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peterkopher In reply to Etherealopolis [2007-07-06 16:24:13 +0000 UTC]

Cool - I didn't know that, and Thoreau is one of my heros!

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Etherealopolis In reply to peterkopher [2007-07-07 18:37:15 +0000 UTC]

This reply could turn into a short essay if I'm not careful!
The Transcendentalists were a remarkable bunch, while homegrown to a large extent they were all influenced by one Englishman, Thomas Taylor, who took it upon himself to translate obscure Greek writers into English for the first time. Many of these Greek writers - Iamblichus, Porphyry, Plotinius - were considered second-rate in the English universities of the day because they delved too far into non-Christian mysticism, and Iamblichus had a rep as a magician of some sort. Emerson took it a step further by reading what Buddhist and Hindu literature was available and finding it very agreeable.

Composer Charles Ives was probably the last of the great Transcendentalists but hardly had much to do with the earlier members of the movement. He merely found their writings congenial to his nature. His music, radically different from that of his day, ranges from stark atonal madness to quite lovely pieces; Ives was an inveterate experimenter when it came to music and it is worth a short listen to at least some of his work; but I thought of him initially because he had composed a major work for string orchestra, "The Housatonic meets the Merrimack," which is pretty awesome - and I thought of it as I looked at your photo.

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peterkopher In reply to Etherealopolis [2007-07-09 00:46:20 +0000 UTC]

Thanks Roy, I'll have to check that out!

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