that for some time.

Yes, I'm a radical on many fronts, one of them that since the English language originated in Britain and is still used there, how they decide to spell things should be adopted universally without objection by everyone throughout the world.

You would advocate many other practices carried on by the English too?

Not really. I drink tea instead of coffee and have loved the change.

So much variety.

Yes, even in the so called breakfast teas.

And you seem to be joining a trend in that many are waking up to the health benefits of drinking tea.

And maybe some of my British and Canadian readers will understand my particular liking for some traditional British food, especially over the upcoming months.

That stuff will make you fat.

Depends on how much of it one eats. An old friend of mine with a real knack for cuisine is fond of saying that it's not the rich food you have to be careful of, but the poor food.

You eat a lot of poor food.

I eat a lot of cheap food. I'm gradually moving toward an eat less diet with a greater emphasis on freshness and avoidance of certain really terrible additives.

Diet and obesity and the trap for not accepting criticism:

You really want to talk about food on this blog?

Not really, but over the last few weeks I have been out and around and have some observations that revolve around food. For instance, just last night I was invited to dinner and they had what I'd describe as a typical mid-America family meal; roast chicken (or was it turkey since they did serve canned cranberry sauce, no these were farm raised free range capon chickens), stuffing, mashed potatoes, then macaroni and cheese and the two vegetables most people on this kind of diet ever eat; corn, whether in kernel form or creamed, and peas, usually canned.

Sounds pretty typical.

Oh the food was certainly well prepared, the mac and cheese all by itself would have been a meal to me. But here in America the typical person regards a second helping as something like proof they are prosperous.

So they end up by wearing their prosperity.  
Laughter.

They asked me if I'd like seconds, which I declined, to some surprise, as if the food wasn't good enough, belied of course by my empty plate. I noticed something else that's probably typical of certain strands of our society; men wearing caps at the dinner table. What dinner table? Sure some of us sat at the table to eat, while some, the kids, were in the other room watching TV or playing video games. Oh, and there were pets occasionally scavenging about under feet, something that no doubt goes back into neolithic times.

You think this is typical?

I do. It will of course be of no surprise that the adults at this dinner were by the usual standards overweight.

We've talked a lot about this lately.

Well I think it's time to make some clear sense of things regarding excess weight as it relates to general health and attractiveness and energy levels.

Does this have any bearing whatsoever on music?

Oh it certainly could have. Just the other day two young men came over, brothers a few years apart, the same height and build, but one was 160 pounds heavier than the other. Nowadays, although the media coverage is intentionally critical of this problem, nobody in private society says anything about people being too fat. On Facebook, a friend made a comment on obesity and I acknowledged what she said; that many people thought so too, but would of course say nothing. My friend's comment was no longer there within a day so either she deleted it or Facebook did, so you can see that even talking about anything personal has become a minefield these days.

Well, oh boy, you're going to, aren't you?

I'm going to say a few things about the obesity problem, maybe the biggest facing this country or the advanced nations of the world; we're by and large too fat and it affects everything else we do.

So these brothers …

I told them what no one else is likely to dare tell them because we live in a society where if they don't tell you when you are three or four years old or certainly before you enter your teens what's good or bad for you, no one else is likely ever to tell you ever again, so you end up in a trap, encased in your own viewpoint, your own body, yourself and live out the consequences of your actions whether they be too much food, too much booze, too many cigarettes, or whatever else you have decided is your right to consume.

People hate criticism.

It's part of our make up, in our own minds from the time we come into this existence as babies, we believe we are gods that never make mistakes, each one of us rules our own universe and woe be unto anyone who dares criticise us, even if it means something to our benefit. Our oldest sages, and who bothers to listen to them much any more, caution that only fools reject criticism.

So what did you tell the brothers?

Well first off I used the analogy of sacks of ready mix concrete which usually come in 80 pound sacks. I told the one who needed to know that he was too fat, like he didn't know already, that he was doing the equivalent of carrying around with him everywhere two sacks of concrete. This meant that any time he got up from a chair or out of bed, he was lifting those bags of concrete. Moreover if he changed nothing, he wouldn't be able to carry those sacks around after a few years, or they would grow into more to carry around and it would probably shorten his life.

How nice of you.

How compassionate of me. I offered him a suggestion, which I doubt he'll take. You see the problem one gets into when one denies anyone the right to criticise is that you hear the advice but rarely take it, which is part of the same deal; you get off on the wrong road and stay there too long and it becomes impossible to ever get back on the right road, so that the destination to which you'd like to arrive becomes impossible.

Your suggestion?

For just one meal a day, preferably lunch, eat nothing but vegetable salad, all you want. But you can only put olive oil and vinegar on it, lemon juice if you prefer that, but nothing else. You can't drink anything with it but water or tea, no soda. Do this regularly every day, day in and day out, and you will lose weight.

Really?

Really.  I used to be much heavier than I am now.  And something else that needs to be punctured is the relationship between weight and exercise. If one is holding two extra bags of concrete all the time, one is never going to benefit from exercise, in fact it may lead to physical injury which carries its own health risks.

So is exercise unimportant?

No, but it can't really accomplish anything for toning or athletic benefit without getting rid of those bags of ready mix concrete first.

And to do that you eat salad?

You eat as close to fresh as possible and plenty of water, not water substitutes like coffee and soda either, just plain water.

We spoke about weight being related to water retention and the need to remove excess water. Can you elaborate?

About the first thing the obese person needs to do is get their bodies to cast off more water. There are numerous natural remedies for this. Colon cleansing would be part of this too, again with natural remedies.  I have been and am over weight. Getting rid of it is not about starving, exercise or anything like that, it is about getting back to the right road of eating fresh and natural as much as possible. It is a gradual process. In many cases the obese want their size etc. to vanish right away when it took years to get that way, so anything that requires a radical approach usually leads right back to obesity.

Summing up …

Find out what you're supposed to weigh for optimum health and efficiency and avoid patterns of consumption that tend to make you fat, like second helpings.

What one learns from farm life:

You have been sort of between situations lately, can you say anything about these things?

I'm in a transition. I used to work in the private portfolio management field, but the present economic situation is historically unique and I frankly saw myself unable and moreover unwilling to sacrifice my personal integrity for financial gain either for myself or my clients.

What did you advise them to do?

Everyone is looking for this kind of free advice and again, for any of the same reasons we already discussed, advice that's free is never taken and moreover one often gets blamed for it.

So you're …

I'm not dealing with any of it now, though I do watch it.

I'm guessing you're through with it. Will you ever decide to do it again?

It depends on the course of history and where I happen to be or who I might know that's interested.

So what are you doing now?

I'm helping a friend with farm chores and some minor renovations to turn an old farmhouse into a set of nice apartments.

This has put off your trip to New York?

For the time being, yes.

Your impressions?

Farm work is not hard, though it is arduous. I usually deal with it on a level akin to learning a new piece of music, slow and steady. As a pianist, I'm used to using both hands at once so I'm noticing that I like to involve both hands in any chores I'm doing; like picking up a piece of firewood and then handing it to my other hand to be thrown into a bin while I pick up the next with the other hand, etc.

Interested nod.

I'm reminded as I work that practically everyone before 1900 had some familiarity with farm work and that maybe history will require more to become reacquainted.

You think?

I am certain that in America anyway, and perhaps other advanced countries, more people will get involved in raising there own fruits and vegetables and for those that can even their meat animals. For those who can, they'll even raise their own food inside their homes.

So a trend. Perhaps conservatories will be rooms in every upscale house?

Laughter.

More likely than conservatories being the future of music.

More laughter.

I anticipated many trends a long time ago, that the internet would gradually assume both news and education as well as entertainment to the detriment of other institutions; physical school campuses (as nice as some of them are), the TV networks and other mass media (newspapers are another anachronism), even libraries and books. I had hoped that the music I enjoy and love most would not also be so relegated, but alas that is real evolution and what I am about to describe is another wrinkle in the fabric of time, society and culture.

Fewer are interested it seems and those that are, would seem to be the ageing and aged.

People will increasingly find themselves typed by the music and culture they adopt and that through the internet they will find each other and establish links of mutual interest to form what has been called techno-tribalism. To the extent their membership in this tribe is engrossing, distinctions will be made regarding other preferences as well.

You see those interested in classical music being a techno-tribe?

Yes, with certain sub-tribes; the opera buffs enjoy one such, the pianists pretty much another, etc.

So when do you think you'll be going to New York again?

Can't be certain. And of course as I do things, others do things, the world changes so that what I might have wanted to do yesterday turns out to have changed into something less efficacious.

Music and pianism:

I hope you haven't changed course regarding your piano repertoire.

No, not much. I've decided to concentrate on the Chopin nocturnes (may add a few more) and drop for the time being the waltz. The rest of it for now is languishing. I'm just too busy.

You said you've been working on your own compositions again.

Yes, a sonata for bassoon and piano, my Op. 8 from 1976-1977 and my first string quartet, Op. 6 from nearly the same period.

Did you need to make many changes?

Not many. I've long known there were some things that needed changing and so I've made those corrections.

What do you imagine will be the results?

They'll either languish unplayed forever or they may be picked up by someone interested in performing them for the continued refreshment of “the tribe.”

All right, but can you say something maybe about what goes through your mind as you work on your own music or learning the piano music you've decided to add to your repertoire?

Laughter.

Pointing to the interviewer - This guy wants me to hand him maybe more than the world, the universe.

Well …

I usually think of all the people who have played the same music before me and imagine what they thought upon their first few reads through. These days I'm pretty certain they all knew about the care and upkeep of horses, where their food, good, bad, wholesome or otherwise, came from, etc. Sometimes I imagine how wars, political events and social changes made things difficult if not well nigh impossible for some and how that reflected on the way they may have played some of it. Most of the time I'm just trying to play the pieces well enough on my piano.

You still want to sell it?

Of course, but I wont consider anything less than $2,200 and these days who even has that to spend!

You still have an electronic keyboard.

Not the same at all. The keys, as piano like as they may be, still lack the feel of a real piano. And yes, I really never play it at all.

So why not sell that?

A few hundred dollars maybe. At this point I'd let it go for that.

Musicians and their music:

You've made contact recently with an old friend.

Haven't spoken with him yet, shall soon. Have many of his CD's and when I've got time, I shall put up my reviews of them.

We also spoke briefly about musicians and society.

You mean that our present society will not accept a composer or musician who arises from middle class or better cultural surroundings? This was a cultural trend inherited from our European ancestors who a few centuries back used to get all their music form wandering vagabonds classed not much above common street criminals. In fact in England in particular being a musician was so out of fashion that for nearly 150 years Englishmen made no sizeable contributions to music; all their greatest composers, Handel, Haydn, Clementi, Field, etc. were all foreign imports.

You think this bias continues?

Fortunately, it didn't in England as during the last century they decided it was fine to be a musician and composer and it was somewhat through the fashion setting of their aristocracy that this was accomplished. We still haven't exhausted all the great stuff these English masters began writing before 1900 and thereafter.

You tried learning the Enigma Variations at one time?

I still have the score of Elgar's original piano version from which he made the orchestration. It's rigorous and majestic and I don't have the piano for it, though with practice might have the technique.

You had a few messages for others in the field?

To the piano makers, to the honest and competent piano rebuild technicians and their store and sales staffs, my heart and hat is off to you all. Whether the world at large cares to recognize it or not, yours is adding true value to our world, more than has been accomplished by those in half a dozen other professions I could name, but wont. To the accomplished musicians who work very hard for what they do with very little prospect of reward or recognition, my personal gratitude for all that you do. To some of you, that you decide not to assume a mask of superiority to shield you from accepting that the world around you doesn't get it or doesn't care. Acting as if you or what you do is better than what others do, isn't going to cut it any more. Our music isn't about being superior to others, and to all those who think perhaps that it is a cachet to that effect, be advised that many of us have you pegged as worthless snobs as it is and it doesn't suite you well or further the cause; keeping our music alive and well and developing, and not through “crossovers” either.

Well, ok.  I guess we'll let our not so vast audience chew on some of this for a while.  David is still receiving e-mail at dpbmss@aol.com.  Just indicate your interest in the subject line.

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Andrew Violette Releases Songs and Dances

Andrew Violette has done it again, this time with help from a sensational young cellist, Ben Capps; twenty pieces called Songs and Dances.  There can’t really help but be some connection with the unaccompanied suites of Bach here, and like them, these pieces create their own special universe into which a buffeted soul might choose to shelter for the duration.  There are occasional choices of modal lines that identify this music as Andrew’s, but there are also instances where the lines draw arabesques suggesting the moods and cultures of the Levant.  There are just as many references to more traditional Western music too.

Those inclined may wish to employ this music in meditation, or while reading for pleasure, or while doing housework, or gardening, or while preparing a meal or taking a walk (portable CD player and headphones required), in each case providing a satisfying reward, as there is nothing quite as soothing as the deep resonant sounds of a violoncello played well, as this collection certainly demonstrates.

For all those grown tired of the huge rash of popular tracks packaged to be here and gone tomorrow (I’m reluctant even to suffer the use of the term "music" for they muse and amuse anemically by comparison), after a good dose of which one’s senses become desensitized, there is still produced today, remarkably, music intended to present its multilayered messages (in this case through a single solo stringed instrument often playing no more than one note at a time) intended to be relevant not just today but twenty, fifty, a hundred years from now, or it is possible, should one be devoted to the violoncello oneself, to acquire the written score form the composer and make this music part of oneself. This is music to treasure. 

Andrew Violette's Songs and Dances

Innova press release: 
http://musicsprings.wordpress.com/2010/08/31/from-innova-andrew-violette-and-ben-capps-songs-and-dances/

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