'Tis the gift to be free



Among the most read On An Overgrown Path posts in recent weeks has been the one seen above. It dates from the early days of the blog and was created by cutting and pasting the text of Aaron Copland's 1953 testimony to Senator Joseph R. McCarthy's notorious Senate Permanent Subcommittee. There could be two reasons why it is attracting so many readers. One is that it now appears to be the only online version of this important document as the link to its source, a US State Congress document, is broken. Another reason could be its topical resonances. The full text of Aaron Copland's McCarthy hearing can be read via this link.

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Master musician who experienced the pain of genius

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