Lists of Favorites
Jan Dejnožka
updated February 1, 2009
This page is a temporal composite. Everything here is a favorite of mine, or was at some point over the last thirty years. I do not actively seek favorites, but some things settle over time.
Favorite Philosophy Works
1. Gottlob Frege, The Foundations of Arithmetic , trans. by J. L. Austin. (original German 1884). This book is too short and limited in topic to be the greatest philosophical work ever written, pace Michael Dummett. But page for page, it might be the best--which is not to say it has the truth. Auf Deutsch.
2. Panayot Butchvarov, The Concept of Knowledge (1970). This may be the best epistemology since Descartes. Among other things, Butchvarov argues that we have no concept of evidence, though it might be possible to develop one.
3. Lucian of Samosata, Hermotimus, or The Rival Philosophies (ca. 170 A.D., my guess). This popular essay is better written than much professional philosophy. The question is whether truth is knowable.
2. Aristotle, Metaphysics, trans. by W. D. Ross. Here is an earlier translation.
5. Plato, Parmenides, trans. by Benjamin Jowett.
6. Ludwig Wittgenstein, Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus, trans. by C. K. Ogden with the assistance of Wittgenstein, Bertrand Russell, and Frank Ramsey. Here is the translation by David Francis Pears and Brian McGuinness.
7. Ludwig Wittgenstein, Philosophical Investigations, trans. text to § 100.
8. Bertrand Russell, “The Philosophy of Logical Atomism.” Reprinted in Logic and Knowledge, ed. by Robert C. Marsh.
Favorite Music
1. Johann Sebastian Bach, The Art of the Fugue (Die Kunst der Fuge, Ars Fuga). I listen to Art of the Fugue, Part Two: Contrapuncti Twelve through Fifteen. Also "Vor deinem Thron." The Fine Arts Quartet and The New York Woodwind Quintet. Concert-Disc Connoisseur Series M-1250. There are other impressive performances, but the music is not about being impressive. I prefer strings or woodwinds to harpsichord because the interplay of voices is easier to follow. The music is better played or thought about than listened to, and some of it is easy to play. I played some of it in high school in the 1960s with some high school orchestra friends, and we were average players. The fugue or flight of the music, the dialogue among its voices, reminds me of philosophical dialectic. I think of it as the musical equivalent of Plato's Parmenides, sometimes called the greatest masterpiece of ancient philosophy. In fact, it is less one-sided than Plato's dialogue.
Favorite Performances
1. Johann Sebastian Bach, the Chaconne from Partita No. 2 for violin solo, transcribed for piano by Ferruccio Busoni, piano, piano roll recording first released November 1925, Nimbus NI 8810 compact disk.
2. Frederic Francois Chopin, Prelude, Op. 28 No. 15, "The Raindrop," Ferruccio Busoni, piano, 1906 piano roll recording on Legendary Masters of the Piano, The Classics Record Library, SWV 6633 (stereo record); and piano roll recording first released by September 1923, Nimbus NI 8810 compact disk. Busoni also plays "The Raindrop" on Fone 9013 compact disk, but the Fone sounds far inferior to the Nimbus.
3. Johannes Brahms, Piano Quintet, Clifford Curzon, piano, and the Budapest String Quartet, Odyssey 32 16 0173 (monaural record). Greatly superior to the performance by George Szell, piano, and the Budapest String Quartet.
4. Claudio Monteverdi, Vespro della Beata Vergine, Sir Philip Ledger, cond., Choir of King's College, Cambridge University and the Early Music Consort of London, EMI Classics 7243 5 68631 2 5 ( compact disk).
Favorite Pianists
1. Ferruccio Busoni. Busoni might be still best known as a minor composer, notably of a Faust opera. But he is the greatest pianist I have heard. Nyiregyházi called him "the best." The Legendary Masters three-record album has only two short Busoni performances and has been available only through the Book of the Month Club, but Busoni is fantastic. The Nimbus NI 8810 compact disk is the single best production, and includes the Bach-Busoni Chaconne, Liszt, and Chopin. The Fone 9013 compact disk has all 24 Chopin Preludes, but is greatly inferior in quality to the Nimbus, which has the same works as the Fone except for substituting an extra Liszt work for some of the Chopin Preludes. Ferruccio Busoni: His Complete Disc Recordings, International Piano Archives IPA 104 (stereo album) has typically poor 1920s recordings of brief but great Busoni performances on side 1. On side 2, Busoni pupils play some Busoni works and transcriptions. Here is a clip of Busoni playing “The Raindrop.”
2. Ervin Nyiregyházi, especially "March of the Three Kings" and "Miserere after Palestrina" on Nyiregyházi plays Liszt, Columbia M2 34598, and selections on Nyiregyházi plays Tchaikovsky / Grieg / Bortkiewicz / Blanchet, Columbia MT 35125, the latter no longer available. There is also Nyiregyházi Plays Liszt, International Piano Archives IPA 111. All these stereo albums are from the 1970s, though his main concert career ended in 1925. Here is a clip of Nyiregyházi playing Blanchet, “In the Old Turkish Harem Garden,” and a longer clip of him playing Liszt, “Waves”—not his best, but typical.
Favorite Singers
1. Hans Hotter I love his Seraphim 60025 album of Schubert (click here for Der Lindenbaum), Schumann (click here for Die Beiden Grenadiere), and Strauss songs, above all, the Schubert. Gerald Moore, piano. The most mature, intelligent, and sensitive singer I have heard.
2. Fritz Wünderlich I normally don't like opera or operatic voices, but I love his Seraphim 60043 album of selections from various operas including Mozart (click here for an aria from The Magic Flute). In fact, I love his doing everything I usually hate about opera because his belief in it and love for it shine through. Click here for Schubert, “An die Musik.”
3. Kathleen Battle I loved her in a televised Carl Orff, Carmina Burana. Seiji Ozawa conducted the fine performance. The other main singers were fine, too. Her official Web site is here.
I recommend the specifically mentioned performances, even for people who don't like voices, because I often don't.
Favorite Poets
1. Percy Bysshe Shelley. Favorite poem: "Epipsychidion" (book includes poem).
3. John Keats.
5. John G. Neihardt. Favorite epic poetry: A Cycle of the West. Best known for his popular book Black Elk Speaks.
Favorite Author (since age 15)
Fyodor Dostoyevsky. Favorite book: Crime and Punishment.
Favorite Painter
Pierre-Auguste Renoir. Favorite Painting: "Two Sisters," popularly called "On the Terrace."
Favorite Pen and Ink Artist
Favorite Movies
1. The King of Hearts / Le Roi du Coeur (1966). The version subtitled in English is earthier, but the version dubbed in English is funnier. After I recommended it to my sister, she said it was her favorite movie too.
2. Ugetsu / Ugetsu monogatari (1953) (black and white). Moments of stunning beauty on a public theater screen. A television screen is too small.
3. Svengali (1931) (black and white). John Barrymore, Sr.'s best acting I know of. The century of exploitation behind the story is terrible.
Honorable mention:
Bell, Book and Candle (1958). James Stewart, Kim Novak.
Favorite Anime Movies
1. Howl's Moving Castle / Hauru no Ugoku Shiro (2004). Directed by Hayao Miyazaki.
2 Whisper of the Heart / Mimi wo Sumoseba (1995). Produced by Hayao Miyazaki, directed by Yoshifumi Kondou.
3 The Cat Returns / Neko no Ongaeshi (2002). Sequel produced by Toshio Suzuki, executive producer Hayao Miyazaki, directed by Hiroyuki Morita.
4. Kiki's Delivery Service / Majo no Takkyuubin (1989). Produced and directed by Hayao Miyazaki.
5. Spirited Away / Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi (2001). Directed by Hayao Miyazaki. This one slowly grew on me.
My daughters love them too. All are from Ghibli Studios.
Currently my daughters and I love Avatar. It’s fresh, different, and fun.
Favorite Fairy Tales of my Youth
1. Thor's Visit to Jotunheim. In Thomas Bulfinch, The Age of Fable Or Stories of Gods and Heroes (1855). English and Korean link.
2. Childe Rowland. In Joseph Jacobs, English Folk and Fairy Tales (1897). The Oxford English Dictionary says of "child," B. I. †5, "A youth of gentle birth: used in ballads, and the like, as a kind of title. arch. When used by modern writers, commonly archaically spelt chylde or childe, for distinction's sake;" and of "burd," "A poetic word for 'woman, lady'...."
3. The Laidly Worm of Spindleston Heugh. In Joseph Jacobs, English Folk and Fairy Tales (1897).
Favorite Fairy Tale Novel
1. James Stephens, The Crock of Gold (1912).
Favorite Book on Mythology
Joseph Campbell, The Masks of God (vol. 1, 1959, 1969 rev. ed.; vol. 2, 1962; vol. 3, 1964; vol. 4, 1968). Not professional academic research, but very well done.
Favorite Short Stories of my Youth
1. Daniel Keyes, Flowers for Algernon
2. Nathaniel Hawthorne, Rappaccini's Daughter
3. Kurt Vonnegut, Harrison Bergeron
