Nietzsche and Wagner In terms of artists and their influences, the case of Nietzsche and Wagner has been the focal point of discussion between many great academic minds of the last century. The controversy surrounding the relationship has led many to postulate that the eventual break between the two men may have contributed to the untimely death of Wagner in 1882, and Nietzsche's eight-year writing spurt from 1883 - 1888. While investigating the details of this peculiar relationship, I was struck by the historical and philosophical depth of several discoveries, the fundamental question being this: Why was Nietzsche's perception of both Wagner's music and his character upset simply because Wagner declared his return to God? I envisioned that this question would provide a rather simple essay, one aimed at declaring the cause of the quarrel as a basic Christian vs. Atheist dispute among oversensitive philosophical minds - but this paper has turned out to be a wealth of thought, knowledge, and chance that I can't possibly express in five to eight pages. What struck me as odd throughout my research, aside from many eerie coincidences in the progression of their lives, was how many times the subject of Ludwig van Beethoven appeared in my research, as he was Wagner's first real musical inspiration and various references are made to him. I was able to make many parallels between the life of Nietzsche and Beethoven, and it is in my opinion that the similarities between these two men are even more profound than the parallels between Wagner and Neitzsche. As academic interest in the comparison between these two men is buried beneath an overwhelming amount of material relating Nietzsche and more directly related historical characte... ... middle of paper ... ...rg/archives/AgelessWisdom/aw_bcreincarn.htm 4/27/01. John, Nicholas. English National Opera Guide: Tristan and Isolde, Wagner. Calder: London, 1983. Kaufman, Walter. The Portable Nietzsche. Penguin Books: New York, 1982. -note-this is a collection of Nietzsche's works. Specific work cited by case in parentheses. Rickels, Laurence. http://www.substance.org/52/52-rik~1_R.html , 4/29/01. Schwaegermann, Ingrid. http://www.geocities.com/Vienna/Strasse/3732/niebeetpages_e.htm , 4/24/01. Solomon, Maynard. Ludwig van Beethoven. Schirmer Books: New York, 1988. Interesting links. http://www.msubillings.edu/modlang/bplank/quantumnietzsche.htm#tableofcontents http://www.debunker.com/texts/anti_chr.html Nietzsche's Der Antichrist: Looking Back From the Year 100, Robert Sheaffer.
Fridreich Nietzsche writes in The Gay Science "God is dead....And we have killed him," (99, Existentialist Philosophy) referr...
Nazis and Nietzsche During the latter parts of the Nineteenth Century, the German existentialist philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche wrote a great deal on his ideas of morality, values, and life. His writings were controversial, but they greatly affected European thought. It can be argued that Nietzschean philosophy was a contributing factor in the rise of what is considered our world's most awful empire, the Third Reich. Such a stance is based on the fact that there are very similar currents in thought between the philosophy and the empire.
While many countries in Europe were celebrating the freedom to listen to any music they wanted, the Nazi Party was taking over Germany. The music that was listened to in Germany had to be approved by the Nazis. According to Adolf Hitler good German music was that of Beethoven, Wagner and Bruckner. Out of the three composers, Richard Wagner was Hitler’s favorite. He would have his music performed at functions and rallies for the Nazi Party. Wagner’s music was loved, but even more so, his political views were very much liked by Hitler (“Nazi Approved Music”). Wagner wrote a booklet called “Das Judebthum in die Musik” translated: Judaism in Music. It talks about his feeling towards Jewish people, and how he believes that they ruin the arts to everyone in the public (“‘Degenerate’ Music”). The Nazis seemed to have lost the true meaning of music and made other lose it as well. Hans Pfitzner said that the best thing about Wagner’s music was that it was German; Gustav Mhaler responded saying, “All great artists leave their
Schubert's instrumental works show development over a long period of time, but some of his greatest songs were composed before he was 20 years old. In Schubert's songs the literary and musical elements are perfectly balanced, composed on the same intellectual and emotional level. Although Schubert composed strophic songs throughout his career, he did not follow set patterns but exploited bold and free forms when the text demanded it. Except for his early training as a child, Schubert the composer, was largely untrained and self-taught. His gift of being able to create melodies that contained both easy naturalness and sophisticated twists at the same time was unprecedented for his time. On this quality rests the reputation that music history finally gave Schubert.
Friedrich Nietzsche’s On Truth and Lies in a Nonmoral Sense represents a deconstruction of the modern epistemological project. Instead of seeking for truth, he suggests that the ultimate truth is that we have to live without such truth, and without a sense of longing for that truth. This revolutionary work of his is divided into two main sections. The first part deals with the question on what is truth? Here he discusses the implication of language to our acquisition of knowledge. The second part deals with the dual nature of man, i.e. the rational and the intuitive. He establishes that neither rational nor intuitive man is ever successful in their pursuit of knowledge due to our illusion of truth. Therefore, Nietzsche concludes that all we can claim to know are interpretations of truth and not truth itself.
Recently as an avid operagoer I decided to attend one of Lyric Opera’s productions, which happened to be Die Walküre. I had my reservations about this opera as it was written by one of my contemporaries who I no longer feel worthy of calling a colleague but now rather address him as a fraud. The man that I speak of is Richard Wagner. Now I tried to attend this opera with little bias as possible, as I once was a dear friend of Wagner, but I must say after 5 hours at the opera I had a distaste in my mouth. This opera was more off-putting than I thought it would be, and I already had my reservations about Wagner. Not only was the opera long, at moments it was rather unentertaining; the plot of the story had some moments that were unpleasant. Now
In this essay, I’m going to discuss two composers- Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Ludwig van Beethoven. I will first tell you about the life of these men. Then, I’ll compare and contrast their music, the time period of which they lived in, the purpose of their music and more.
A comparison and contrast between two philosophers, they lived in different times and had divergent views. Although there was a semblance to be found in both, the struggle, and the effort. The parallel drawn here is between Marcus Aurelius and Friedrich Nietzsche. Some view Aurelius as a resemblance of Plato’s philosopher king and a man fit to rule. And rule he did, as emperor of Rome. Who, although not viewed unanimous favorable he was a favorite of many. Nietzsche was a Germany philosopher during the 19th century. Who famously said he was the last philosopher. Dramatically different times contribute to vastly different perspectives, this is accurate in both Aurelius and Nietzsche.
Friedrich Nietzsche’s essay “Morality as Anti-Nature” speaks upon his views of Christianity, as well as German morales in the late 19th century. He first speaks upon passion, as well as the Christian response to it. Nietzsche states that all passion has some form of stupidity to it, speaking to how passion often overrules one’s better judgement. While he acknowledges this, he still believes that passion is a perfectly normal aspect of humanity and should be celebrated. He says that the Church’s response to it runs counter to human nature.
Wyatt, C. (2010). Friedrich Nietzsche. In Tameri Guide for Writers. Retrieved December 6, 2010, from http://www.tameri.com/csw/exist/nietzsche.shtml
Time is central to Nietzsche’s works. In On the Uses and Disadvantages of History for Life, he lays out a certain attitude towards time—a ‘malady of history’ that characterizes the modern age, and which he ties to the malignant nihilism therein. His commentary on history in this earlier work has oft been reduced to a cultural critique of the bloated and overwrought practice of 19th century history. I will place it in rapport with the Eternal Return, a concept we can comfortably describe as philosophical in the traditional sense of the word. Following some contours of Vattimo’s argument1, I argue that it is only in this oscillation between Nietzsche’s temporally and culturally specific critiques of the era in which he lived and his larger metaphysical
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, the brilliant mind behind the 17th century’s epic poem “Faust”, illustrates a combining structure of desire and self-indulgence. His idea was to capture the ideal image of good vs. evil and how easily it can be misconstrued. “Of all the great dualities of hum an experience 'good and evil' have been the most instrumental in shaping the beliefs, rituals, and laws, of Homo Sapiens.”(Argano)
Nietzsche’s Genealogy of Morals can be assessed in regards to the three essays that it is broken up into. Each essay derives the significance of our moral concepts by observing
Nietzsche?s most famous statement is, without a doubt, that ?God is dead? (GS 108/125, Z P 2, etc.). Through many years of being quoted, contemporary society seems to have lost the significance of such a profound statement. Perhaps the most frightening aspect of this statement is that ?we have killed him - you and I. All of us are his murderers? (GS 125). It is important to remember that Nietzsche did not believe this to be a literal event. Instead, he explains ?that the belief in the Christian god has become unbelievable? (GS 343). Such disbelief has begun to cast morality, indeed mankind?s meaning, into doubt. Without God, how can universal moral truths be justified? Where is the meaning of man?
All of Friedrich Nietzsche quotes were made before the age of 44. For the last 11 years of his life, he had no use of his mental capabilities. While many of Friedrich Nietzsche quotes were focused on religion, or the fallacy of it, it would be interesting to see what he would have written about later in his life and if his opinion would have changed. Although, the statement 'God is dead' did come from him, so there would likely have been no change in how he viewed religion. Many of his quotes are focused on human behavior and existence, and following are some that moved me.