Then you win

First they ignore you,
Then they laugh at you,
Then they fight you,
Then you win.
-Mahatma Gandhi, who was born Oct. 2, 1869.
A peace symphony here.
Photo taken at the Lac du Der Chantecoq, France is (c) On An Overgrown Path 2009. Report broken links, missing images and errors to - overgrownpath at hotmail dot co dot uk

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The Berlin Philharmonic's darkest hour

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Wilhelm Furtwängler was born on 25th January 1886. He was Music Director of the Berlin Philharmonic from 1923 to his death in 1954, and held this position for the twelve years that Hitler was in power. In January 1945 he was conducting in Vienna, and fled from there to Switzerland where he remained until the Battle of Berlin ended in the defeat of the Nazis. The musicians of his orchestra remained in Berlin during its darkest hour. Here is their story: On 28th March 1945 the Russian forces commanded by Marshal Georgy Zhukov were just twenty miles to the east of Berlin. A month previously Albert Speer had been replaced as Nazi armaments minister after trying to persuade Hitler that defeat was inevitable. Speer now turned his energies to preventing the musicians of his adored Berlin Philharmonic from perishing in the inevitable final battle. Reich Commisioner Dr Joseph Goebells, who was in charge of the defence of Berlin, had ordered the entire orchestra to be drafted into the Vol
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Why I will never stop buying CDs

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Audio perfectionists are an almost extinct breed

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Never sit in the comfy chair

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Classical music is not connecting with its rewired audience

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Heinrich Kaminsky - an emerging composer

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Master musician who experienced the pain of genius

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Classical music's problem nailed in one sentence

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