What Is Genius?

[@n-voc8074]

Ludwig :D two of my favourite characters combined in one drama (fictional Sherlock and greatest of them all Beethoven) thank you for reminding me of this tv show ;) and yes Moonlight played on church organs... goosebumps :DDD

[@4grammaton]

I already know the answer to this one: it's when Schenker analyses your sonata and traces it back to the Ursatz.

[@bazingacurta2567]

Schenker was a fool, but he was a smart fool for sure.

[@themusicprofessor]

Ha! Yes, that's all a bit problematic isn't it!? I love Schoenberg's remark when he saw Schenker's Ursatz of Beethoven's Eroica symphony: "But he's taken out all my favourite bits!"

[@JazzGuitarScrapbook]

Of course!

[@mickizurcher]

Great video!!❤

[@philonymous]

"Let's not celebrate mediocrity..." Well said!

[@dutoit_edin]

Don't have a lot to give, I'm a 20yo student from South Africa so haha. But I love your videos. A simple way of describing them is that they "make me happy".

[@matthewking1873]

How lovely! Thank you. Wonderful that you are enjoying the videos.

[@ChainsawCoffee]

Yes, good parenting _enhances_ genius. Kudos to Mozart's father. The thing is, the child has to have a fascination with the subject, and be willing to pursue the subject regardless of circumstance. Without that determined fascination, the chance genetic endowment of smarts will amount to nothing.

[@MonsieurFeshe]

I've been looking for that op 132 melody for a long time now, thank you SO MUCH for bringing it back to me, I had forgotten where it was from.

[@matthewking1873]

@@MonsieurFeshe Brilliant! I’m glad to be of assistance!

[@aidanrose578]

I really love this channel. You strike a perfect balance between seriousness (which we need) and fun (which we also need). I think you do accessibility in the way I feel it should be done: never dumming down, but building ladders up. I've just become a patron. I don't have much to give, but I hope it helps in a small way. Best, Aidan

[@themusicprofessor]

Thank you Aidan. That's hugely appreciated!

[@jaydenfung1]

When you commented on the casual genius of Britten's fugue-haven't heard it yet, but I'll make sure I do!-it had me recall a conversation I was having with someone about the novel 𝘈𝘯𝘯𝘪𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 by Jeff VanderMeer. All these strange things happening, and the narrator retains this Kafkaesque it-is-how-it-is tone throughout. The opening is brilliant; the first sentence is a throwaway that grips the mind. "The tower, which was not supposed to be there, plunges into the earth in a place just before the black pine forest begins to give way to swamp and then the reeds and wind-gnarled trees of the marsh flats." I wasn't expecting to reread it when I took a creative writing course a few years back, and the professor and I discussed how great VanderMeer's writing is there. To me, there's something special about the weirdness simply being this relative clause, written like it's almost unnecessary information. Yet it's the first sentence.

[@lawrencetaylor4101]

I'm so glad you haven't sold out and used Autotune or Pitch Correction. But so far I haven't heard Loki speak. It looked like he wanted to make a commentary about the Britten Fugue. You missed an opportunity to let him become an active contributor.

[@themusicprofessor]

He contributed here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/p3SXh3aFlppkq5Isi=KduHakgpQPrBtiHc&t=815

[@lawrencetaylor4101]

@@themusicprofessor He certainly doesn't need pitch correction.

[@ericrakestraw664]

Actually, Beethoven originally planned to compose two symphonies late in his life, one (the ninth) which would be purely instrumental and the other (tenth) which would be choral. When his health began to fail, Beethoven decided to combine both ideas into one massive work which we now know as the "Choral" Ninth Symphony. Of course, Beethoven later wrote sketches for a proposed tenth symphony, but he died before completing a first movement.

[@elmerglue21]

Is there a source where I can read more on this

[@ericrakestraw664]

@@elmerglue21 You could try "Beethoven: the Last Decade (1817-27)" by Martin Cooper -- an excellent source covering Beethoven's late period and deep analysis of his works.

[@elmerglue21]

@@ericrakestraw664 thanks!

[@robertrowles5450]

Referencing Joni Mitchell and the final fugue from Britten's Young Person's Guide in the same video. You've made my day. Thank you.

[@dorianmearns7407]

Interesting topic. Loki seems like a genius to me.

[@lawrencetaylor4101]

He really perked up when the Professor talked about the Britten Fugue. Who wouldn't?

[@musicisspecial1]

I've always loved that climax in the YP Guide when the brass come in with the theme at the end. Bafflingly good. Yet under-appreciated because it's often regarded as a kids' piece.

[@themusicprofessor]

Yes- I wonder if Britten almost intended it that way: smuggling his most ostentatious display of virtuosity into a 'community' piece.

[@DusanPavlicek78]

You touched on so many fascinating subjects. I really enjoy your videos. A lovely combination of sofisticated insight and kindness.

[@themusicprofessor]

Thank you.

[@andrewlord3398]

Just carry on like this. Just talk. Don’t do anything different. You are a deep expert, graciously giving up time to pass on such golden insights. I hoped you would try to define genius but clearly that’s futile.

[@themusicprofessor]

Thank you!

[@nevetsny1]

I’m on the third episode of Ludwig (live in the US not England) and found myself going to the piano to play Tempest. I like the tv score. Can it be repetitive? For sure. It’s kind of cool thinking of LvB as a composer for a modern day tv show. There’s an interview with the show composer on BBC3 but I can’t find it.

[@claudelapalme4712]

So funny. Just YESTERDAY I was having a conversation with a friend about "non-classical" musicians of genius and one of the first name that came of my mouth after thinking for a minute or two was Joni Mitchell. Of course, I'm a Canuck, so I could be biased, but I do feel a real whiff of genius in a lot of her stuff. Deeply admire her talent and output. Ella was also on my list.

[@adude9882]

I have nothiing to declare except my genius. Ok, the only two things holding me back artistically are lack of talent and technical incompetence.

[@mickizurcher]

Thank you for acknowledging Joni Mitchell💚💚💚

[@roberthall590]

maybe the genius is lying on the ground taking a nap...😂

[@VaughanMcAlley]

I’m transcribing some Palestrina at the moment, a parody mass of an amazing motet, and I’m in awe of how he distills what is great about the motet, and also puts his own spin on things. The lines and counterpoint come across as effortless, which I’m sure they weren’t.

[@juanlespin]

Love to see your transcription Vaughan. It's been 36 years since we did competition classes at Melbourne Uni. It would be cool to catch up again

[@roryreviewer6598]

To me, the term “genius” refers to the flexibility of the mind and its ability to make connections between various ideas and synthesize it into something new. Some people confuse being able to retain lots of information as being a sign of genius, but anyone can learn lots of facts about a certain subject but they still may have a rigidity of thought that prevents real “genius” from forming, if that makes sense.

[@jackpickerill549]

Really interesting, personally I would love to hear more about your life in music & your opinions and experiences in/on musical education

[@cihant5438]

I just went back and listened to the fugue by Britten after you brilliant talk. Thank you for all you do!

[@jamesscottvideos]

Regarding Beethoven and not being a great melodist, it amazes me how he composed Da stiegen die Menschen an's Licht, from the Cantata on the Death of Emperor Joseph II, at the age of 20. As good as anything by Schubert, as far as I'm concerned. As for modern genius, it seems that has largely been stamped out by the music industry and profiteering. Musical genius doesn't sell, image and superficiality does.

[@matthewking1873]

Yes, you’re right. Beethoven’s melodic talent is very clear in his early music.

[@Fritz_Haarmann]

Professor, your comment section is mayhem.

[@stephenkershaw160]

I wonder how you feel about genius vs ego. Can they both occupy the same creative mind? Obviously Wagner springs to mind here. Even your hero (and mine) Joni could be pushy with her image making, witness the cover art of Don Juan's Reckless Daughter on which her image appears in altered form on the three figures, one of whom is her alter ego Art Nouveau, a fictitious cardsharp and bon viveur in what is now disapproved of as blackface. Does it even matter in the end? I was interested in your noting that 'genius' as personification as opposed to an attendant spirit arose at the end of the Enlightenment. It reminded me of Kenneth Clarke's observation on the 'Artist as Hero', a phenomenon marking the end of the liveried patron-seeker (say Haydn) and the tempestuous, even tyrannical force of nature that was Beethoven. Great analysis of Fur Elise, the Tempest Sonata and Op 132. Bravo on your improvviso! Andre Chenier against the corporations!

[@craigadam]

Love your videos, agree totally, profit has sucked the passion out of everything. We need a revolution where people feel free to do what they want when it comes to music and the creative endeavour. People are so hung up on being judged and criticised, just do it and enjoy it. I sometimes have a bottle of wine and sit at my piano and make some awful noises, but I enjoy it.

[@mendyman]

Good stuff and good to hear.

[@rijkjtwr5237]

I really enjoy your content, keep it up!

[@themusicprofessor]

Thank you!

[@spazzriff_appreciator]

I'm lucky enough to be inspired by your video before heading to school to study music! MY favorite example of this, a little closer to a sphere I'm familiar with, is Allan Holdsworth. He had a musical dad but also this super rare drive when he started studying music to "figure it out on his own", kind of stubbornly. His interest almost from the very beginning was improvising. You pair that specific drive as a young person with a kind of phenomenal intelligence and what comes out the other end is really so extremely advanced that it puts a lot of listeners off. I highly encourage you if you have a free moment to explore his beautiful performance of "Looking Glass" by typing that into KZbin 👍

[@themusicprofessor]

Thank you. Yes, he's remarkable!

[@beluch2768]

A thoughtful lecture, thank you! I don't know Joni Mitchell, but your remarks about her made me think of places in Burt Bacharach's songs which give me the same sort of feeling of something completely novel and extremely beautiful being created. Your remark that "Caravan" came together "only at that moment" made me think of Frank Sinatra and Count Basie's live performance of "I've Got You Under My Skin", which should carry a "Danger! Ear Worm!" sign on You Tube. To be mildly adversarial (since you like dialectic) I would regret the lack of _overpowering hugeness_ in your notion of genius. No mention, for instance, of Brahms. To me, this seems indispensable. The last movement of Gliere's "Ilya Mourometz" in Hermann Scherchen's performance; or Bruckner's 8th in Furtwängler's; or the Hamburg recording of Brahms' First with Furtwängler from 1951. Almost 50 years ago I had an argument with a much older, serious, unsuccessful artist who became angry when I said that the "Méditation" from _Thaïs_ was "a work of genius" (I was a young twerp at the time). He thought it was a misuse of the term that one must also use for Rembrandt. To my mind, works of genius always seem to have something _superhuman_ about them. It seems to me that you are keen to assimilate them to works that talented but less extraordinary people can produce.

[@themusicprofessor]

I don't think I'd disagree about most of the pieces you mention but I also think that genius can occur in small and intimate things, and in a diversity of genres. I would say that its possible to confuse notions of quality with genre categories and assume that because Rembrandt is a genius Toulouse Lautrec cannot be one because he designs posters which are a less highbrow form of communication. But I think that's incorrect. Massanet's 'La Méditation de Thaïs' is a marvellous example of light music: a perfect little jewel of melodic charm. No its not a Bruckner Symphony and it's not trying to be. It is nevertheless a popular work of genius

[@dabeamer42]

@@themusicprofessor Good point -- the high-brows and long-hairs (at least of today) might be tempted to put "light music" in a category where _Genius_ never happens. Au contraire. First thing that comes to mind is Eleanor Rigby. (Of course, a chunk of the genius there is George Martin's string arrangement. Esp. the inverted pedal in the first fiddle in the last verse.)

[@themusicprofessor]

One of this channel's earliest videos was about Eleanor Rigby: kzbin.info/www/bejne/gF7CiqqZp66Df68si=B9U87qkDViKg0bAR

[@dabeamer42]

@@themusicprofessor Thanks for the reference. You even used the G-word back then.

[@galeem713]

Joni Mitchell is magic.

[@Vikliks_]

For me, Genius in art has always been about a "stroke of genius", an idea that processes certain inspirations and well known forms and makes something new and truly unique. The funny thing is that while high knowledge of said subject makes you more prone to create something brilliant, this kind of idea can come from anyone. It is mostly simple steps and ordinary schemes, but connected in a way that "clicks" and makes you think two things: "wow" and "how has no one done this before?" My example of geniality in music will always be Rachmaninoff's 18th variation on Paganini's theme. Just an inversion of a melody that has been variated on into oblivion, but giving me the feeling that it had to be done this way, so different and sublime and somehow really canonical for Rach's music, yet clearly not "originally" his. When I heard it for the first time, it didn't even come to my mind it could have been derived from other composition. It just makes so much sense alone - because it was touched by Genius.

[@themusicprofessor]

No question about Rach Pag

[@JohnOGradyArtist]

A wonderful free flowing stream of consciousness. Bravo on your thoughts on the young saving the world

[@oniryujin4162]

I’ll always be of the opinion that the composer is the genius not the performer

[@themusicprofessor]

Well composers certainly tend (historically) to be relevant for longer, and they are certainly creating music at what might be described as a deeper level. But I also think that there are plenty of examples of performers endowed with genius. Without great performances music would be nothing.

[@kennyfrien-i]

Wonderful video, love your channel! I'd be a patron if not really strapped budget-wise...

[@AnorLondo2]

Thank for the interesting videos!

[@themusicprofessor]

Thank you so much!

[@RichardThornton_sasuser]

Another great lecture.

[@shawnwilliamson9267]

Purely pianistic question: how do you train to sightread a string quartet score like you did with that op 132 opening? My brain just cannot comprehend all of those lines whenever i try to do so:/

[@themusicprofessor]

It takes a while to develop the skill but it's a bit like reading off 2 staves - that's not very easy to begin with either. Did you know that when Bach wrote his 6 part Ricercare in the Musical Offering, it was composed on 6 staves which were meant to be read at the keyboard? So for Bach it was standard practice!

[@peteannells4218]

Interesting discussion. Has a genius got to be someone who is doing something new or in a new way? (I would say yes) One has to avoid falling into the trap of considering our favourites to be genii; seeing both sides of an argument certainly helps in that. Are there any people who you do not personally admire who you would still consider a genius ? Young artists do exist of great merit who do not conform to the 'made for radio' corporate standard do exist...Catch 22... you do not hear about them unless you are actively looking ! Have a look at Billy Strings if you have time. You may not like the music but...! ('Newgrass' eg modern Bluegrass.) Would you consider a video on Celia Derbyshire ? (BBC Radiophonic Workshop pioneer).

[@themusicprofessor]

Interesting comment. I suppose genius often involves innovation of some kind. Celia Derbyshire was certainly an innovator!

[@timothy4664]

I can't stand being fed opinions by celebrities, because they are celebrities. Obviously, some are more qualified to speak about certain subjects than others, but there is something patronizing about that model. It wouldn't be so grating if the producers kept the celebrities to musicians. But even then, not all musicians are created equal. I would take a singer songwriter more seriously than a vocalist that doesn't write, can't read music and can't play an instrument other than their own voice. But I'm rambling and ranting lol.

[@segovia5758]

Your Jodi comment on 'the genius of youth' prompts this. Being of that era (I'm 75), I have no doubt Bob Dylan was as close to genius as could be in the 'pop world'. At a time of political awakening, his early songs had a depth, a political and psychological insight, and beauty/harshness of lyrics that were absurd for somebody in their late teens and early twenties. (The music was more than anybody's equal as well). I have seen / heard nothing since and I completly concur with Nobel Prize for Poetry. My point : if youj KZbin (new verb) 'Bob Dylan On Songwrting' there is a 1min39 clip. Dylan refers to his early songs, citing one, with great admiration and surprise. He is not boasting - he is saying Where the **** did that come from? I can't produce that now, it happened. Alienation might be the word to describe the creator from the created - echoing the idea of a muse/spirit/entity without.

[@matthewking1873]

I’ve seen that interview clip. Its rather touching that he can’t understand how he wrote his early songs. The one he quotes from I think is ‘Like a Rolling Stone’

[@segovia5758]

In Jodi terms " Well it only goes to show, you don't know what you've got till it's gone..." 🤣

[@segovia5758]

Song is It's Alright Ma, I'm only bleeding'.

[@matthewking1873]

@@segovia5758 ah yes. You’re right.

[@Wherrimy]

I dont think Beethoven thought about replacong choral finale with the quartet theme; instead, it's the opposite, where an originally orchestral symphony became choral

[@themusicprofessor]

I believe the sketch for the instrumental finale has been dated from 1823, but Beethoven did consider replacing the choral finale. Something similar happened with the quartet Op. 130 when he was persuaded to replace the Grosse Fuge with a new finale.

[@soozb15]

I totally agree about the celebs emoting in that BBC propgramme. It made me squirm. But perhaps they thought it was the only way to reel in the viewers ☹

[@R08Tam]

Celebrities, or as I call them, the C word.

[@xeens6s]

Your comments on young people is interesting because of a theory that Rick Beato just came forward with a few days ago on his channel.

[@themusicprofessor]

What was his theory?

[@xeens6s]

@ haha sorry I am driving and couldn’t elaborate. Basically that musicians (and most creatives) peak before 30.

[@themusicprofessor]

In pop music I would say it that is almost always the case (one example of the genius of the Beatles was their decision to split up on the cusp of reaching 30 before they started to get less good!) But in 'classical' music I would say the opposite is often the case: that composers improve as they get older. The same is sometimes true of art and literature too (e.g. Rembrandt's late self portraits or Shakespeare's The Tempest)

[@dwdei8815]

This video - Let's define genius! Next video - Watch me nail this jelly to the wall! It is a fantastic subject and one of those which we should all talk about with delight, remembering our tip-top examples - and all we can offer will be endlessly incomplete and biased. My personal take is that there is excellence and there is genius - excellence might not contain genius (um... Canaletto paintings), genius might not be excellent (the Sinclair C5 anyone?). The distinction I try to draw is whether a creation came sui generis from a person seeing beyond every limit there is in society/academia, whereas excellence is a brilliant mix of ideas already surrounding them. When I hack my clumsy way through, say, Valses Nobles et Sentimentales by Ravel, so many times I am struck by "sounds" which, to the best of my knowledge, simply did not exist (some still don't) outside those pages. If he had not written them the world not have those effects in its cultural vocabulary. There's my brave stab at an example.

[@themusicprofessor]

A brilliant example: 'Valses Nobles et Sentimentales' is a perfect masterpiece. I'm not convinced that the Sinclair C5 was a work of genius whereas Canalettos paintings surely are!

[@dwdei8815]

@@themusicprofessor It's the last of the Valses Nobles that haunts me for days. It jangles neurons inside me that - you know, like the old Heineken adverts said. For my go-to example of a genius I tend to step outside the arts and nominate Michael Faraday. A bookbinder's apprentice with who was captivated by the texts he was binding and he would take them home and copy them out. Out of a multiplicity of technically and mathematically messy guesses he "saw" that electricity and magnetism travelled in 3-d "waves", and sketched out a bedrock of basically pictorial explanations that was so reliable and consistent that James Clerk Maxwell (who would be lower on my genius ranking but higher in the excellence ranking) was able to capture them in mathematical formulas. There's a lot of the sui-generis sauce in his biography.

[@themusicprofessor]

He was amazing. You're right. And the last waltz in the Ravel: absolutely. In its tiny frame it evokes bygone worlds.

[@TheGloryofMusic]

I would suggest that there is a difference between genius and talent (native ability). Saint-Saëns, Korngold, and Mendelssohn were all astounding child prodigies, but ended up as second-tier composers. Mendelssohn's String Octet is remarkable, but like most of his works is merely charming. In contrast, Schubert's early symphonies may have faults but are filled with noble ideas. And Beethoven did not compose his first unequivocal masterpiece until his late twenties, the Sonata Opus 10, No. 3. I believe that genius involves the ability to uncover natures hidden archetypes, and so musical masterpieces are more discovered than invented, much like mathematical theorems. I remember the first time I heard the late Beethoven quartets and had the uncanny feeling that I had known the music all my life.

[@themusicprofessor]

I would argue that the composers you mention were all touched with genius to some extent (Carnival of the Animals and Korngold's piano quintet are masterpieces!) and I would definitely put Mendelssohn in the top tier: pieces like the Italian and Scottish Symphonies, Midsummer Nights Dream music and Hebrides Overture etc. are among the greatest works of early Romanticism. I don't agree that he became less good either: the violin concerto and F minor string quartet are among his last works, and are among the greatest works in their genres. I'd say Beethoven's masterpieces begin with his Op. 1 actually. However, I completely agree about the late quartets.

[@TheGloryofMusic]

@@themusicprofessor Yes, there is an element of prejudice in my remarks. In terms of their genres, the pieces you mention are masterpieces. But we tend to place supreme value on works that express spiritual transcendence, and consider that such music is uniquely inspired.

[@TheGloryofMusic]

@@themusicprofessor I'm not very familiar with the Beethoven Opus 1 Trios. The F-min and C-maj Sonatas from Opus 2 are a fine works, but I consider the A-maj to be a bad piece.

[@themusicprofessor]

Oh no - I disagree. The A major is fab. It's a comedic masterpiece. You might be interested to see Andràs Schiff's lecture about it: kzbin.info/www/bejne/jmrCn6yoYrRrh7ssi=hCmfGwSXg5yGkGja

[@TheGloryofMusic]

@@themusicprofessor Glenn Gould liked the A-maj, and especially the slow movement with its string quartet-like texture. I find the material of the sonata to be pedestrian (but maybe that is part of the comedic aspect?). But there's no accounting for taste. Gould called the Opus 111 Sonata a "bad piece of music", and Benjamin Britten also disliked the work. (Gould also hated most of middle-period Beethoven.) For me, Beethoven's comedic masterpiece is the G-maj Sonata from Opus 31. I like to think that the disjointed rhythms in the opening of the 1st movement represent Beethoven making fun of pianists who cannot coordinate their hands (and the roughness of the material is deliberate). And the slow movement is a send-up of Italian Opera.

[@TheseAreMyHooves]

Strauss to save our times !

[@Jinkaza1882]

Exploitation of novelty. All the stuff the status quo/establishment gatekeepers step over, looks down on, being the used to create. "Break the rules"

[@Ziad3195]

Really should've mentioned Islamicate World's scholars like Ibn al-Haytham, Al-Zahrawi, Al-Jahiz, Al-Jazari, Ibn Khaldun... These pioneers that have influenced Erupepan thought and culture for centuries and to this day. In fact, Ibn Al-Haytham (called Alhazen in the West) was constantly quoted in the scientific revolution by Newton, Kepler, Christian Huygens, Galilei and more...

[@themusicprofessor]

No question that Islamic scholars were a wonderfully enlightened force in the Medieval world!

[@Ziad3195]

@@themusicprofessor Absolutely! Imagine what could’ve been if Europe and the Islamic world had forged closer ties back then. I say "closer" because they weren’t just clashing swords or arguing about whose faith was superior. They exchanged knowledge, played chess-yes, Alfonso X of Castile, who often played with Muslims, the same Alfonso who commissioned the Cantigas de Santa María. He even referred to himself as "King of Both Worlds," a title reflecting his ambition to unite the Christian and Muslim territories of the Iberian Peninsula. They shared songs and poems, with figures like Ziryab, an instrumental figure in introducing the oud to Eruope, which Eruopeans would adopt and adapt into the lute. Ziryab established one of the earliest music schools in Córdoba in the 9th century. His influence spread far beyond the Islamic world and into Christian Europe-his school even attracted students from Europe, and many graduates traveled between both worlds. Arabic poetry, too, circulated in Europe, inspiring many. They traded ideas, goods, and wisdom, and for centuries, works by Islamic scholars were taught in European universities. One really wonders how much more could have blossomed.

[@JazzGuitarScrapbook]

Djinn and Genius….

[@Ziad3195]

@@JazzGuitarScrapbook what do you mean 😂

[@JazzGuitarScrapbook]

@ good music is music where the numbers add up ;-)

[@edwardtutman196]

Great topic. I respectfully disagree with you on Mozart "emerging" due to his father's training. According to latest neuroscience, nature plays a much greater role than nurture. One common example is of the identical twins.. .So even if you switch their fathers, both Mozart and Beethoven's genius would have still emerged. And if Mozart lived as long as Beethoven - 56 and Beethoven as long as Mozart - 35, who knows which works would have been produced by the end of their lives. P.S. I do agree with you that "genius is in the details" and also in transcendence. There are much fewer examples of the latter because it is beyond creativity. Thank you for the informative and provocative discourse.

[@themusicprofessor]

I don't doubt the genetic element: Leopold noticed his son's talent and enthusiasm for the keyboard as a small child and nurtured it. But there's no question in my mind that Mozart's rigorous early training gave him an immense head start.

[@edwardtutman196]

@@themusicprofessor Any examples of transcendent music? I sometimes sense a sequence of notes in various pieces in which in the composer is getting out of the mind.

[@themusicprofessor]

There are lots of examples I'd say. I once attended a live performance of Messiaen's 'Vingt Regard sur l'Enfant Jesus' that was like a religious experience for the entire audience. Pierre Laurent Aimard was the pianist. It was in the Barbican Hall. When he finished, there was complete silence for several minutes.

[@edwardtutman196]

@@themusicprofessor What a treat professor - thank you! Here is a topic for consideration: music of "death" and transcendence

[@R08Tam]

I'm 72 and I'm rapidly coming to the conclusion that anyone below the age of 50 should be allowed to vote twice and that politicians should be forced to retire when they reach 70. The world would probably be a safer place.

[@jamesboswell9324]

Are you commenting on the right video?

[@mercoid]

Wisdom doesn’t necessarily come to everyone with age.

[@37BopCity]

"Genius" has different meanings. One side of genius is supremely positive and enriching for the entire human race --- the other, is the exact opposite. Normally we speak or artistic geniuses like Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, etc. or Michelangelo, Leonardo, etc. All these people seem to be touched by a higher power from birth with special, pre-ordained gifts that the rest of us just do not have. We all fall under the positive, enriching power of artistic genius because it enriches our lives in every way. The other side of genius is supremely negative. Some people like Adolf Hitler had a genius for seducing millions of people into believing his supremely negative vision of mass murder and destruction. Today in 2024, Donald Trump also has a supreme negative genius for pathological lying, hatred, division, and criminal corruption that got him re-elected President of the USA. "Genius" covers both heaven and hell.

[@themusicprofessor]

There's something in this although I'm not convinced that 'genius' is the quite right word for the evil version: isn't it more like a kind of dark energy that occurs in volatile periods in history when large numbers of gullible people fall prey to ambitious self-aggrandising sociopaths. Essentially it's a cult phenomenon.