A Thanksgiving Tribute: Keeping Culture Alive

I have spent the past week immersed in the ruminations of Einstein from a collection of writings amassed into a singular text entitled, Ideas and Opinions.  If you have not yet experienced the great pleasure of reading these pages, I strongly encourage you to pursue the purchase with haste.  

Although many decades have passed since the words were written, somehow it feels as though Einstein wrote them yesterday.  His insight is consistent, pure and profound in the simplest manner, as if he is writing chapters for the book of life. In Einstein's eyes, we were each born with a purpose: to contribute in some way to the betterment of society.  Think of the warm, illuminated house you are in at this moment, of the computer you sit at, the internet you survey.  None of these things sprung into existence of their own accord.  Many others before you devoted their lives to make it so that you today have the ability to acquire those things.  Now, as Einstein suggests, it is our duty to contribute to humanity in a similar fashion, giving back in gratitude for what we may easily take for granted.  

Did our ancestors toil and trial relentlessly just so we could watch YouTube and heat frozen food in minutes? I am inclined to say, no.  Those scientists and artists who contributed to humanity throughout time have un mistakenly shaped the world we know in every way.  Now the alarm sounds for us. Will we preserve the past with care and nourish the great ideas of our time, or will we relax in our easy chair and cease to care for the preservation of our intriguing species?  What can we offer in thanks for what we have been given?    

I admit, it did not take much pondering before I realized my role as a musician in this world is significant.  As a proponent of an artistically challenging instrument, my lifes work strives to keep culture alive.  In Einstein’s own words, “It is just as important to keep culture alive as to solve specific problems.” The violin itself  is a relic of the Enlightenment, a proud era in our history when scientific and artistic endeavors were heaving with productive, creative genius, much of which we now look upon with awe.  If we were to allow Symphonies to fade from public attention it would be no less destructive than disregarding Newton’s law of universal gravitation.   Great music enlivens our entire brain and reveals to us the genuine splendor of cooperation.  

When the Voyager Golden Record was launched, works by Beethoven, Mozart and Stravinsky were among the few on the track. Their stardom will quite literally reach the stars.  It is their music which we deem worthy enough to share with the other intelligent beings in the universe. 

 
Alas, a world dank with war, competitive hatred and lack of empathy can not be tolerated if true greatness is to be achieved by mankind.  Cooperation, understanding and camaraderie should be at the forefront of our goals if we wish to survive among our sentient neighbors in the abyss of space.