This episode features John Hodges of the Center for Western Studies in Memphis, TN in a conversation we had recently about music, beauty, and metaphor. John’s insights are well worth your time. He will be here in northeast Louisiana on June 29 for the 5th Annual Bach Lectures leading a live lecture-recital performance of Bach’s Cantata 51.
Find Out More About John’s Work at The Center
John Hodges is a Renaissance Man and leads The Center’s Gap-Year program through the best of western art, literature, and music. Here’s more about what they do there:
WE ARE LIVING ON BORROWED CAPITAL FROM AN EARLIER AGE OF FAITH, AND MANY HISTORIANS AND CULTURAL CRITICS ARE PREDICTING THAT THE WEST AS A CIVILIZATION IS LOST.
While none would want to go back to a world of plagues, feudal warfare, and bad plumbing (which is still the way of life in many other parts of the world), we would like to regain and retain anything that past generations have accomplished that could be called truly timeless, and we want to find ways to apply those ideas to human life in our own day.
Our goal is to be engaged in the art and ideas of Homer, Dante, Shakespeare, and Eliot in order to better engage the art and ideas of (for example) the Marvel Cinematic Universe or the next election cycle. Culture counts, and we are to glorify God with mind and heart as well as soul and strength, which means knowing how to engage with our present culture, and standing on the shoulders of those who have gone before.
If you are interested in the adult seminar being added please email, John Hodges at director@centerws.com.
Music as A Complicated Metaphor