Random notes

I was just a little curious about that Ayn Rand–Rachmaninov connection. Did she think the piano solo in the second concerto sounded sublimely selfish? Did it make her feel a little Galty? (Wouldn't "Gal't" be "halt" in Russian, by the way? Гальт! Гальт!*) Anyway I rand across (typo, but I'm leaving it) something incredibly precious, a website devoted to "music with an Ayn Rand connection".  You can just imagine the faithful zoning out to "a type of turn of the century popular music that she called 'Tiddlywink Music.'" Or learn that

Rand's love of Rachmaninoff's music is well known. Rachmaninoff was also a talented pianist and his solo recordings for the Victor Talking Machine Company sold well.

Not only did Rand love his music, but he also managed to make some money. Undoubtedly because of the very entrepreneurialism that attracted her to him in the first place. What a lot of blessings!


Anyway, something that is not at all tiddlywink...
 
 *No, it is not. Гальт is apparently Ukrainian for Galt, or Halt if it's somebody's name, or with a stretch the sound Germans make when they are telling somebody to stop, but in Russian it's just Галт. I have learned, though, about the Scottish novelist John Galt (1779-1839), in whose Ayrshire Chronicles the word "utilitarian" appeared for the first time, a casual acquaintance of Byron's during their European travels. I'm pretty sure Ayn Rand had no knowledge of this person when she named her reclusive hero.