As for Saleem, I didn’t know who he was before this show, and now I’m really glad I do! This is what ROS does best for me, it takes familiar topics and introduces new and refreshing voices, keep up the good work Chris! I can’t wait to check out the movie.

Saleem joins in a long line of musicians who have sought to bridge the gap between cultures. His connection to Zubin Mehta is notable, since he along with Ravi Shankar, Alain Daneilou, and Yehudi Menuhin (among many others) pioneered the “East-West” collaborations years ago. The musical discourse, which takes place in a parallel universe to the linguistic one, has waned in recent years, and I’m glad that people like Saleem are keeping it alive.

Is there enough Brahms in the world to tame the savagery in the Middle East? I think there is, but is it Brahms that the Israelis and Palestinians will rally around? I don’t think it takes much Brahms. To me it is a vessel with infinite capacity, though people must be willing to fill it. Sometimes the catalyst for change comes from unlikely sources – take Pete Seeger for example. He was no Brahms, but when he strummed a few chords on a guitar or picked a little banjo and got people singing, they REALLY got together!

What beautiful interview and I agree on the track of something wonderful that is hard to find words for. Music is so basic… it may be that mechanisms in our brains have an evolved ability for music in order to survive. My husband who has spent his career in music reads about and is fascinated by this aspect. It’s one language of emotion (so is dance) the opposite of, or other than, logic. We get so caught up in logic.

It’s an absolutely brilliant endeavor the West-Eastern Divan orchestra bringing together two sides in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict to play music. They live in their higher selves, embody a way and hope. For a 30 year old Saleems sounds lightyears further in emotional maturity.

They are both the same generation, my nephew ( incidentally related to Artur Rubinstein)

and Saleem, the same age, and they have the same disappointments but still they hope.

Hurley-thank you for your post about birdsong.

Thank you Chris.

And a belated thanks to Norman Mailer for inspiring Chris to get out the Proust. Perhaps, I’ll give Proust another shot. I’m guessing I need to wait a couple years, to feel a little more august, brittle, and mentally and physically bereft! Judging how I generally feel each and every morning, this day creeps closer and closer with predatory acumen.

I’ll leave off with this link to Christopher Alexander because I like the zen of his Brahms. From the timeless way of building: There is a central quality which is the root criterion of life and spirit in a man, a town a building, or a wilderness. This quality is objective and precise, but it cannot be named.

What Cartesian nonsense to think of birdsong as pre-programmed cries uttered by birds to advertise their presence to the opposite sex, and so forth! Each bird-cry is a full-hearted release of the self into the air, accompanied by such joy as we can barely comprehend. I! says each cry: I! What a miracle!