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ChristopherSchlegel

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Everything posted by ChristopherSchlegel

  1. I've always considered Grieg to be a kind of "junior-league Tchaikovsky". Which is NOT an insult! In my estimation, I consider it a compliment! If you check out "Anitra's Dance" (another of the "Peer Gynt" tunes) you can hear the influence. Also, the A Minor Piano Concerto main theme! That's why I linked that specific disc: it's a decent "Greatest Hits" introduction for those unfamiliar with Grieg's music. You're welcome!
  2. No. It's part of one of Edvard Grieg's "Peer Gynt Suites". You can preview it here on TowerRecords.
  3. Also, mine! The 7th (A Major) is my favorite work by my favorite composer. It spans the extreme ranges of emotion: from the heights of glorious triumph, down to the depths of tragic despair, then back to the damn near unbelievable glory & thunder of the triumphant finale. Wow. Beethoven is the master craftsman.
  4. Good call! Boo! Hiss! Good idea! No. Clarke wrote 2001, 2061, 2010 & 3001; all four of them. Kubrick damn near ruined the first one in movie form by completely obscuring the theme, plot & Clarke's overall marvelously brilliant conception. To anyone that has seen the movie: please go read the book. It's very short, directly to the point & quite lovely. More importantly, it actually explains what's going on. Whereas the movie seems to constantly delight in displaying endless eye/ear candy while it intentionally works at keeping the viewer in a confusing state of bafflement as to what the hell is happening & why. RIGHT ON!!! Yes. In 1945 he published the first paper describing the principles of the satellite communication with satellites in geostationary orbits. Go here for info on that & a reprint of the paper.
  5. How far is "too far"? What is your standard of judgment in making that measurement? Did you see the original context (i.e. read the original articles Mark linked)? I was responding to a person that made the claim that businesses would poison him if the government did not regulate them. I thought my response was appropriate to his false assertion. Therefore your objection is to the manner or style in which I made my argument? But it is entirely possible that a company could kill someone (through negligence or evil intention). Therefore, it is necessary for individuals to have recourse to objective law (police, courts, etc.). So, the point here is that the assertion made by Mr. Boothby "Paying high taxes to the government will result in not being poisoned by private companies" is false: In other words, he starts out by claiming "free trade is not compatible with good will". Then ends by claiming that, "desire for profit will lead to being poisoned, but taxation to support coercive government departments will lead to safety". This is an ineffective way of making an argument for capitalism. Companies probably fear not being able to make a profit & continue being a company more than anything else. But a bigger problem with your argument is your focus on fear as a motivator. This is the same underlying psychological premise the anti-capitalist uses. But as Rand said: Avoidance of death is not the same thing as pursuit of life. The issue here is Freedom vs. Slavery.
  6. How does this sentence: Lead to this sentence? Huh? If all the public schools vanished today, most people & current politicians would simply howl about their "right" to an education at someone elses expense until new schools were built to replaced the vanished ones. I have no idea what you mean here. Businesses can & do currently get employees from other countries. What does that have to do with public education? The only "environment" in which Objectivist theory may be put into practice is reality. Those who use force only have an "advantage" in destroying values; not in achieving anything productive.
  7. Perhaps, but I have no interest in his ability to rap. Also, my comment should be considered in the wider context of my post here.
  8. & I FINALLY got to hear the stuff! There are definitely some viable materials you could work into interesting themes. I think it would greatly benefit from an orchestration with multiple timbres. Good luck in finishing it! I was thinking the texture was oddly Zappa-esque . It doesn't really "go anywhere" mostly because it really is just what you call it "Variations on Dies Irae". That old melody has been used by Bach, Mozart, Liszt, Verdi, Rachmaninoff...as a musician you probably know this. A suggestion I found useful: go find the scores & study how those masters used this theme & manipulated it to their own purposes. Gets out Bic lighter, holds up, & ignites...Drum solo!!! Rock & roll, dude! One of the main rhythmic "themes" I keep noticing is you explicit &/or implicit use of this pattern: Dotted 1/4, dotted 1/4, 1/4. Sounds like you were having a great deal of fun! Thanks for making them available.
  9. I'm gonna go with the obvious choice: "The Fountainhead". link on IMDB.com
  10. Smart man. Good story! Well...Atlas Shrugged is of course the more comprehensive novel regarding Objectivism. Likewise, Galt's oath is more comprehensive and explicit than Roark's line. Some of my personal attraction to The Fountainhead & Roark is emotional/sentimental: it's the first Rand novel I read, therefore it hit me the strongest. Roark still feels like more of my personal hero than any other Rand character, even though I love & greatly value those others also. So, how about another personal favorite "Roark-ism"?! "I don't wish to be a symbol of anything. I'm only myself." --Howard Roark to Gail Wynand
  11. "But I don't think of you." --Howard Roark to Ellsworth Toohey
  12. Yes, quite familar. I can provide a second "thumbs up" for Chess. And I can provide a little bit more background info I find interesting. As RationalCop mentions, the music was written by Benny Andersson & Bjorn Ulvaeus. These two guy just happen to be the guys from the Swedish pop band ABBA. Tim Rice that wrote the lyrics was Andrew Lloyd Webber's partner for many of his earlier works. In my estimation the best thing Webber & Rice ever wrote together was Jesus Christ Superstar. Next connection is the original recording of JCS featured Murray Head as Judas; Murrary also shows up on the cast recording of Chess. Rice went on to write (among other things) with Elton John for The Lion King. Yuck. It is an interesting story & uniquely, a bit more intellectual in content & theme than most musical stuff. A personal connection to Chess: about 12 years ago I played the guitar in the orchestra pit for a 2 week run in a musical theatre playhouse down in Sarasota, FL (where my wife & I lived at the time). So, I got to know the music quite well. & I enjoyed it a great deal. Thanks, RationalCop, for mentioning this excellent work & bringing back some good memories for me!
  13. A modest proposal I made in an essay I wrote a while back: sell the roads & schools to private companies. It might not be enough to cover the current national debt, but it would be huge step in the right direction. Also, observe that you stated: This alone is not going to be enough to reverse the current trend of gov't incurring debt. All the parasite programs would also have to be cut. Any program in which people paid in expecting something in return (i.e.: Medicare, SS) would have to be phased out. People should, in the end, get back what they paid in as the program is gradually stopped. Of course, none of this will happen until there is a large scale acceptance of egoism instead of altruism in enough people with power & ambition to make it gov't policy. & likewise, this ethical awakening would have to be rooted in a reason based epistemology & reality based metaphysics.
  14. It's not difficult to be "bewildered" by her, huh? I remember an Ayn Rand quote, something to the effect of, "Dominique is me in a bad mood." However, I don't know if she considered that an off-hand humorous remark or an essentialization of the character. You might have a dichotomy of false alternatives there: "hero worshiper vs. hero". It doesn't have to be either-or. Any individual has the potential to be creative (regardless of sex/gender). Dominique herself displays a great deal of creative capacity in certain sections of the book. I don't know exactly where in the book you are, or if you have already finished it, but, she even mentions this to Wynand: (paraphrasing from memory now) "Gail, did you think I was a sort of kept woman incapable of hard work?" In what way? Can you be more specific? Otherwise the only advice I can offer is finish reading it if you haven't! Exactly!
  15. The Fountainhead was the first Ayn Rand book I read. It remains my favorite. Warning: There are spoilers about this book in this post. It spoke so eloquently, consistently, brilliantly, accurately to so many things: How I felt & how I thought life should be (Roark), how/why most of the people I had encountered seemed so dull & pointless, stumbling through the mistake they miscalled their life (Keating), how/why so many successful people I met or read about seemed so unprincipled/dishonest (Wynand), & how/why all the irrational things people believe get dreamt up & spread (Toohey). I remember being quite taken with Dominique, but at the same time bewildered by her actions. The older I get, the more I understand how well her character is put together. I used to think she was a brilliant, necessary part of the novel, but she was perhaps too extreme in her renunciation to seem "fully real" compared to Roark, Wynand, Keating & Toohey. Over the last 20 years I have watched my earlier assessment gradually change into a fuller understanding of how much she (& her extreme character aspects) is the "direct connection" between all the men. We get to see the soul of each of them in their interaction with her & how she reacts to them. Amazing. Howard Roark was my hero as soon as he explained to the Dean why the Parthenon was rotten. He remains my favorite fictional hero to this day.
  16. I think the reason the rebuttal writer & so many others do not seem to understand has more to do with faulty ethics & epistemology than a misunderstanding of politics (i.e. politics, proper governmental functions). With due respect to your fine reasoning. This is essentially the argument that conservatives have used unsuccessfully for decades "Govt is more expensive, less efficient", etc. The statement is correct & provable & you have done a fine job illustrating your point. However, until a person acknowledges the underlying premise of egoism vs. altruism all these arguments are beside the point. Who cares what is more or less expensive, efficient if the poor kids NEED it? You see? The real issue is Freedom vs. Slavery. Am I morally responsible for providing others with an education against my will? Every argument for public education ultimately rests on answering THIS question with a "Yes". THIS is the issue that must be illuminated if we are to win this battle. Again, that is an excellent point. But it is NOT "the answer" in it's essential form. "The answer" is free trade: Voluntary payment for education vs. Coercive payment. But, Mark, you don't have to convince them. If a parent of an unintelligent child can afford to send their child to school that is their choice. If they can't afford to send them to school they must rely on the voluntary charity of others. And they must do this with the explicitly stated premise that someone else is voluntarily helping them. This is the problem: Freedom vs. Slavery!!! Everything else just muddies the water & makes it easier for proponents of public education to continue their monopolistic stranglehold on education in our country.
  17. Excellent. I just got my BA in Music (Applied/Performance) this past weekend. I wish you success in your future composing. Wow! That's an ambitious goal! Hopefully if you decide to take this path you can find a more appropriate school then. Very good, care to share? I understand you are not yet a Philosopher; which, I am assuming, is why you are considering going to school for it. A worthy endeavor! You are welcome & thank you also.
  18. Hello! I am sorry I missed you before now. What is your primary instrument? Are you studying music? Do you have samples of your work online? I'm not sure what you mean here. You are 'pondering the world of music' in what way? & you are pondering in order to find out why you are interested in playing music? I am sincerely confused about what you are saying here. My first impression here is you are trying to combine two separate issues: the universal nature of music & your own motivation for playing. If that is the case, the context is set VERY wide. You can most certainly, eventually connect the two but there will be an incredibly large number of steps between them. Do you mean you are almost certain that you want to work on developing an objective musical aesthetic as a career goal?
  19. Thanks, glad you found it of value. I'm not exactly sure about that formulation. My position is that, in an objective sense, the more a melody implies goal-directed harmonic structures, the more valuable it is. So, I suppose you could say that a melody does not necessarily have to contain that element. For example, Gregorian chants or some modal jazz have 'melodic lines' or 'threads', but not necessarily a goal-directed harmonic structure. If you are interested I did posts regarding this topic in extensive detail HERE & HERE. Feel free to respond there or here, whatever makes the most sense to you. I have thought long & hard about this for many years; & I now know that you have also. I think it is a realistic goal to be able to formulate an objective musical aesthetic philosophy. It sure won't be easy. & there is ONE HELL OF A LOT of work to be done in this area that has not just never been done, but worse, has never even been considered. Especially considering the largely abysmal current state of academic musical studies & scholarship. We have a long road ahead.
  20. I love Beethoven's music; he's my favorite composer. So the part of your post I have quoted caught my eye. Could you elaborate a bit on this if you know more, please? Who was this individual? Where did you read it? Is it available online? Got a link? As stated, it makes no sense to me either! Thanks.
  21. I nominate Ira Gershwin. So many classic, beautiful lyrics to his credit: "Someone To Watch Over Me", "Nice Work If You Can Get It", "I Got Rhythm", & on & on, WOW!!! An excerpt: It's very clear our love is here to stay. Not for a year, but ever and a day. The radio and the telephone. And the movies that we know. May just be passing fancies and in time may go. But, oh my dear, our love is here to stay. Together were going a long, long way. In time the Rockies may crumble, Gibraltar may tumble, they're only made of clay. But our love is here to stay. Also, Cole Porter was very clever, witty & beautiful with his lyrics. Richard Rogers partners Larry Hart & then Oscar Hammerstein II were also wonderful. Larry Hart wrote the words to one of my all time favorite love songs "My Romance": My romance doesn't need to have a moon in the sky. My romance doesn't need a blue lagoon standing by. No month of May, no twinklin' stars. No hideaway, no soft guitars. My romance doesn't need a castle rising in Spain. Nor a dance to a constantly surprising refrain. Wide awake I can make my most fantastic dreams come true. My romance doesn't need a thing but you. That's just perfect.
  22. Thanks for the personal info & insightful reply. OK, I can see how Bach inventions & fugues (i.e. or any form of good contrapunctal writing for example) would fit this approach. I gather from your reply you are referring more to a general education method of teaching a mind how to function properly, not solely for the pupose of listening to (& appreciating) music. Thank you. Hmmm...? Perhaps you are referring to the electric guitar (or pop tunes?) as regards being "shook" by the instrumentation? I have a wide variety of genres & timbres in which I work. I am going to make the assumption at this point you would probably appreciate my romantic/classical work more than anything else (symphonic pieces, string quartets, etc.).
  23. Excellent! He is one hell of a live entertainer. If you liked "Wishing Well" I can easily recommend the entire "Hardline" disc. Man, that guy can sing.
  24. A.West, I remember seeing those pix! Your daughter is absolutely beautiful. It's fun. I did promise myself I wouldn't force my optional values on him; just give him the tools & opportunity & let him decide. I will probably make him take piano lessons; but that's a good general education thing regardless of whether or not he pursues music more seriously. So far he has 2 guitars, a uke, a drum set, & a piano. & of course he usually wants to play my guitars & piano. It's hysterical to watch him climb up on the bench, bang on the keys & sing "The Alphabet Song". Thanks for sharing the great pix! Good stuff; it's wonderful he is in the marching band! OK, wise guy!!! (Hurls virtual bottle)
  25. What was your primary instrument? Did you play classical? Wonderful! What's not to like?! I can only speak for myself here. I know why I don't & it has to do with very specific technical musical details & not any religious association. This is also not something I have personally encountered: i.e. hearing first-hand from any large sample of Objectivists that they dislike Bach. Apparently you have though & that's interesting. Can you think of any possible reasons based on what you have observed (aside from the religious component)? Absolutely, I agree. I suppose that would depend a great deal upon how you would define 'proper training'. In a general sense, a mind does of course need to be trained to be able to effectively understand/deal with reality. But are you saying people need to understand rudimentary music theory in order to effectively listen to Bach, or something like this? Or am I misunderstanding your point here? I can certainly appreciate your passion on this issue. I require no examples; I know how right you are that much music (& art in general) is in a dismal position in our current culture. True; this is a good point. Right HERE, Pytheus! I am trying! I'm giving it all I got.
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