Book Description

From world renowned composer and pianist, Eric Christian, comes his debut work as an author. "A Symphony of Thought is a delightful book of aphorisms, an exercise in the exploration of an artist's full spectrum of thought." -Manasseh David Israel, editor of The American Sublime "Many a time have I found comfort and inspiration in sitting across from Eric in an NYC bar and listening to his thoughts over his preferred order of a plate of pasta, olives, and a negroni. I'm glad the joy and inspiration our chats have brought me are now available for everyone to enjoy as much as I have throughout our years of friendship." -Sophia Bacelar, cellist and artist "This is a book about life, music and meaning, bundled with all of the idiosyncrasies that come along with being an artist nowadays. There's an unspeakable beauty in capturing the sense of what may be a long midnight conversation - an analysis of a situation, an account of an ironic turn of events, an insight into something imminent - with just a few words. And just like Eric's company, they're best enjoyed with a glass of your finest wine." -Alfonso Peduto, composer and pianist --- Music begins where words end; depending on where you're coming from, this also works the other way round. Indeed, there is a long tradition of artists as not only artists but also writers, traversing the whole path between these two poles: Debussy, the composer and critic in his anonymous persona of Monsieur Croche the Dilettante Hater; Nietzsche, aphorist and composer, raising hell and defying heaven in his "Joyful Science"; Van Gogh, painter and passionate diarist in the letters to his dear brother Theo. Truth be told it's a recent invention-the idea that artists only ever do one thing. But artists have always been masters of arts in general; this includes writing, which is really another form of thinking. For if one is doing art and thought right-at the right depths, at the right times, and to the right degrees-one will have no choice but to eventually hit the bedrock of existence with philosophy. Eric Christian's A Symphony of Thought is a delightful book of aphorisms, an exercise in the exploration of an artist's full spectrum of thought. It is a portrait of the artist in the valleys between the mountain peaks that are his music, and a window into what things might occupy the mind of a classical composer in our time. -Manasseh David Israel, THE AMERICAN SUBLIME