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The following books by Robert Paul Wolff are available on Amazon.com as e-books: KANT'S THEORY OF MENTAL ACTIVITY, THE AUTONOMY OF REASON, UNDERSTANDING MARX, UNDERSTANDING RAWLS, THE POVERTY OF LIBERALISM, A LIFE IN THE ACADEMY, MONEYBAGS MUST BE SO LUCKY, AN INTRODUCTION TO THE USE OF FORMAL METHODS IN POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY.
Now Available: Volumes I, II, III, and IV of the Collected Published and Unpublished Papers.

NOW AVAILABLE ON YOUTUBE: LECTURES ON KANT'S CRITIQUE OF PURE REASON. To view the lectures, go to YouTube and search for "Robert Paul Wolff Kant." There they will be.

NOW AVAILABLE ON YOUTUBE: LECTURES ON THE THOUGHT OF KARL MARX. To view the lectures, go to YouTube and search for Robert Paul Wolff Marx."





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Wednesday, November 20, 2013

WHAT PASSES FOR CONFIRMATION IN THE BLOGOSPHERE

Seth, who tells us a lovely story about himself, speculates that the Einstein story is an urban legend.  A little surfing brought me to this site.  If it is really true that Einstein once played chamber music with Arthur Schnabel, then maybe he wasn't a complete patzer.  I myself would be mortified to play with a great musician, even if I were the world's greatest physicist, or whatever.  I would be too conscious of the intense musical pain I would be causing the musician, regardless of whether she smiled and nodded and put on a good face.  For me [and for many amateur chamber players, I would imagine] the ideal is to play with three quartet mates who are a bit better than I, but not too much, and who are generous and tolerant besides.  That is the circumstance I was fortunate to be in for eight lovely years in Pelham, Massachusetts.  We shall see this evening whether I can manage to count correctly in the Adagio, ma non troppo of K516.

4 comments:

Jerry Fresia said...

For what it is worth:
1. I laughed for 5 minutes after your blog with the Einstein story; tickling me as well was your trepidation on full display ("which I pray I will not screw up ").
2. How is it even humanely possible to play syncopated thirty-second notes? If your essential goal is "simply counting," you could probably fudge the syncopation. After all, Adagio, ma non troppo doesn't sound terribly specific.
3. At some point, I hope you spend some time explicating the intersection between art and philosophy/politics.
4. I had to get this in: "Right wing cyber attacks on Healthcare.gov website confirmed" - http://exm.nr/1e6FdRG

Finally, while many will be in your corner, so to speak, it really isn't about results, is it? You're playing again. The payoff is in the moment.

Robert Paul Wolff said...

Jerry, my one hope for salvation in the Adagio is that while I am supposed to be playing sixteenth or thirty second notes off the beat, the cello is playing a series of eighth notes on the beat, so if I can hear her clearly, I can just play off against her. At least that is the plan.

But you are right. It feels very good to be playing again,and to find that it is like riding a bicycle -- it comes back to you pretty quickly.

Now I am working on putting together my own quartet. I have a cellist and a violinist -- I am one more violinist away from being ready to go.

decessero said...

Jerry Fresia,

your empathic comments are a delight to read.

decessero said...
This comment has been removed by the author.