Posted on 01/24/2006 9:14:47 AM PST by afraidfortherepublic
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Bach gave us God's Word
Mozart gave us God's Laughter
Beethoven gave us God's Fire
God gave us music so we might
pray without words.
I don't know how anyone who is not a Mason (or at least has a mason explain it to you) can understand the Magic Flute, really.
(Mozart was a freemason and was really supported by his fraternity brothers during his more troubled times.)
They are going overboard with this celebration.
Trips to Austria and - on a smaller scale - giving away director's cut DVDs of Amadeus and tickets to Wolfgang Puck's restaurants.
If you like classical music and live in the LA area, K-Mozart is a good station - 105.1 FM.
You may find this intresting
Sorry, I prefer Bill Evans...
Yep. It is. So is KUSC 91.5 FM, which I'm listening to right now. We're fortunate here. We have 2 classical music stations. Many areas have none.
As a choral singer I know how the world views our music as somewhat passionless. But the passion is there for those with ears to hear. It is a matter of restraint and dignity so that a subtle breakout of emotion is moving beyond much of the bellowing of the Opera stage. Mozart had that gift, and we choristers know it instantly when we sing his music. After all, isn't that the hallmark of the classical style? Not eliminating the human emotion, but channelling and controlling it in the civilizing forms of the period. Not so popular in the "feels good do it" society, but in the civilized world, it is everything.
I like Mozart, and think that all classical music can have a civilizing effect, especially compared to rap. (Parents, have you heard your rap-listening kids talk? Suburban, middle class boys and girls are talking like gangstas, talking about "B*tches" and "'Hos" casually, even affectionately.) But to argue that classical music has a moral effect goes too far. Mozart and Beethoven loving German officers, educated men immersed in the world of high culture, sent Jews and others off to their deaths and then listened to the Magic Flute while enjoying a nice chianti.
He's still the man.
p.s. May I please have my name added to your "Rush" ping list??
Sure, adding you to the Rush List, Link above to today's thread!
Yes it is. At times profoundly so.("Requiem" for isntance.)
Thanks!
I believe that music unlocks a door to human potential--potential for good or for evil. It has an almost mystical effect on people. I look to the case of Anton Bruckner as a model--he was just a provincial organist who displayed no talent for composition at all. Then he experiences the music of Wagner, and all of a sudden at age 40 he becomes a musical genius.
For me, it was Mahler that fomented a fundamental shift. The best music inspires such feeling that all before it pales. That music might be different for everyone, but Mahler's works affect me deeply. I like Mozart but feel that many who claim to be fans are so-called "front-runners." And why is it that every movie in which there is a snobby party they have Eine Kleine Nachtmusik?
Dear afraidfortherepublic,
Thanks for the ping!
Classical Music Ping List ping!
If you want on or off this list, let me know via FR e-mail. Thanks!
sitetest
"And Mozart was probably right, as he indicates in the crucial scene in The Magic Flute (where Tamino ends up trusting his naive instincts about beauty and honesty even over a true, but partial, account of Sarastro's crimes) in thinking that real openness is perennially possible.
"In that, he was, again, probably closer to the truth than was Nietzsche."
Look at it this way: Nietzsche had to invent the Uebermensch to get him through his sniveling little life; Mozart's genius (his "native instincts about beauty and honesty" -- whatever) bubbled to the surface at an early age, and it never let him down.
Ping
About what one would expect from a music critique written by a political science professor.
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