About music, philosophy and yearning...

I find that music and philosophy complement each other: music makes life beautiful (at least sometimes), philosophy makes life possible (at least sometimes). Music and philosophy are almost meaningful activities in themselves because they are so utterly sublime, they persist seeking what is in the end unattainable. They both seek meaning—a meaning in life, a meaning of life.

So do I. The last years my philosophical pursuit of meaning has concentrated on doing philosophy with children and youth. Young people are no less in pursuit of meaning than adults. On the contrary, the fact that they are young and inexperienced makes their quest even more fundamental. The important thing about philosophy is not that it helps young people become cleverer, the important thing is that it helps them become themselves. It is, I think, a good thing to help children discover the quest for truth and meaning enshrined in their very own lives. What the children choose to do with their discovery is however, and must be, entirely up to themselves.

I started playing the piano at age 6. And thanks to my father's LP-collection I early discovered the works of Chopin. I was spellbound by the first bar—and the fascination lingers on. Here is mystery and brilliance in abundance, in every work. Later on I established my other musical love relation, to the English composer Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872-1958). His naïve sublety never ceases to move and inspire me, then despite all conspicuous immanence, his works bear the unmistakeable sign of transcendence, or rather, the sign of quest for trancendence...