Wagner’s newfound focus on redemption rather than overcoming, yes, would have upset Nietzsche. But as most can relate, seeing poppy boy bands remain on the top of the charts over true artists; Nietzsche in that what he considered to be Wagner’s weakest moment become his most shining, must have been infuriating for him. The wrath is not focused solely on Wagner however, but as well at the masses that gathered to worship at his alter; Wagner himself was a slave to Wagnerianism and European decadence. Nietzsche recalls a story of Goethe reflecting on what dangers romanticism the most, to which he though ““suffocating of the rumination of moral and religious absurdities.” In brief: Parsifal.” (EH, “The Case of Wagner, 3). The performance so intertwined with the symbolism of a moral-religious world that it distracts from its content. Nietzsche almost asks us to strip these connotations and motifs away to see what stands. In a non-Christian light, does Parsifal even exist? Deconstructed and without the pieces, the many props and abundant imagery, could the opera even be written? “The musician now becomes an actor” Nietzsche says of Wagner; more performer than composer. European decadence has burdened music by forcing it away from its focus on life to the escape from living.
Wagner is not however the corruptor. He, in Nietzsche’s eyes sadly has found himself among the common man, indoctrinated by Christianity in the face of meaninglessness. Nietzsche’s portrayal of his former friend then takes on a more sympathetic tone. Wagner, as evident by Nietzsche’s early praise and admiration, is the most shining example of both, our best chance at post-Socratic salvation in art as well as a depiction of the destructive power that the illness of ...
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...loss of their friendship but of a man who was both an idol and kindred spirit. In the space Wagner left, Bizet was able to root himself by planting his music. It had roots; it was real and based on experience in that it allowed the audience to brings theirs to the theatre. Where Wagnerian theatre told the audience what to feel, Carmen just told them to feel. It asked the audience to overcome its imperfections, to evaluate why they liked it, what it made them feel. Parsifal made them feel till they believed. Bizet was more appropriate for small theatres in that he only sought to produce the best thing that he could; what was his best over the best. That is the realm of Wagner, and in order to compose the greatest, most popular opera one has to pander to the masses. Those rabble which Nietzsche says are afflicted by the illness of Christianity, morality and decadence.
Perhaps one of the most haunting and compelling parts of Sanders-Brahms’ film Germany Pale Mother (1979) is the nearly twenty minute long telling of The Robber Bridegroom. The structual purpose of the sequence is a bridge between the marriage of Lene and Hans, who battles at the war’s front, and the decline of the marriage during the post-war period. Symbolically the fairy tale, called the “mad monstrosity in the middle of the film,” by Sanders Brahms (Kaes, 149), offers a diagetic forum for with which to deal with the crimes of Nazi Germany, as well a internally fictional parallel of Lene’s marriage.
However, Nietzsche’s idea of the powerful forcing their will on common people resonates with me. It is something we see in our modern society, wealthy people seem to have a higher influence over the average American. Examples of powerful people controlling others are found in politics, economy, media, and religion. Common people are lead to think in certain ways that the powerful need them to. Nietzsche said that people will only be equal as long as they are equal in force and talent, people who have a higher social group are more influential in decisions because average people look to them for information. The thing I do not agree with Nietzsche on his view as Christianity as a weakness because religion is a main cause of people’s decision
Nietzsche’s dramatis personae “…is different than the actor of this drama” (Science 241). The preparatory human being is one who sees the world as Nietzsche does, and so his characterization is Nietzsche, and people who he sees stick out from the rest of society. The preparatory human being is one that is fit for the transition that Nietzsche sees the world around him going through. This is the destruction of the belief in God. Nietzsche proposes that the belief has receded and questions how people will be able to cope with this (Science 181). Mentioned, also, by Nietzsche in The Gay Science is his view that monotheism stifles and directs the individual towards a normative sense of mora...
Bizet’s use of exoticism within the opera directly correlates to Carmen’s exotic characteristics and lack of morality. His exoticism portrays characteristics from the “Spanish” or “Gypsy” cultures. A prime example is the “Habanera” Aria (one of the most famous and recognizable melodies from the opera) which is a dance song borrowed from the Cuban culture. During this time Gypsies were associated with a lack of morality as they were stereotyped to have a disr...
The reformation was a religious and political movement that took place in the year 1517. This movement was spread by the Cristian humanist Martin Luther, when he posted his “Ninety Five Theses”. The reformation itself is one of those things everybody has heard about but no one quite understands, even nowadays, 500 years after this movement occurred.
The music of the Baroque period was focused on having music be a tool of communication to its listeners; conveying an arousal of emotions. Composers of this time thought to use this tool to have this effect or one similar to it to correctly match music from the Roman time period. One composer that goes by the name of Georg Phillip Telemann. He was a German composer born in 1681, he was known as one of the most prolific composers of the Baroque era, “At the age of just ten years old he was able to play four different instruments and had written arias, motets and instrumental works”(Norton Grove Concise Encyclopedia of Music, 756). As well as learning many skills at a young age, his fame grew immensely in Germany becoming a very famous composer and was even assigned four times as much space as the famous J.S. Bach in some contemporary dictionaries. Telemann composed in all varieties of forms and styles, from Italian-style concertos to French-style overture suites and quartets. The Sonata in F minor was one of his pieces that was played at the concert. The piece first given appearance in 1728 in a German musical periodical; though it was originally written for a bassoon and continuo the piece was altered by the performers to be played with a bass trombone and piano. One way that an individual could tell it is a piec...
Until the nineteenth century, music was generally regarded as an international language. Folk music had always been in place and linked directly with particular regions. On a larger scale though, European music was a device for expression through the application of Italian techniques and styles. In other words, its technical vocabulary was Italian, and from the time of the early baroque, European music, in general, had evolved its styles and technical devices from the developments of Italian composers. Furthermore, court opera was nearly always performed in Italian, whether in Dresden or in London, no matter who composed it or where it was performed. For example, in 1855, Queen Victoria suggested to Richard Wagner that he translate his opera Tannhauser into Italian so that it could secure a production in London. Thus, European music, regardless of where it was composed could be (and was) performed throughout Europe and understood through the common Italian commands, descriptions, and styles. It was unacceptable for most to compose in any other way. The international idea began to collapse in the early nineteenth century as embattled nations or nations subjugated by a foreign invader began to think of music as an expression of their own national identity, personality, or as a way of voicing national aspirations.
Babette E. Babich talks about Nietzsche’s style in her article “Self-Deconstruction: Nietzsche’s Philosophy as Style.” In her article she states that, “Nietzsche’s style grants neither the casual reader nor the diligent commentator an automatic access to the text” (Babich 105). From what Babich says here, she is trying to allow her audience to know that Nietzsche’s work makes a challenge for the reader to digest.
We have grown weary of man. Nietzsche wants something better, to believe in human ability once again. Nietzsche’s weariness is based almost entirely in the culmination of ressentiment, the dissolution of Nietzsche’s concept of morality and the prevailing priestly morality. Nietzsche wants to move beyond simple concepts of good and evil, abandon the assessment of individuals through ressentiment, and restore men to their former wonderful ability.
Nietzsche begins the essay with a question about fame “Is fame actually nothing but the tastiest morsel of our self-love?” saying how fame is like a moment of illumination “it has been linked to the rarest of men and to their rarest moments. These are moments of sudden illumination” he then goes on using metaphors to describe the “illumination” and man’s relationship with fame. Believing that with fame people feel immortal because culture dictates that anything great will live on forever and the feeling of immortality will have people thinking the world is their’s to own “From now on humanity needs him.” “he believes himself to be immortal as the man of this moment.” Later in the essay he furthers his
Wagner believed that as time went on, Greek art slowly disintegrated, each individual art going a separate way, developing alone—instrumentals without words, poetry without music, drama without either, etc. He believed it further disintegrated with the introduction of Christiani...
What follows is a detailed exegesis on a passage from Friedrich Nietzsche’s writing, “The Birth of Tragedy”. The main purpose of this passage is to challenge the idea of truth through a series of metaphors and vivid interpretations of such. Nietzsche’s goal in this excerpt is to expound on a specific issue using reasoning in a metaphoric way to justify his argument. To help the reader further understand this higher thinking passage, I will be tearing apart and reconstructing it line by line.
Faust has a overall negative character, evident in his speech. Even from his very first appearance in the play, Faust shows a very negative perspective within the first part of his monologue. This monologue consists of Faust's many achievements in life and how he is still yearning for more. The contents of this monologue seem to show ambitious goals and a positive attitude to continually improve, but Faust's tone of voice indicates that he is dissatisfied and greedy for more knowledge. His godless nature is also hinted in this first monologue when he states that he studied, "...to [his] sorrow, theology" (Goethe, 365). He implies that theology is more of a waste of time than studying any other subject, rejecting God. In addition to disrespecting God, he implies that he is equal to God: "Am I a god? The light pervades me so!" (Goethe, 439). Faust's desire is to become more than human is in a way challenging God. Furthermore, Faust also shows signs of arrogance, as he...
1- Wagner wrote that Jewish music is bereft of all expression, characterized by coldness and indifference, triviality and nonsense. The Jew, he claimed, has no true passion to impel him to artistic creation. The Jewish composer, according to Wagner, makes a confused heap of the forms and styles of all ages and masters. To admit a Jew into the world of art results in pernicious consequences. In Deutsche Kunst und Deutsche Politik, Wagner spoke of the "harmful influence of Jewry on the morality of the nation," adding that the subversive power of Jewry stands in contrast to the German psyche.
The Romanticism period is marked by changes in societal beliefs as a rejection of the values and scientific thought pursued during the Age of Enlightenment. During this period, art, music, and literature are seen as high achievement, rather than the science and logic previously held in esteem. Nature is a profound subject in the art and literature and is viewed as a powerful force. Searching for the meaning of self becomes a noble quest to undertake. In the dramatic tragedy of “Faust” by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, we find a masterpiece of Romanticism writing that includes the concepts that man is essentially good, the snare of pride, and dealing with the supernatural.