Author: David Whitwell

An aulos player who saw some fish in the sea played his instrument in the hope that they would come ashore ...

Xenophon of Athens (c. 434–355 BC) wrote that the best choirs were characterized by a high degree of discipline, long periods of training and expert conductors.

Gorgias (c. 425 BC) wrote: How can language even express what we perceive through our senses?

Thales (640-546 BC) famously observed, "A lack of culture is a serious thing." Would he be uncomfortable today in America?

Heraclitus (c. 513 BC) was one of the first philosophers to question the consideration given by musicians to their audience.

Pythagoras (580-500 BC) has been judged by Walther Kirchner (1960) as "one of the most outstanding mathematicians of all times," but by Heraclitus (c. 500 BC) a...

Porphyry recalled that Pythagoras (580–500 BC) allowed no one to become a friend or associate without first being examined in facial expression and disposition.

Pythagoras (580–500 BC) as a teacher is still remembered for a number of symbolic utterances. One was "Abstain from beans."

Every musician knows that the purpose of music is to communicate feelings to the listener. But this is first communicated in the choice of repertoire.