In 2012, the publication, Psychology Today asked “When and Why Did People Stop Whistling?”
Classical whistling seems to have been a much-sought-after accomplishment in pre-1914 Vienna.
“Hitler”, says historian, Paul Johnson, “was a superb whistler, especially of his favourite, The Merry Widow, by Lehar.
“Wittgenstein liked to whistle an entire symphony, by Schubert or Brahms, with descants and arpeggios, and digressions into the woodwind”.
Source: Cerebral Heroism: Ludwig Wittgenstein, an essay in Heroes by Paul Johnson.
blueprint brief – 21 July 2021