David Salminen

In connection with the pursuit of a deeper understanding of Solar Flares, I recently discovered a most satisfying book entitled “The Sun Kings”, by Stuart Clark. Among other things, Clark tells the story of Richard Carrington, the English amateur astronomer who first “connected the dots” (otherwise known as sunspots) on our nearby Star with the occurrence of bizarre electrical phenomena here on planet Earth, ca. 1859. It’s an extraordinary story… a little bit of which I will have to weave into my introductory talk to the Nov. 23 concert. I am reminded, reading of the struggles and sacrifices of Carrington in the cause of scientific understanding, of Isaac Newton’s famous statement: “If I have seen further than others, it is by standing upon the shoulders of giants.” Truly, if we are to make progress in our understanding of all & everything, we must know something of, and respect the accomplishments of, at least a few of our predecessors! Even more – as R.W. Emerson said – a key to progress is to simply to: “Hitch your wagon to a star.” I really like that idea… both in the sense of respecting the thought leaders of previous times, and in the esoteric sense of intuitively or otherwise linking oneself to the Sun itself, the central & leading causative factor in the evolution of our solar system/solar family. This Earth, for which more and more people, thankfully, have a concern – as one might properly have for one’s mother – is not just a big rock unto itself. It is part of a highly evolved, multi-billion year old system. Going further with such speculations is not merely a mental exercise. Indeed, what we are required to do, is to go beyond the mind! And what else is art for? What else is music for?

Details about my Nov. 23, 2014 concert…  http://www.allclassical.org/event/david-salminen-solar-flares/