In honor of Veterans Day—and mindful of Aldous Huxley’s maxim that “after silence, that which comes nearest to expressing the inexpressible is music”—take a moment to familiarize yourself with Danish composer Carl Nielsen’s Symphony no. 4, “The Inextinguishable.” Paul Serotsky explains: “Nielsen started giving the work serious thought in Summer 1914, just as the dogs of the Great War were being unleashed. By the time he’d set pen to paper, a full year later, Mankind’s most determined attempt to date at pressing the ‘self-destruct’ button was in full swing.”
If you’re a veteran, thank you.
