InsideCatholic.com music critic Robert R. Reilly sat down with noted writer, political thinker, and Georgetown University professor Rev. James V. Schall, S.J., to talk about the life of the mind, the future of the West, and lessons learned over a long career in education. This is the second part of the interview. Click here to … Read more
Since the bridge in Minneapolis collapsed, the world has become bridge-conscious. In natural law class this semester, I said to the students: “What is the ‘natural law of bridges?’” I was thinking of J. M. Bochenski’s chapter on “law” in his Philosophy: An Introduction. Bochenski shows that a relation exists between the mind and the … Read more
The English edition of L’Osservatore Romano, for the Fourth of July, carried a “Common Declaration” signed in the Vatican Private Library by Pope Benedict XVI and the Orthodox Archbishop H. B. Chrysostomos II of Nea Justiniana and All Cyprus. In No. 4 of this declaration, these two leaders, somewhat curiously, address themselves to “those who … Read more
In response to continuing calls for troop withdrawals from Iraq, including from within his own party (see Sen. John Warner’s “bring them home for Christmas” plan), President George W. Bush made two major addresses — to the Veterans of Foreign Wars and the American Legion — and then made a surprise visit to Anbar province. … Read more
I recently saw the movie Copying Beethoven. There are very few good films about composers. This is not one of them, although it has the compensation of its “electrifying music,” as advertised by the quote from the Seattle Times review on the DVD jacket cover, as if the music had been written for the movie. … Read more
On learning that September 2007 was to be the last print edition of Crisis Magazine, I proposed a final column titled “The Last ‘Nonsense’ in Print.” I was tempted to title it “The Last Schall ‘Nonsense’ in Print.” It occurred to me that such a title would suggest that the addition of “Schall” to “nonsense,” … Read more
One of the premises of my book, Surprised by Beauty: A Listener’s Guide to the Recovery of Modern Music, was that the music of the 20th century could not be written for another hundred years because so much of it had been neglected or buried for various ideological and political reasons that it would take … Read more
Michael Chertoff wrote in the Washington Post that real war continues, whether we like it or not. A relentless enemy, financed by our own energy needs, prods us daily. The enemy is not in it for money or power, but for God, as he understands (or misunderstands) Him. Like all wars, this war is theological, … Read more
The three boys have joined forces to run away from home and pillage their enemy towns on the banks of the great river. After they filch some of the necessities for a life of piracy—a side of bacon, some tobacco, hooks and lines, and a raft—and spend an afternoon enjoying the glory of spreading the … Read more
Music High and Low by Robert R. Reilly In response to my February/March 2007 Crisis rant against the general decline in culture (particularly in music and dance), I received a letter from a lady in the Midwest that so touched me I have to quote it at length. First, she recalls the shared role of … Read more
Unlike many contemporaries who do not even recognize the concept, Socrates made sin simply a question of ignorance. To get rid of any disorder in our souls, all we need to do is to teach the truth. Ever more education is the ticket. We need method and diligence. If only we knew better, we would … Read more
This month I will be reviewing 155 CDs because I received a boxed set of the complete works of Bach from the Brilliant Classics label, distributed by Koch Entertainment. This year marks Bach’s 322nd birthday; these recordings, including new digital ones of all the 200 sacred cantatas on period instruments and sung by a boys’ … Read more
In The Solzhenitsyn Reader, there is a 1974 essay titled “Repentance and Self-Limitation in the Life of Nations.” In it, the Russian philosopher remarks: “Man’s hope, salvation, and punishment lie in this, that we are capable of change, and that we ourselves, not our birth or our environment, are responsible for our souls!” Solzhenitsyn here … Read more
The good news is that I cannot possibly get through the accumulation of wonderful CD releases from last year, as I promised I would try to do in my “Best of the Rest” column in January. There are too many. So, I am going to restrict myself to new releases of American music. I am … Read more
On my recent birthday, I was given Volume III of C. S. Lewis’s letters. Lest you think Lewis was idle in his latter years, this third volume contains some 1,800 pages. But I am not against the abundance and superabundance of things, for we are created in both, especially in the latter. I have little … Read more
Last month I gave my take on the “best of the rest,” some very good CD releases in 2006. I ran out of space, so I will return in the next issue to review the rest of the best; but first I wanted to share some endnote observations on music, life, and CD shopping. A … Read more
Originally, Veterans’ Day commemorated the end of the Great War, the bloodiest of all wars. On its eve, I was invited to supper at the Army and Navy Club off McPherson Square in Washington, D.C. Walking from the bus stop, I approached a corner of the square where an earnest young man stood with a … Read more
You must go visit the good sisters in Starrucca,” said my friend, Father Check. So there I was with my wife and son in the car, sliding along a slippery highway in rural Pennsylvania, wondering what I would find when I arrived. I’d been told by the mother prioress, Sister Therese, that if we got … Read more
I have not done a “best of the year” list for 2006 because I fell too far behind in covering a multitude of excellent releases from last year. I must use this space to catch up. Some of these, no doubt, would qualify for the “best of designation. The general quality is staggeringly high and … Read more
In his Verona address on October 19, 2006, Pope Benedict XVI returned to a theme he broached in his Regensburg lecture, namely, the relation between modern science, with its “mathematical” foundation, and the existing things of nature. In the Regensburg lecture, the pope related this mathematical background to Plato and Descartes. What is at issue … Read more