Music and Being is an exploration of the influence of music on being. It is derived in part from my own experience and involvement. My essential theme is that art is crucial to the well-being of the human mind.
The book consists of nine interrelated essays, both personal and analytical, on the music of Mozart, Bach, Strauss, Beethoven, and Shostakovich, the writings of Aristotle, Stravinsky, and Hesse, and a memoir of homage to my high school music teacher.
The music selected is Mozart’s clarinet quintet and Jupiter symphony; Bach’s exceptional sacred cantatas 199, 78, 82, 84, 182, 12, and 4; Richard Strauss’s Four Last Songs; Beethoven’s 30th piano sonata; and the 13th symphony (Babi Yar) of Shostakovich, with its text by Yevtushenko.
The writings selected are Aristotle’s Poetics, Stravinsky’s Poetics of Music, and Hesse’s The Journey to the East. A philosopher, a composer, and a novelist.
The memoir of my teacher centers on the Alto Rhapsody of Johannes Brahms, with its text from Goethe.