Tag Archives: Music

Listen! You’ll Hear It! (Reductionism Fails)

There is a school of thought that says physics is the ultimate reality; that everything reduces to subatomic particles mindlessly subject to natural law. The story is told—I don’t remember where I heard it—of two young women sitting in the front row of a concert hall, holding the score for the music the orchestra was …

January 13, 2012 – 10:40 am | By Tom Gilson | Posted in Arts and Culture, New Atheism, Origins and Science | Tagged , , , | Comments (1)

The Authentic Musician: Book Review

Book Review As a freshman music major at Michigan State University I played trombone in the Spartan Marching Band and in the Symphonic Band. A sophomore named John Haddix played trumpet in the same two bands. He lived down the hall from me in Mary Mayo Hall, a dorm that attracted a lot music majors, …

June 2, 2010 – 2:02 pm | By Tom Gilson | Posted in Arts and Culture | Tagged , , | Comments Off

The Pleasure of Doing What’s Good For You

I was a trombone major as an undergrad, with an emphasis on classical music. We trombonists owe a lot to Beethoven: he was the first major composer to include trombones in “secular” music. You see, when Martin Luther translated the “last trumpet” (the signal for Christ’s return) in his German Bible, he called it instead …

August 23, 2008 – 7:00 am | By Tom Gilson | Posted in Arts and Culture | Tagged , , | Comments (1)