Robert Roper's biography of Everest climber and professor of philosophy Willi Unsoeld contains the following thought-provoking quote from the great mountaineer: "In the Outward Bound programs parents would ask us, 'Can you guarantee the safety of our Johnny?' And our response would usually be, 'No, we certainly can't , ma'am. Fact is we go the other way and and guarantee you the genuine possibility of his death . And if we could guarantee his safety, the program wouldn't be worth running - do you see?'" This important wisdom can be paraphrased as follows: "Concertgoers would ask the music director, "Can you guarantee I will like everything in your program?" And the music director should reply, 'No, we certainly can't , ma'am. Fact is we go the other way and and guarantee you the genuine possibility that you will hate at least one work. And if we could guarantee you will like everything, the concert would not be wort...
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Please. Given some of the activities in the news recently of actual police, this comment goes beyond silly.
As I said in a recent comment, I have easy and inexpensive access to a wider variety of recorded, downloadable, streamable, and live classical music than ever before in my 40+ years as a listener.
I understand that you are deeply unhappy about some of the means and mechanisms, but the reality is as I've stated it.
And wouldn't it be wonderful if the music humour police could be persuaded to hibernate as well?