Sungrazer profile picture

Sungrazer

About Me

Composer, member ASCAP (piano/organ/synth) Philosophy


"The Dark Ages were an era of intelligence on strike, when men of ability went underground and lived undiscovered, studying in secret." - Ayn Rand
I compare the act of composing music to the work of an architect designing a building, to be built not in stone and steel, but in musical sound. A composer engineers/designs/creates/innovates solutions to musical problems; he is neither curator of the past, nor caterer to popular whims. He composes primarily for himself, and for those who understand [or desire and attempt to understand] his work as he wishes it to be understood. A "sungrazer" is a type of comet which, because of its extremely elliptical orbit, passes quite near to the solar globe (the comet "grazes" the sun), and thus furnishes a spectacular show for earth-bound observers:
Quotes:
"'John Galt' is Prometheus who changed his mind. After centuries of being torn by vultures in payment for having brought to men the fire of the gods, he broke his chains and he withdrew his fire, until the day when men withdraw their vultures." - Atlas Shrugged II.5
"If there is a more tragic fool than the businessman who doesn't know that he's an exponent of man's highest creative spirit--it's the artist who thinks that the businessman is his enemy." - ibid.
"Those who try to be all things to all men end up by not being anything to anyone." - Ayn Rand
"What glory can there be in the conquest of a mindless body?" - ibid.
"Kings rule according to law over voluntary subjects, but tyrants over involuntary; and the one are guarded by their fellow-citizens, the others are guarded against them." - Aristotle Politics iii.14.7
"Dignity does not consist in possessing honors, but in deserving them." - Aristotle
For the Parochial (= the local, narrow, restricted in scope):
"It contributes greatly towards a man's moral and intellectual health to be brought into habits of companionship with individuals unlike himself, who care little for his pursuits, and whose sphere and abilities he must go out of himself to appreciate." - Nathaniel Hawthorne (The Scarlet Letter)
Do you get it?

My Interests

Music:

Member Since: 9/29/2007
Band Website: http://members.sibeliusmusic.com/mpriest
Band Members:THE FOUNTAINHEAD "the courtroom scene" (Gary Cooper) "Crazy" (Seal): In a sky full of people only some want to fly. Isn't that crazy?" Souleyman Faye, et. al, live in Dakar
Influences:

Musical influences range from medieval and Renaissance modal polyphony, through contemporary classical music, prog rock, "soul music," and African string, balafon, and percussion. See also the Senegalese band Xalam , certainly a "sungrazing comet" of the musical solar system.
“Interchanges” for harp was influenced by Mandingo kora music, and also features synchronized multicolored stage lighting representing each of the seven modal scales.
Polymodality, polytonality, polyphony and modal interchange permeate Parasites Lost, a 3-section "mode poem" for wind octet, strings, and percussionist. Literary and Philosophical Influences include Thomas Aquinas, Aristotle, Victor Hugo, John Locke, Ayn Rand , Friedrich Schiller, and Baruch Spinoza.
Religious? See The Unknown Delusion


Sounds Like:
Type of Label: Major

My Blog

"Earth Hour"? or EDISON HOUR !

The Real Meaning of "Earth Hour" Quote: "The lights of our cities and monuments are a symbol of human achievement, of what mankind has accomplished ... Earth Hour presents the disturbing spectacle of ...
Posted by on Sat, 28 Mar 2009 07:21:00 GMT

Protesting Sacrifice, High Taxes

"Where there is sacrifice there is someone collecting the sacrificial  offerings." (Ayn Rand) If we are required to sacrifice all our dreams, our future, our lives, OURSELVES, what else of any value w...
Posted by on Sun, 08 Mar 2009 07:31:00 GMT

Atlas Shrugged: Fiction to Fact in 52 Years

"We don't need to make a movie out of Atlas Shrugged, ... We are living it right now." The above quote comes from an article that appeared on January 9, 2009, in the "Opinion" section of The Wall Stre...
Posted by on Sun, 25 Jan 2009 20:46:00 GMT

Politicians Reflect Their College Education

Dissatisfaction with current and past political candidates is a common complain, and not only during an election year. "The country at large is a mirror of its universities," said author Ayn Rand, and...
Posted by on Sun, 14 Sep 2008 07:01:00 GMT

The Polygamy/Same-Sex Marriage Contradiction

It seems that there is something inherently contradictory here: Some states legalize same-sex "marriages"  (most recently, California) while others outlaw polygamous unions (i.e., Texas).Fuel: Th...
Posted by on Tue, 03 Jun 2008 09:30:00 GMT

National Train Day

May 10th: What Is National Train Day? "On May 10, 1869, in Promontory Summit, Utah, the "golden spike" was driven into the final tie that joined 1,776 miles of the Central Pacific and Union Pacific ra...
Posted by on Sat, 10 May 2008 06:13:00 GMT

Environmentalists against Individual Rights

All "Men" (which does in fact include all women as well) "are created equal" (meaning: they share, hold in common) "certain unalienable Rights" including the right to their own "Life, Liberty, and the...
Posted by on Tue, 06 May 2008 05:52:00 GMT

Democracy? or Individual Rights?

There is a lot of talk today about the importance of "democracy," and not enough talk about the importance of "individual rights."Three of the founding documents of the USA are 1) The Declaration of I...
Posted by on Sun, 27 Apr 2008 06:58:00 GMT

Straw Man Fallacy and Capitalism

A "straw man fallacy is committed when a person misrepresents the argument or theory of another person and then, on the basis of his misrepresentation, purports to refute the real argument or theory."...
Posted by on Sun, 30 Mar 2008 08:06:00 GMT

"The Audacity of Rhetoric"

Latest article by Thomas Sowell highlighting Senator Obama’s recent ’chameleon-like’ behavior (posted 3/25). Click, or copy/paste the link:http://www.theatlasphere.com/columns/0...
Posted by on Tue, 25 Mar 2008 09:11:00 GMT