The role of schooling

You go to a great school not so much for knowledge as for arts and habits, for the habit of attention, for the art of expression, for the art of assuming at a
moment’s notice a new intellectual position, for the art of entering quickly into another person’s thoughts, for the habit of submitting to censure and refutation,
for the art of indicating assent or dissent in graduated terms, for the habit of regarding minute points of accuracy, for the art of working out what is possible
in a given time, for taste, for discrimination, for mental courage, and for mental soberness.

— William Johnson Cory, English educator and poet.

Cited in: Rupert Hart-Davis, ed. (1978-79) The Lyttelton Hart-Davis Letters: Correspondence of George Lyttelton and Rupert Hart-Davis, 1955-1962. London: John Murray, pp.19-20.

Posted

in

by

Greg

Tags:

,

Featured Content

Popular classical music is great too
“A lot of what you call the great repertoire is popular, but that doesn’t mean it’s not a great work. I mean, come on. Rachmaninoff 3 is great. There shouldn’t be ‘If this work is so popular, then don’t do it.’ In the art world it is only what you feel right to perform.” Lang […]
Eighteenth century aesthetics
Mozart was not at all a purely instinctive, intuitive artist. His remarks to the effect that he “loved to plan works, study, and meditate” and that “he preferred to work slowly and with deliberation” [demonstrate this] … On one level, Mozart’s musical aesthetic is informed by three fundamental and closely related principles that can be […]
O Danny Boy
Long before the tune Danny Boy even had words the tune existed as an Irish folk melody.  A study in 1979 revealed that Londonderry Air was related to Aislean an Oigfear (The Young Man’s Dream), which had been collected in 1792 from harpist Denis O’Hampsey  He was over ninety at the time and had played […]
From the heart
“What comes from the heart, goes to the heart.” — Samuel Coleridge Taylor, English poet, critic and philosopher. Coleridge, Samuel (1856) Seven Lectures on Shakespeare and Milton. London: Chapman and Hall, page xlv
Valley of shadows
“When walking through the valley of shadows, remember, a shadow is cast by a Light.” – H. K. Barclay Cited at: QuotationsBook
The significance of the individual
  “You are an extremely valuable, worthwhile, significant person even though your present circumstances may have you feeling otherwise.” – James Newmann, American mathematician
Jan Lisiecki on Chopin
Schumann described Chopin’s works as “cannons buried in flowers”.  Contained in Chopin’s music are painful moments, suffering, longing and much drama. Similarly to Mozart, the external impression may be one of pure beauty, elegance, exuberance or joy but, deep down, there is something else entirely, a sort of imprecise discomfort, a certain malaise. The contrast […]
Einstein on Mozart
Einstein wrote that Mozart’s music “was so pure that it seemed to have been ever-present in the universe, waiting to be discovered by the master.” Lyth, David (2019) The Road to Einstein’s Relativity. Boca Ranton: CRC Press, p.131.
Tin Pan Alley
Tin Pan Alley refers to the concentration of music publishers in New York City, West 28th Street between Fifth and Sixth avenues.  It started around 1885 and lasted till the depression in the 1930s.  It’s title comes from the the sound of all the cheap, tinny pianos playing, being likened to the beating of  tin […]
Mack the Knife
Bobby Darin’s 1959 recording of “Mack the Knife” from The Threepenny Opera (Lyrics: Bertolt Brecht; Music: Kurt Weill) not only hit number one on the charts, but was also the first non-R&B pop hit for Atlantic Records and helped establish the label’s future. Source: Creswell, Toby (2005) 1001 Songs: The Great Songs Of All Times. […]