Simon Sechter
This little known composer seems to have eclipsed Telemann in his output of original music. With over 5.000 fugues to his name, his typical Austrian work ethic seems to have produced a body of work that defies human endurance. Simon Sechter, composer of the week.
The oldest known song is Syrian, about 1400 BC. Scholars claim no polyphonic music was written before the middle ages, but they are clearly incorrect, and recent discoveries of cuniform tablets, demonstrating a suprising melodic sense, inspire musicians worldwide.
There are trivial truths and the great truths. The opposite of a trivial truth is plainly false. The opposite of a great truth is also true.” — who said this, I’m trying to remember… Life is full of mystery! We should enjoy and appreciate the incredible mysteries of creation!
In fact, anything that we learn, we learn from our senses. Anything we learn from our senses and/or the scientific instruments that extend our senses, in other words anything that we experience can not be said to be true with total certainty. This dilemma is best expressed by one of my favorite observations by the great sage Chang-Tzu:
“Once upon a time, I, Chang-Tzu, dreamed I was a butterfly, fluttering hither and thither when suddenly I was awakened. Now I do not know whether I was a man dreaming I was a butterfly, or whether I am a butterfly now dreaming I am a man.”
As a composer, I am not always sure where my melodies come from. I ascribe my creativity to weather,mood, lack of sleep, etc…but always to free will, whatever that is.
Thomas Schoenberger
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Composers have traditionally written songs for their love interests. But its also common for composers to create songs for their pets. Mozart composed for his starling. Some of the great romantic era composers would dedicate songs to their “noble” pets. Composers would commonly name their pieces after a certain animal, hoping to capture the” spirit of the beast”As a practical matter, whether or not there is such a thing as free will, and whether or not one personally believes in free will, one must live one’s life as if he or she does have free will. There is no alternative. That is the way the rules of existence are structured. What the modern advaitists, Balsekar and Liquorman point out is that if you intellectually and viscerally are convinced there is no such thing as free will you will be released from the pain of suffering from a sense of sin or guilt. Such a person will be far less judgmental of others. Harris makes the same point.My sense is that Mozart personified free will the older he got, and Beethoven perfected the model by his 29th year ( when he started to grow deaf) More on free will and music in future blogs
Read MoreMany children with autism would find peace,enhancement, and self mastery by learning a musical instrument.Parents of autistic children sometimes find surprisingly deep math and music skills. This is a nice site I ran across while looking for a suitable teacher of an autistic child of 9, who shows an interest in piano and Ipads.
http://www.music-for-music-teachers.com/autism.html
Thomas Schoenberger
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