AI-powered
podcast player
Listen to all your favourite podcasts with AI-powered features
Intro
Jan Swofford, a composer and writer, discusses the genius and influences behind timeless classical music, reflecting on the current state and future direction of music and art.
Jan Swafford is an author and composer of classical music. He's written canonical biographies on Mozart, Beethoven, Brahms, and Ives, and is a composer of works such as Landscape with Traveler, From the Shadow of the Mountain, and The Silence at Yuma Point.
--
Timestamps
(0:00:00) Intro
(0:00:43) Beethoven and immortality
(0:02:35) Mozart and human nature
(0:04:43) Mozart and romanticism
(0:08:13) Artistic genius
(0:12:38) Beethoven’s late period
(0:15:10) Composers and virtuosos
(0:19:00) Beethoven’s father
(0:21:02) Influence of the enlightenment
(0:26:08) Identifying the next Beethoven
(0:31:23) Aristocratic patrons
(0:34:11) The German genius
(0:38:45) Modern art
(0:41:54) Artistic influences
(0:45:45) Explaining your art
(0:49:55) The solo composer
(0:51:50) What would Beethoven say today?
(0:55:39) Modern recordings
(1:02:22) Future of art
(1:04:57) Jan’s compositions
(1:11:47) Enthusiasts and the internet
(1:13:29) Interpreting history
(1:18:02) Music v literature
(1:23:07) Three great spiritual forces
--
Links
- Jan's piece "They That Mourn"
- Subscribe to Undertone on YouTube, Apple, Spotify, or Substack
- Watch or listen to previous episodes of Undertone with Tyler Cowen, Vitalik Buterin, Scott Sumner, Samo Burja, Steve Hsu, and more
- I love hearing from listeners. Email me any time at dan@danschulz.co
- Share anonymous feedback on the podcast: https://forms.gle/w7LXMCXhdJ5Q2eB9A
Listen to all your favourite podcasts with AI-powered features
Listen to the best highlights from the podcasts you love and dive into the full episode
Hear something you like? Tap your headphones to save it with AI-generated key takeaways
Send highlights to Twitter, WhatsApp or export them to Notion, Readwise & more
Listen to all your favourite podcasts with AI-powered features
Listen to the best highlights from the podcasts you love and dive into the full episode