The Well-Tempered Ear

Classical music: Republican presidential candidate Dr. Ben Carson talks about the classical music he likes. It includes Schubert and Rossini, and Baroque composers Bach, Vivaldi and Corelli

By Jacob Stockinger

Republican presidential candidate Dr. Ben Carson has been in the news this week as his campaign flounders with the loss of its manager, deputy manager and communications director, who all resigned.

A while back, The Ear complained about too little attention being paid to the arts by the candidates and questioners during the Republican and Democratic presidential debates.

Here is a link to the posting:

https://welltempered.wordpress.com/2015/10/27/classical-music-why-dont-the-presidential-debates-include-questions-about-funding-and-supporting-the-arts-and-humanities/

But now Dr. Ben Carson (below) – whose politics seem downright bizarre to The Ear – has indeed talked about classical music, including the music he listened to, and made others listen to, in the operating room.

Dr. Benjamin Carson, director of Pediatric Neurosurgery at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, speaks to the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in National Harbor, Maryland, March 16, 2013. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst

True, in this interview he doesn’t talk about funding the arts. And one must assume that his conservative, small government policies would probably undermine any support for the National Endowment for the Arts, the National Endowment for the Humanities, National Public Radio (NPR) and the Public Broadcasting System (PBS).

The Ear guesses, perhaps wrongly, that Dr. Ben Carson is or will be a defender of defunding.

But at least it is a start. And given his earlier comments and complaints, The Ear feels obliged to be honest and pass it along:

http://www.greenvilleonline.com/story/entertainment/arts/paul-hyde/2015/12/23/ben-carson-talks-love-classical-music/77836114/

And in honor of Carson — who especially loves the Baroque composers Johann Sebastian Bach, Antonio Vivaldi and Arcangelo Corelli — here is a YouTube recording of one of his favorites: the Symphony No. 8 “Unfinished” by Franz Schubert as performed by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra under the baton of the late music director and conductor George Solti: