Ayn Rand Center Europe invited me and and Craig Biddle to Serbia to debate whether Objectivism is an open or closed philosophy. I argued for open and Mr. Biddle argued for closed. A recording of the debate follows. Also following the video window (or in this PDF) is a transcription of my remarks for those […]
Open Objectivism or Closed? Transcription of my Belgrade debate presentation Read More »
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was born into a highly musical family. His father was was a skilled violinist and his older sister played the clavier excellently, so from his infancy he was surrounded by music. Yet, as he wrote in a letter to a friend, that was supplemented by deep study. “it is a mistake to
How Great Artists become Great: Mozart version Read More »
According to his biographer: Karajan seems to have spent the greater part of his like seeking the one thing he believed would make him completely happy: absolute mastery over his own destiny. Richard Osborne, Herbert von Karajan: A Life in Music, Northeastern University Press, 1998, p. 33 Related: How other great artists became great:Igor Stravinsky
How great artists become great: Karajan version Read More »
I’ll be speaking (by Zoom) at the Media Entrepreneurial Marathon today (November 21, 2020) at 9:30 Central Time. The conference is sponsored by a large group of Latin American idea and entrepreneurship organizations committed to creative and business freedom. Related: How great artists become great: Liszt. Stravinsky and Tchaikovsky. Beethoven. Creative geniuses as selfish: Maria
Artists Need Free Minds and Free Markets [Colombia talk] Read More »
What made Rudolf Nureyev an outstanding dancer? Some insights from biographer Julie Kavanagh’s Rudolf Nureyev: The Life. On his focus as a student and his eliminating non-essentials from his life: “I’ve always tended to reject everything in life which doesn’t enrich or directly concern my single dominating passion.” A fellow student noted: “When Rudolf arrived
Nureyev as thinking dancer (and movie recommendation) Read More »
When he became an American citizen in 1943, Sergei Rachmaninoff said: “This is the only place on earth where a human being is respected for what he is and what he does, and it does not matter who he is and where he came from.” Related: “How Rachmaninoff’s composing was hurt by the Soviet Union.”
Rachmaninoff upon becoming an American citizen Read More »
Both are smart guys, and I haven’t read the book or the review, but I am fascinated by the social dynamic, which follows a common pattern: What could be an engaged and productive argument devolves quickly into insults, exasperation, uncharitable interpretations about who said what, claims of immoralities, and suggestions of lawsuits. Also fascinating is
Steve Patterson and Jason Brennan Read More »
[Below is the text of Richard Wagner’s 1849 essay “Art and Revolution” (and here is a PDF version).] Richard Wagner “Art and Revolution” Almost universal is the outcry raised by artists nowadays against the damage that the Revolution has occasioned them. It is not the battles of the “barricades,” not the sudden mighty shattering of the pillars
Richard Wagner’s “Art and Revolution” text Read More »
In my judgment, Ayn Rand’s The Fountainhead is the greatest novel on the themes of independence and integrity. I’m reposting the contrast of Howard Roark and Peter Keating below, as in my Introduction to Philosophy course this week we are reading Part I, in which Rand’s primary purpose is to contrast the characters of Roark
The Fountainhead — contrasting Roark and Keating Read More »
Following up on a series of posts about Michelangelo, Beethoven, and Liszt. From Frederic V. Grunfeld’s very good Rodin: A Biography, the answer in the case of August Rodin is education and self education. Rodin was born into a French culture in which the large majority of the population was illiterate or semi-literate. The fact
Yet more on how great artists become great: Rodin Read More »