THE FLY (1986 Movie Trailer)

Rudolf Steiner on Music

Source: Das Wesen des musikalischen und das Tonerlebnis im Menschen GA 283

"Wenn der Mensch im Musikalischen lebt, so lebt er in einem Abbild seiner geistigen Heimat. In dem Schattenbild des Geistigen findet die Seele die höchste Erhebung, die intimste Beziehung zum Urelement des Menschen. Daher ist es, daß die Musik so tief auch auf die schlichteste Seele wirkt. Die schlichteste Seele fühlt in der Musik den Nachklang dessen, was sie im Devachan erlebt hat. Sie fühlt sich da in ihrer Heimat. Jedesmal fühlt der Mensch dann: Ja, du bist aus einer anderen Welt!"

R. Steiner: Das Wesen des Musikalischen, Erster Vortrag, Köln, 3. Dezember 1906, S. 17.

("When the human being lives in what is musical, then he/she lives in a representation of his/her spiritual homeland. In the shadow image of the spiritual, the soul finds the highest edification, the most intimate relation to the primordial element of humanity. That is why music affects even the simplest soul so deeply. The simplest soul feels in music the resonance of what it experienced in the Devachan. It feels itself there at home. Then the human being feels every time: Yes, you come from another world!")

Andrew Welburn: Rudolf Steiner's Philosophy and the Crisis of Contemporary Thought

Rudolf Steiner's Philosophy and the Crisis of Contemporary Thought
Andrew Welburn
ISBN: 9780863154362
Book (Hardcover)
Floris Books
$60.00
288 pages
August 2004

Andrew Welburn's book can be of great use to philosophers and students interested in Rudolf Steiner's relation to the philosophical movements that marked his times: especially Neo-Kantianism, Utilitarianism, and Phenomenology. The author concentrates on issues in which Steiner's positions have been either vindicated or remain at least to a degree tenable: his individualism and defense of freedom, his attempt to avoid foundationalism and dualistic metaphysics, his rejection of simplistic versions of both materialism and idealism, and his holistic conception of the human being. Welburn establishes relations between Steiner and other thinkers in both the Continental and Analytic traditions, even though it is understandably not possible to develop them fully. The book is not so much an exposition of Steiner's ideas as a commentary that tries to elicit in his thoughts what is most relevant for us today.

Prussian Valkyrie by Tristan Torriani

This is a song I wrote for trumpet, alto sax, baritone sax, electric guitar, bass guitar and drums. It is also intended as a homage to the Prussian people who lost their homeland and suffered genocide and starvation after the Second World War.

Semantic Ghostbusters and the Limits of Philosophy

Semantic Ghostbusters and the Limits of Philosophy
by Tristan Torriani (25 July 2009)

It is generally acknowledged that the problem of meaning was central to much philosophy of the 20th century. The two most celebrated philosophers of our time, Wittgenstein and Heidegger, both tackled the issue from different points of view. Contrary to what some interpreters such as R. Rorty propose, I do not think that their approaches are compatible because I am not convinced that Heidegger developed a way to deal with the obscurity that is created by our unconscious use of language. Instead of clarity, what we get in Being and Time is an analysis of what supposedly would be the structure of human existence but that is very often based on insights derived from dubious etymological interpretations. Nevertheless the issues Heidegger raised were certainly very stimulating if we think in terms of Nietzsche's nihilistic analysis of modernity and its relation to technology. As to Wittgenstein, he also took ethical and aesthetic issues seriously early on in the Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus. When Deleuze dismisses him for supposedly committing "the assassination of philosophy" he is not only unfair but also wrong.

Philosophy depends not only on clear meaning so that arguments (and the grounds on which they stand) can be examined, but also on an openness to revise one's assumptions if they lead to paradoxes, aporias, contradictions and other logical-conceptual difficulties. Unfortunately much academic philosophy starts from the assumption that a major philosopher's theses are worth discussing on their own merit, regardless of their inevitable flaws. When research of a thinker's ideas becomes historical and philological, debate becomes inconvenient. The researcher's primary task is to provide a reliable exposition of a philosopher's thought, keeping his commentary apart from it. This is not wholly unfair for often our comments may originate from a very different perspective and therefore be unintelligible if not put in context. But this conflicts with the purpose of writing an exposition of another author's ideas. For this reason if one wants to philosophize one will be inclined to use the essay form and to publish one's thoughts in a blog.

Perhaps the major characteristic of our time is that we as individuals and as communities have to create meaning and realize that its source is ourselves and is not transcendent. Since mind-body dualism is untenable, we need to distinguish between crass or vulgar materialism and a constructive materialism that has evolutionary and spiritually elevating goals which are worth pursuing. This is very difficult for those who are attached to the Platonic-Aristotelian metaphysical tradition that underlies Judaism, Christianity, Islam and Freemasonry. The task of Philosophy is to disclose the esoteric, to provide Enlightenment, to rationally examine the dogmas that are foisted on us by political and religious authority. Unfortunately, this mission, first pioneered by Socrates, is very much threatened today by political correctness, ideological promotion of resentment, addiction to vulgar entertainment, and citizens' apathy in face of governmental corruption and arrogance. The military abuse of psychology ("psy-ops") has become the main tool against the free use of reason. Philosophy is then treated as an ideology, that is, a system of beliefs that is relevant not for the validity of its arguments or the truth of its propositions and factual claims, but for its revolutionary potential or its capacity to mobilize groups to resist and undertake violent action in self-defense. After the fall of the Berlin wall in 1989 we were told that we would enter a post-ideological age, but that of course was just more nonsense from the controlled mainstream media.

Does Philosophy change the world? I never thought it did, because the best it can do is to allow dedicated individuals to follow well-considered lines of action. So it is a necessary preparation for change, evolution and progress, but not sufficient for it. And yet, if one looks at the mainstream media's extreme efforts to distract us from the path of reflexive thought, it is hard not to find this all very suspicious. Maybe Philosophy is more dangerous than we think, at least in the minds of those who indirectly control our lives.

Deanna Durbin - The Last Rose of Summer

'Tis the last rose of summer,
Left blooming all alone,
All her lovely companions
Are faded and gone.
No flower of her kindred,
No rose bud is nigh,
To reflect back her blushes,
Or give sigh for sigh.

Reified metaphors and the reconciliation of science and religion

Reified metaphors and the reconciliation of science and religion

By Tristan Torriani (12 July 2009)

One of the great problems of modernity is the reconciliation of science and religion and so understandably it was a central concern for Rudolf Steiner. Is this reconciliation possible? I think it is, but as in any meeting of minds it requires that both sides adopt a flexible attitude. Science has developed extremely sophisticated procedures of measurement, testing, explanation and conceptualization that we rely on for our survival and happiness in our daily lives. So it is not possible to live without incorporating scientific concepts and the world view that comes with them. But although science is necessary, it is not sufficient for a meaningful life. We generally talk in this context about values, but do not explain clearly what is a value. Is it a thing outside of us that determines what is the worth of something else? If so, where are they? It looks like we tend to imagine values as Platonic Ideas (or Forms), that are transcendent and would serve as a foundation for our beliefs. This leads to dogmatism, for claims about Platonic Ideas cannot be verified intersubjectively. Another solution is to refer to norms that can be found in sacred texts such as the Bible, but this recourse to Divine Authority does not prevent moral dilemmas from appearing. In such cases we need to exercise what Kant called our practical reason or pure will to examine the inner consistency of moral and political arguments. That is why philosophy mediates between science and religion.

If religious descriptions and explanations are understood literally as they are in the popular religions, this means that the causal agents in the events described in sacred texts should also be observable by science. If a statue of Our Lady starts crying tears, scientists can try to explain the phenomenon using physical concepts. Religious authorities may elaborate other explanations that include spiritual forces as causal agents over and above the material forces studied by the scientists. It seems to me that religious explanations are in this way "supervenient" (over and above) in their relation to scientific explanations and are used to transcend and to contextualize them. Very often the hard nosed scientist is not interested in this spiritual dimension because he or she considers it unreal. This lack of interest makes reconciliation impossible because human cognition is limited by the will. We are not purely intellectual animals. We are rational but our rationality is always practical (in the Kantian moral sense).

Spirituality is only accessible to those whose will is pure and open to it. And to experience it one has to accept the language of metaphor. Let us grant that the literal language of scientific concepts tells us what reality in fact is, for otherwise we would be liable to suffer the abuses of pseudoscience. It is common among spiritual searchers to deny completely the reality of the material world. I think this is a bad idea because it denies our scientific knowledge. In addition, it creates a dualism between mind and matter which becomes unbridgeable. There is only one reality, and it is material. But spiritual people find in this material world energies and forces that skeptics consider to be just a figment of their imagination. Spiritual searchers often have to rely on metaphors that they make real (or reify) so that we end up accepting them as literally true. It is a question of linguistic meaning on the one hand and spiritual interest (or its absence) on the other that determine whether science and religion are compatible or not. The spiritual person has to recognize that he or she is using reified metaphors, while the scientist needs to recognize that many people cannot relate to themselves, to others and to the world in the reductionist terms of scientific language. Moreover, if we are to live in a free society in which people can interpret the world as it makes more sense to them, this should not be a problem. It only becomes a problem when we become obsessed with the idea that only one view can be correct.

Peter Stoney's Fiddle Fretter Works Fine

Peter Stoney is an Irish-Canadian violinist and violin teacher who developed an adhesive nylon fretboard that can be glued on the violin's fingerboard (check out his site http://www.frettedfiddle.com/). In case you are interested in it but still skeptical, I can assure you that it does indeed work because I have tried it recently. It is a serious product and Mr. Stoney ships it by mail to anywhere in the world inside a large letter envelope. The nylon adhesive fretboard is so thin and flexible that it does not require a box. The fret distances are correctly calculated and the frets do not buzz. The cost and complication of installing metal frets on a violin would be considerable. Mr. Stoney's products spares us from all the risk and aggravation of trying out a fretted violin. 

As a former guitar player I always appreciated the utility of frets for chords, and indeed they do sound better on the fretted violin. Left hand pizzicato comes out much clearer and in tune. It is also great to be able to play in tempered intonation. This can be a really "ear-opening" experience even for experienced violinists. 

One of the usual objections against frets on the violin is that one loses the ability to use intonation as an expressive device. This is true for classical soloists, but for the vast majority of amateur violin players, frets offer secure and easy tempered intonation. That is an advantage not to be dismissed out of hand. Unless you are an advanced amateur who will be able to maintain your technique consistently, you will eventually welcome the utility of frets.

Another objection against frets is that they hinder vibrato. I must admit that this is true. However, vibrato is often misused by amateurs to disguise poor intonation. Since only a very faint vibrato is possible with frets, this has the positive effect of forcing players to pay more attention to the quality of their tone and bowing. So one makes a virtue out of a necessity.

Yet another objection is that if one plays with frets, one has to place the fingers right behind them and not where we would put them on the normal fingerboard. Therefore, if you play with frets you may not be able to play fretless in tune later.  This is also true, but again, if you are an amateur who can only play once in a while, you will probably prefer to play only with frets anyway. 

The bottom line is that the world of the classical soloist is so different (even opposed to) that of the amateur, that what makes sense for one is counterproductive for the other. Fretted string instruments are the most appropriate for amateurs and as the violin becomes more popular it seems reasonable to expect that the fretted violin will be accepted as the best option for millions of players around the world. Mr. Stoney has come up with a very ingenious product which may some day become as common as the shoulder rest is today. We live in a complicated, hurried and violent world in which it makes no sense to spend extra time improving one's intonation on a fretless instrument unless you are intending to become a professional soloist. Congratulations to Mr. Stoney for his idea and I wish him success.

Spinoza on Free Speech

Source: Spinoza, Baruch - A Theologico-Political Treatise (1670)

CHAPTER XX. That in a Free State every man may Think what he Likes, and Say what he Thinks.


(20:1) If men's minds were as easily controlled as their tongues, every king would sit safely on his throne, and government by compulsion would cease; for every subject would shape his life according to the intentions of his rulers, and would esteem a thing true or false, good or evil, just or unjust, in obedience to their dictates. (20:2) However, we have shown already (Chapter XVII.) that no man's mind can possibly lie wholly at the disposition of another, for no one can willingly transfer his natural right of free reason and judgment, or be com-
pelled so to do. (20:3) For this reason government which attempts to control minds is accounted tyrannical, and it is considered an abuse of sovereignty and a usurpation of the rights of subjects, to seek to prescribe what shall be accepted as true, or rejected as false, or what opinions should actuate men in their worship of God. (20:4) All these questions fall within a man's natural right, which he cannot
abdicate even with his own consent.

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Tristan Torriani - Lydian Jazz Funk (Synth Power Trio)

Lydian Jazz Funk composed by Tristan Torriani. Performed by Tristan Torriani (Roland Juno 106 Synthesizer), Renato Hoffmann Penteado (bass) and Ricardo Primi (drums). This is a garage tape recording from around 1987.

Schubert Military March Theme, Op. 51 for solo violin

Tristan Torriani - Lydian Jazz Funk

Lydian Jazz Funk composed by Tristan Torriani. Performed by Tristan Torriani (Roland Juno 106 Synthesizer), Renato Hoffmann Penteado (bass) and Ricardo Primi (drums). This is a garage recording from around 1987.