tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5687347459208158501.post3105907061451411608..comments2024-03-29T02:27:32.635-04:00Comments on The Philosopher's Stone: FETE DE LA MUSIQUERobert Paul Wolffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11970360952872431856noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5687347459208158501.post-80269930801702428832013-06-28T08:18:59.097-04:002013-06-28T08:18:59.097-04:00James, thank you, that is a wonderful story. HE W...James, thank you, that is a wonderful story. HE WROTE IT DOWN FROM MEMORY!!!!!! There are times when I simply stand in awe -- Mozart is one, von Neumann is another.<br /><br />Robert Paul Wolffhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11970360952872431856noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5687347459208158501.post-51765161978110920102013-06-28T07:01:31.899-04:002013-06-28T07:01:31.899-04:00Ah, yes the Allegri Miserere — it's quite a st...Ah, yes the Allegri Miserere — it's quite a stunning piece and there's a good story about it. <br /><br />The piece was written in the 1630s for use at the Vatican, where Allegri was employed. It had a considerable reputation in its own time, but there were very few copies of the composition circulating until Mozart, then 14 and visiting Rome, heard the piece and wrote it down from memory afterwards. He subsequently gave a copy to Charles Burney, who arranged for publication. <br /><br />The Wikipedia reproduces Leopold Mozart's letter to his wife describing this bit of 18th century musical piracy:<br /><br />"You have often heard of the famous Miserere in Rome, which is so greatly prized that the performers in the chapel are forbidden on pain of excommunication to take away a single part of it, to copy it or to give it to anyone. But we have it already. Wolfgang has written it down and we would have sent it to Salzburg in this letter, if it were not necessary for us to be there to perform it. But the manner of performance contributes more to its effect than the composition itself. So we shall bring it home with us. Moreover, as it is one of the secrets of Rome, we do not wish to let it fall into other hands, ut non incurramus mediate vel immediate in censuram Ecclesiae."<br /><br />http://bit.ly/1al82dqJames Schmidthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00253489501148201892noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5687347459208158501.post-33043482327063711132013-06-26T02:41:26.514-04:002013-06-26T02:41:26.514-04:00Thank you so much for the link, Bjorn. It was del...Thank you so much for the link, Bjorn. It was delightful!<br /><br />I sent the book to Harvard, which had just accepted KANT'S THEORY OF MENTAL ACTIVITY. They said it was too political. I sent it to a commercial publisher. They said it was too scholarly. I sent it to Noam Chomsky, whom I knew from Harvard. He said it ought to be published. So I moved on and forgot about it. Oh well. I could have been Assistant Deputy Under Secretary for NotSoFast.<br /><br />It was fun to write, though.<br /><br />You are probably right about Popper!Robert Paul Wolffhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11970360952872431856noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5687347459208158501.post-20660665779817148262013-06-25T23:16:33.784-04:002013-06-25T23:16:33.784-04:00Also, I am almost certain that the model for the &...Also, I am almost certain that the model for the "Austrian scientist" in this part of Yes Minister is the LSE's own Karl Popper.Bjornhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02698906609662554600noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5687347459208158501.post-42543469333207974402013-06-25T23:15:10.613-04:002013-06-25T23:15:10.613-04:00This is off topic, but I just read your eminently ...This is off topic, but I just read your eminently readable Rhetoric of Deterrence and enjoyed it immensely.<br /><br />It immediately made me think of the following scene from the wonderful British television series Yes Minister:<br /><br />http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IX_d_vMKswE<br /><br />By the way, why was this book not published?Bjornhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02698906609662554600noreply@blogger.com