My wife and I just drove to
Portland (and back) to attend
a philosophy conference.
I read my old standby
‘Rape, Riot and Reason’
which was received with embarrassed
consternation, as ever.
My wife read her latest
effort: ‘Is “Never
Give A Sucker an Even Break”
the Fundamental Principle of
Morality?: Some Quibbles’
Anyway we stayed in motels,
which we always look forward to,
because we don’t have a TV at
home, being pseudo intellectuals
from the 60s. There was
an episode of Star Trek,
concerning the Ressikan Flute,
not the original episode but
a later one. It went like
this:
Picard is drawn to the
new science officer,
especially after she
plays piano brilliantly
at a performance on the
Enterprise of a Chopin
trio (Data plays violin,
some nameless lady plays
cello). At a reception
after the performance,
Picard tells her how much
he loves music, and
congratulates her for
substituting a D diminished
chord for a D minor chord
in the piece. He tells
her that he plays flute.
She comes to see him
in his quarters. She produces
a keyboard rolled up like
a beachmat–says she picked
it up in a market on the
planet Cressida. She unrolls
it and starts playing Bach.
Picard tries to accompany
on the Ressikan flute, which
he keeps in a box on a
table, but it’s too hard.
She then plays ‘Frere Jacque’
slowly and invites Picard to
improvise. Well, he does,
very beautifully indeed.
Whoever really played the piano
and whistle did perfectly
lovely things and I wish
I could hear it again so
I could learn it.
Patrick Stewart is an
appealing actor, and while
he’s improvising on the
flute, he looks like a
delighted child. Also
his fingers are hitting
the right holes–though
he isn’t really playing,
of course. A new side of
his personality is opening
and he falls for the
science officer. They kiss.
Later the science officer
leads Picard through the
passages of the Enterprise
to a place where two passageways
meet. She says she’s explored
the ship and this place has
the best acoustics. She unrolls
the piano keyboard and they
play another duet. Elsewhere
on the Enterprise crew members
hear music coming through
the pipes (or whatever).
Later Picard tells her
the story of the flute,
and how dearly he loves
playing it. He plays for
her the folk tune
from Ressika.
Well, the rest of the story
isn’t exactly worth telling,
but I liked the part I
just related–the sincere
love of music, the gorgeous
and unexpected piano-whistle
‘improvisation,’
and the searching out
of the best whistle acoustics on
the Enterprise. Whoever wrote
the episode loved music,
and whoever played the
whistle and composed the
duet…well!
Perhaps you’all have seen
this episode? I thought there
was only one with the flute. Jim
