Klarinet Archive - Posting 000209.txt from 1998/10

From: "Dan Leeson: LEESON@-----.edu>
Subj: Re: RE: [kl] Re: Wagner
Date: Sun, 4 Oct 1998 18:05:32 -0400

> From: MX%"klarinet@-----.49
> Subj: Re: RE: [kl] Re: Wagner

>
> In a message dated 10/1/98 8:29:19 PM, gpsc@-----.com writes:
>
> <<Other writers to the list have compared Beethoven to Wagner. I cannot see
>
> the parallel.>>
>
> Not to really beat a dead horse on this subject, but I agree. I recall that
> Fidelio, (I think if memory serves me right, or is it Egmont?) was originally
> dedicated to Napoleon. Nappy did some horrible thing, (again, i don't
> remember what it was) and Beethoven tok his inscription right off the
> manuscript. Beethoven doesn't appear to have been without moral conscience.
>
> I also recall Tchaikovsky having some skeletons in his closet. Unfortunately
> don't we all. It's sad when we find out horrible things about people we once
> admire. Like Dan, there are parts of Wagner's music that are amazing. It
> breaks my heart that he was overtly such a bigot.

This is getting more and more out of focus and needs to be brought back
to where the center of the argument lies.

That Wagner was a bigot is not really all that important. So was
Chopin, so was Moussorgsky, so were lots of people. Rejection of one's
art because one is also a bigot is not a winning argument.

Rejection of one's art because one has skeletons in the closet is
also not a winning argument. As the unsigned author of this note
indicates, Tchaikovsky had skeletons in his closet. These skeletons
are unimportant in the long range view of things.

Wagner is different for one major consideration. That is, his bigotry
is carried over right into the music. The rottenness of his racial
ideas are presented IN THE OPERAS. So his foul personal opinions
(which he can have as long as he wants) are put forward as part of
the music drama and that, thankyou, I am not interested in paying
to see.

One more time: Wagner's bigotry is not under attack here. It is his
willingness to present his bigotry as part of his art that, from my
point of view, is (or should be) central to this discussion.

Jacqueline in Tucson (who has played the Ring) said that, from the
pit, she was really too busy to notice the sublety of what was
going on stage. And that's not surprising. Orchestral musicians
are not paid to understand plot nuance. They are paid to play their
notes and it is hard to do that and figure out plot issues at the
same time. I played Nutcracker maybe 1000 times, but I don't have
any idea about what happens on stage.

But because one is too busy or too preoccupied does not mean that
these issues are not present. They are there for anyone with the
time and energy to see them. And because they are subtle is no
reason to presume that they are unimportant.

>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
=======================================
Dan Leeson, Los Altos, California
Rosanne Leeson, Los Altos, California
leeson@-----.edu
=======================================

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