Highbrow Magazine - classical music https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/classical-music en An Homage to Classical Music and Its Influence on Film https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/24484-homage-classical-music-and-its-influence-film <div class="field field-name-field-cat field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/music" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Music</a></div></div></div><span class="submitted-by">Submitted by tara on Wed, 02/21/2024 - 16:23</span><div class="field field-name-field-image field-type-image field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" rel="og:image rdfs:seeAlso" resource="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/field/image/1classicalmusic.jpg?itok=syENBMHB"><img typeof="foaf:Image" src="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/field/image/1classicalmusic.jpg?itok=syENBMHB" width="407" height="480" alt="" /></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" property="content:encoded"><p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">Any film is composed of multiple elements: from scripting to special effects, to costume design, and, of course, the all-essential music.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">The crux of the matter is: Music in many ways is just as, if not more important, than the spoken word in various media. When <a href="https://memory.loc.gov/diglib/ihas/html/silentfilms/silentfilms-about.html" style="color:blue; text-decoration:underline">silent films</a> dominated the scene — from 1914 to 1929 — music literally replaced the spoken word, and was used to express the actors’ emotions and thoughts.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">When <a href="https://www.charliechaplin.com" style="color:blue; text-decoration:underline">Charlie Chaplan</a> or <a href="https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000036/" style="color:blue; text-decoration:underline">Buster Keaton</a> would fall, embarrass themselves, speak to the pretty girl, or save the day, these actions were accompanied by a score. Music was either created specifically for the movie or derived from existing music, often of the classical genre.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><img src="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/1classicalmusic_depositphotos.jpg" /></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">Even though we are long past the era of silent films, music still plays an important part in conveying emotional expression in films and other forms of media. Classical music is a hidden contributor to the plot and narrative of media, especially action-based films.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">Obviously pop, rock, rap, rhythm and blues, and other more contemporary genres are also used frequently, and perhaps stereotypically. Pop might be regarded as more upbeat; rock might be considered as angry; while R&amp;B might be considered chill and laidback.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">However, even if the typical moviegoer doesn’t realize it, classical music has the same impact, despite the stereotypes that weigh it down. </span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><img src="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/2classicalmusic.jpg" /></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif"><a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Ludwig-van-Beethoven" style="color:blue; text-decoration:underline">Ludwig van Beethoven</a>, <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Johann-Sebastian-Bach" style="color:blue; text-decoration:underline">Johann Sebastian Bach</a> and <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Wolfgang-Amadeus-Mozart" style="color:blue; text-decoration:underline">Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart</a> — some of the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/list/10-classical-music-composers-to-know#:~:text=The%20three%20composers%20that%20consistently,some%20of%20the%20most%20significant" style="color:blue; text-decoration:underline">most famous</a> classical composers — have created compelling, dramatic pieces that could rival any modern, beat-dropping song. </span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">These classical songs have helped set the tone of certain scenes in numerous movies throughout Hollywood history, and many viewers may not even realize that they populate scores of countless films.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">One classical piece in particular has lost its roots, and has been relegated to just a “theme” to a popular film: <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Richard-Strauss" style="color:blue; text-decoration:underline">Richard Strauss'</a><u>s</u> <a href="https://youtu.be/Szdziw4tI9o?si=qciWiE23VnmcrMZJ" style="color:blue; text-decoration:underline">"Also </a><a href="https://youtu.be/Szdziw4tI9o?si=qciWiE23VnmcrMZJ" style="color:blue; text-decoration:underline">sprach</a><a href="https://youtu.be/Szdziw4tI9o?si=qciWiE23VnmcrMZJ" style="color:blue; text-decoration:underline"> Zarathustra,"</a> or as it’s better known, the theme to <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0062622/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0_tt_8_nm_0_q_2001" style="color:blue; text-decoration:underline"><em>2001: A Space Odyssey</em></a>.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><img src="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/3classicalmusic.jpg" /></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">Strauss’s piece is a perfect example for two reasons. One, this composition has been shrouded by the media it's used in, and has lost its original identity -- those who listen to it have no idea its origin is actually a great classical score.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">Two, it serves as an example as to the breadth classical music can have when identifying key emotions and feelings. “Also sprach Zarathrustra” inspires awe, anticipation and adventure in listeners, as evident by the film it was originally used in, and in its latest iteration at the beginning of hit film <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1517268/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_1_tt_4_nm_3_q_Barbie" style="color:blue; text-decoration:underline"><em>Barbie</em></a>.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">This emotional spurning also echoes the <a href="https://www.riphil.org/blog/the-story-behind-strauss-also-sprach-zarathustra" style="color:blue; text-decoration:underline">original meaning of the piece</a>, which was inspired by <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Friedrich-Nietzsche" style="color:blue; text-decoration:underline">Friedrich Nietzsche's</a> book, <a href="https://www.sparknotes.com/philosophy/zarathustra/summary/" style="color:blue; text-decoration:underline"><em>Thus Spoke Zarathustra</em></a>. The story follows the journey of the character Zarathustra as he embarks on an adventure to find himself and return to his place of birth.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><img src="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/4classicalmusic.jpg" /></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">Classical music also lends itself to nonadventure genre films, such as horror and thriller-based media. <a href="https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000040/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_3_tt_0_nm_8_q_Stanley" style="color:blue; text-decoration:underline">Stanley Kubrick</a>, the director of <em>2001: A Space Odyssey</em>, is well known for consistently using classical music in his films, including his horror masterpiece <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0081505/?ref_=nm_flmg_t_3_dr" style="color:blue; text-decoration:underline"><em>The Shining</em></a> and thriller <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120663/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0_tt_8_nm_0_q_Eyes" style="color:blue; text-decoration:underline"><em>Eyes Wide Shut</em></a>.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">Kubrick used <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Bela-Bartok" style="color:blue; text-decoration:underline">Béla Bartók’s</a> <a href="https://youtu.be/Khao59UYqdo?si=vwhrK3hOq9M76AqZ" style="color:blue; text-decoration:underline">“Music for Strings, Percussion and Celesta”</a> throughout the film, especially during scenes that inspire fear, such as when Danny is rolling down the hotel hall toward the blood-filled elevators, and when Jack enters the ballroom.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">Classical music has also been used as the basis for other horror genres, such as <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0947798/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0_tt_7_nm_1_q_Black%2520Swan" style="color:blue; text-decoration:underline"><em>Black Swan</em></a>, a film that follows a ballerina battling with a curious mental state who is playing the Black Swan in <a href="https://www.sfballet.org/discover/backstage/the-story-of-swan-lake/" style="color:blue; text-decoration:underline">"Swan Lake,"</a> the music for which was composed by <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Pyotr-Ilyich-Tchaikovsky" style="color:blue; text-decoration:underline">Tchaikovsky</a>.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><img src="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/5classicalmusic.jpg" /></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">Not only does Tchaikovsky’s piece act as the driving force of the film’s plot and narrative, it also emphasizes the tension and despair the main character feels as she tries to embody the Black Swan – a case in which the film and music feed off of each other.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">While classical music, at times, lends itself well to highly emotive films, it can also be used to inspire fantasy.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">During <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0926084/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_3_tt_8_nm_0_q_Harry%2520Potter%2520and%2520the%2520Dea" style="color:blue; text-decoration:underline"><em>Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1</em></a>, when the main characters — Harry, Hermione and Ron — reach a safehouse, there’s a brief scene where Hermione attempts to teach Ron how to play Beethoven’s “Für Elise.”</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">Though Ron bumbles through her lesson, this song helps create a moment of safety and tenderness not only for the characters, but the audience too.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><img src="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/6classicalmusic.jpg" /></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">Even if classical music is not audible in films, it has continuously influenced multiple film score composers -- including <a href="https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0002354/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0_tt_1_nm_7_q_John%2520Williams" style="color:blue; text-decoration:underline">John Willams'</a> <em>Star Wars </em>score and <a href="https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000384/?ref_=fn_al_nm_1" style="color:blue; text-decoration:underline">Danny Elfman</a>, who is not only influenced by classical music, but has also <a href="https://blogs.loc.gov/loc/2023/05/danny-elfman-legendary-film-composer-debuts-classical-work-at-loc/#:~:text=One%20of%20those%20was%20into,Sergei%20Prokofiev%2C%20his%20true%20inspiration" style="color:blue; text-decoration:underline">composed</a> great classical pieces. </span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">Whether we can actually <em>hear</em> the classical cadences urging on the characters in films or not, the genre has thankfully not fallen prey to the stereotypes that surround it.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">If anything, classical music is one of the reasons we find certain movies so compelling – even if most of us do not realize it.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif"><strong>Author Bio:</strong></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif"><strong><em>Ariana Powell is a contributing writer at</em> Highbrow Magazine.</strong></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif"><strong>For Highbrow Magazine</strong></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif"><strong><em>Photo Credits: </em></strong><a href="https://depositphotos.com/stock-photography.html" style="color:blue; text-decoration:underline"><strong><em>Depositphotos.com</em></strong></a><strong><em>; </em></strong><a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Classical_music_composers_montage.JPG" style="color:blue; text-decoration:underline"><strong><em>Wikimedia Commons</em></strong></a><strong><em>; </em></strong><a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Mozart_family_crop.jpg" style="color:blue; text-decoration:underline"><strong><em>Wikipedia Commons</em></strong></a><strong><em>; </em></strong><a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Beethoven.jpg" style="color:blue; text-decoration:underline"><strong><em>Wikimedia Commons</em></strong></a><strong><em><u>; Linnaea Mallette (<a href="https://www.publicdomainpictures.net/en/view-image.php?image=522963&amp;picture=man-playing-violin">Public Domain Pictures</a>). </u></em></strong></span></span></p> <p> </p> </div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-tags field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/classical-music" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">classical music</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/classic-music-movies" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">classic music in movies</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/beethoven" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">beethoven</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/bach" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">bach</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/2001-space-odyssey" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">2001: a space odyssey</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/musical-scores" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">musical scores</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/movie-scores" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">movie scores</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/john-williams" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">john williams</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/danny-elfman" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">danny elfman</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/listening-music" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">listening to music</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/tchaichovsky" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">tchaichovsky</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/composers" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">composers</a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-author field-type-text field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Ariana Powell</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-pop field-type-list-boolean field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Popular:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">not popular</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-bot field-type-list-boolean field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Bottom Slider:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">In Slider</div></div></div> Wed, 21 Feb 2024 21:23:57 +0000 tara 13046 at https://www.highbrowmagazine.com https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/24484-homage-classical-music-and-its-influence-film#comments The Curse of the Gothic Symphony Lingers On https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/3912-curse-gothic-symphony-lingers <div class="field field-name-field-cat field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/film-tv" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Film &amp; TV</a></div></div></div><span class="submitted-by">Submitted by tara on Wed, 04/16/2014 - 10:07</span><div class="field field-name-field-image field-type-image field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" rel="og:image rdfs:seeAlso" resource="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/field/image/1symphony.jpg?itok=8NCtS2nI"><img typeof="foaf:Image" src="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/field/image/1symphony.jpg?itok=8NCtS2nI" width="480" height="270" alt="" /></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" property="content:encoded"><p> </p> <p><strong>The Curse of the Gothic Symphony</strong></p> <p><strong>3 stars (out of four)</strong></p> <p><strong>Not rated</strong></p> <p><strong>Screen Australia and Wild Fury</strong></p> <p> </p> <p>A terrific portrayal of passion and perseverance, this film depicts a rather obsessive group of musicians – and an exasperated filmmaker – as they attempt to orchestrate the “Everest” of classical music. Reputed to be the largest, longest, and most complex composition ever written, Havergal Brian’s Symphony No. 1 “The Gothic” is a colossal piece of classical music requiring a number of musicians so vast that it has only been performed four times since its completion in 1927 (an eight-year undertaking on Brian’s part).  The legend behind the symphony is riddled with rumors, including music that wrote itself and a curse, attributing its name to the film.</p> <p>           </p> <p>The film follows the trials and tribulations of eccentric but dedicated individuals as they attempt the impossible: put up a full-scale performance of “The Gothic” is the unlikeliest of places – Brisbane, Australia.  It’s a tricky enterprise.  So tricky that Gary Thorpe, who is at the heart to the production, has been trying for 28 years to make it happen.  Meanwhile, Veronica Fury had set out to chronicle this unbelievable journey and, after witnessing countless ups and downs (mostly downs), becomes so exasperated with the endless stalling that she becomes involved herself, determined to make “The Gothic” happen. </p> <p> </p> <p>The result is a documentary that spans seven trouble-riddled years, serving as a touching account of this heartwarming enterprise.  Tagging along for the ride are John Curro, the delightfully unfazed conductor of the Queensland Youth Orchestra who is confronted with the challenging task of being the maestro for the performance, and Alison Rogers, an indomitable choral master short on choristers.  The film is humorous and gripping at the same time, and you cannot help but cheer for these unlikely heroes. </p> <p><img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/2symphony.jpg" style="height:537px; width:358px" /></p> <p>Sometimes there are fanciful re-enactments of Brian’s life that saturate the film with an unneeded whimsicality, as if trying to make Brian’s obscurity more accessible to audiences. And there are also some gothic animations that seem suitable but come across as clumsy instead.  They drown the film.  But what the film lacks in technical finesse is compensated by the film’s editing, which helps the build-up to an emotional climax, like a finely crafted crescendo.  That and the fervor of the film’s slightly manic protagonists, all 650-plus of them, who are at the core of this commendable tale of tenacity driven by their remarkable talents. “The Curse of the Gothic Symphony” is lesson on how a small amount of obsession and a whole lot of patience can overcome the most improbable causes, including those written in D minor.</p> <p> </p> <p><strong>Author Bio:</strong></p> <p><em>Angelo Franco is a contributing writer at</em> Highbrow Magazine.</p> </div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-tags field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/australia" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">australia</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/gothic-symphony" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">gothic symphony</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/documentary" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">documentary</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/films" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">films</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/music" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Music</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/classical-music" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">classical music</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/composer" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">composer</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/famous-compositions" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">famous compositions</a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-author field-type-text field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Angelo Franco</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-pop field-type-list-boolean field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Popular:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">not popular</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-bot field-type-list-boolean field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Bottom Slider:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Out Slider</div></div></div> Wed, 16 Apr 2014 14:07:10 +0000 tara 4600 at https://www.highbrowmagazine.com https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/3912-curse-gothic-symphony-lingers#comments Reflecting on Controversial Composer Richard Wagner on His 200th Birthday https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/2637-reflecting-controversial-composer-richard-wagner-his-th-birthday <div class="field field-name-field-cat field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/music" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Music</a></div></div></div><span class="submitted-by">Submitted by tara on Wed, 07/24/2013 - 10:01</span><div class="field field-name-field-image field-type-image field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" rel="og:image rdfs:seeAlso" resource="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/field/image/1wagner.jpg?itok=Ie8U2eoa"><img typeof="foaf:Image" src="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/field/image/1wagner.jpg?itok=Ie8U2eoa" width="346" height="480" alt="" /></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" property="content:encoded"><p>More people wrote about him than about any other person in history – with the exception of Jesus, Luther, Napoleon and Marx — they say. In 2013 the world is celebrating Richard Wagner’s birthday for the 200th time — his obit for the 130<sup>th</sup>.</p> <p> </p> <p>Wagner’s work continues to cause great emotions, ranging from sheer enthusiasm to utmost rejection, and his recitals attract people to opera houses all over the world. The poet, director, conductor, writer and first and foremost composer, remains a mystery for many, and doesn’t cease to polarize even 130 years after his death. Some see in him the ingenious originator of the “Gesamtkunstwerk” (total work of art), while others discredit him because of his anti-Semitic writings. However, that he changed the face of opera remains unquestioned.</p> <p> </p> <p>Despite all the controversy about his persona, one thing is certain: Wagner was a creator of greatn music and deemed himself the greatest. “Richard Wagner loved the superlative”, writes Christian Staas in <em>DIE ZEIT</em> Geschichte. “It had to be nothing less than the ‘Gesamtkunstwerk’, the ‘infinite melody’, the ‘music of the future’. [He] needed [his] own festival hall, and he didn’t just compose operas: in the end he created with <em>Parsifal</em> a ‘Bühnenweihfestspiel’ ("A Festival Play for the Consecration of the Stage"). Right from the beginning it was about more than just art for him.”</p> <p> </p> <p>In life too, things couldn’t be exuberant enough. His many affairs, adulteries, and horrendous debts speak for themselves. “Whoever met him was startled by and surprised at how childishly he behaved; how ostentatiously and monomaniacal he entertained his company; how flagrantly he spoke of his role as a Messiah; how he wallowed in plush; how, with just a few chords on a piano, he engendered an unearthly poignancy; how he persuaded emperors and kings and behaved like an ill-bred child; how, in one moment, he could burst into crying fits and cut capers in another; how he unashamedly pestered the most noble-minded natures for money,” notes Wolfram Goertz in <em>DIE ZEIT</em>. His life was one big opera in itself.</p> <p> </p> <p>He was born in the Jewish quarter of Leipzig on May 22<sup>nd</sup> 1813, “in a tenement that rubbed shoulders with the lodgings, shops and synagogues of the very people he was so catastrophically to anathematize” as the ninth child of Carl Friedrich Wagner, a munipical official and his wife Johanna Rosine, the daughter of a baker. Wagner not only survived his father who died of typhus only six months after his birth, but also The Battle of Nations at Leipzig.</p> <p> </p> <p><img alt="" src="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/2wagner.jpg" style="height:600px; width:600px" typeof="foaf:Image" /></p> <p> </p> <p>Shortly after her husband’s demise, Johanna Rosine began a relationship with his friend Ludwig Geyer, an actor, playwright and painter who, until his death in 1921, brought up his stepson, Richard, as if he were his own. He might as well have been: until he was 14, Wagner carried the name Wilhelm Richard Geyer, as he believed Ludwig Geyer to be his biological father – in fact, the truth of Wagner’s paternity remains unknown to this day.</p> <p> </p> <p>Geyer sparked Wagner’s love for the theatre, none other than the great composer Carl Maria von Weber and his opera <em>Der Freischütz</em>, his desire to become a composer. After listening to a recital of the 9<sup>th</sup> Symphony at the age of15, Wagner knew whom he had to measure up to: Beethoven became his idol, and until his death, Beethoven’s works were a main part of his repertoire as a conductor.</p> <p> </p> <p>In 1831 Wagner began his music studies at the University of Leipzig and it was around that time that he began to compose his first opera, for which he also wrote the libretto — an unusual approach for an opera composer that Wagner maintained his entire life, for he believed that the revolution of opera had to occur on a broader level -- through its content, its form, its music and its language. To broaden the horizon of opera, Wagner sensed was his calling.</p> <p> </p> <p>“Wagner wanted to do everything differently […] He wanted to cast a spell on people with a unique, extraordinary construct of text and music, a myth enchantment rich in symbols,” according to author Wolfram Goertz. Wagner’s great-granddaughter and the co-director of the Bayreuth Festival, Katharina Wagner, expressed this vision in a recent interview: “Wagner’s work is all about the basic elements of human existence and basic emotions such as jealousy, power, love, and hatred. Naturally these are things that will remain relevant as long as humans exist.” It is not without reason that Wagner wraps these elemental patterns of human and political conflict in mythical garments — Germanic myth in particular.</p> <p><img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/3wagner%20%28YngveNielsen%20Flickr%29.jpg" style="height:326px; width:600px" /></p> <p>Wagner’s strive for reformation was not only limited to the realm of art. Like no other great artist of the 19<sup>th</sup> century, with the exception of Heinrich Heine, he sought interaction with the politically radical theorists of his time, most notably with the musician August Röckel and the Russian anarchist and revolutionary Michail Bakunin. Wagner’s political involvement, which was spurred by democratic and early Socialist thinking, and led him to the warpath during the May-Revolution in Dresden in 1849, was filled with resentment towards all the forces he believed to be the causes of social grievance: industrial modernism, capitalism, monarchism and, last but not least, Jewry.</p> <p> </p> <p>“Wagner, like his meliorist brothers-in-arms, yearned for a new golden age, an idyllic world modeled on and illuminated by traditional German values,” Barry Millington states in his Wagner biography.  In Wagner’s opinion, “German” art was the most effective weapon against modernity, and Jewry the biggest enemy of German art.</p> <p> </p> <p>Anti-Semitism was a cultural code, as the Israeli historian Shulamit Volkov noted fittingly, a code that sourced from political passion and developed into a fundamental part of an entire culture. If one takes a closer look at the lives and works of the protagonists who played an integral role in shaping these codes, one will see how formative the years of the civil revolution of 1848 were for them, and how devastating its failure, which in Wagner’s case culminated in a multitude of art theoretical and political essays, of which <em>Das Judentum in der Musik (Judaism in Music) </em>from 1850 became his most famous. One of the central ideas of this detestable pamphlet was that the Jew is unable to produce original art work and therefore only capable of imitation. Artists like Heinrich Heine, Giacomo Meyerbeer and Felix Mendelssohn — whose great masterpieces paradoxically influenced Wagner — served him as a prime example.</p> <p><img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/4wagner%20%28Wiki%29.jpg" style="height:500px; width:359px" /></p> <p>It was no coincidence that the Wagners and Hitler crossed paths eventually. Richard’s daughter-in-law, Winifred Wagner, in particular, was a National Socialist of the first hour, who kept faith with her “Führer” even after 1945. Vice versa, Hitler developed a deep love and fascination for Wagner’s operas as an adolescent. He read every biography there was to read on the composer and knew <em>Lohnegrin </em>and <em>Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg </em>by heart. When he visited the Villa Wahnfried in Bayreuth for the first time (the famous residence of the Wagner family until its transformation into a museum in 1976), he was “very moved” at the sight of Wagner’s music room with the master’s grand piano, as Winifred recalled.</p> <p> </p> <p>From that day on, the agitator and the Wagners developed a familial relationship and Hitler became a regular guest of honor at the annual Bayreuth Festival, which he put back on its feet financially. Over the years this alliance cooled off, not least because Winifred’s children didn’t want anything to do with the shame that not only haunts the green hills of Bayreuth until this day, but also the legacy of a brilliant composer. </p> <p> </p> <p>“The reception of Wagner spawned plenty of monstrosities, no doubt about that, and who wants to remain angry will continue to speak of Wagner’s Hitler instead of Hitler’s Wagner,” writes Christine Lemke-Matwey on the occasion of Wagner’s sesquicentennial. That it is wrong to reduce Wagner’s legacy to his repugnant political beliefs was just recently proven by the visitors of the latest <em>Tannhäuser </em>staging at the <em>Rheinoper</em> in Düsseldorf. The director Burkhard Kosminski portrayed the eponymous hero as a Nazi, the Venus Mountain — for Wagner the place of hedonistic love — as the showplace of a brutal shooting scene. During the premiere in May the audience reacted with indignation and boos — some even left the hall. Düsseldorf’s Jewish Community criticized the show as tasteless.</p> <p> </p> <p>“Wagner was without a doubt a glowing anti-Semite,” commented their director, Michael Szentei-Heise, “but it is not legitimate to throw that at the composer’s face in such a way […] Wagner had nothing to do with the Holocaust.” The vexing production was practically dropped shortly after.  The opera will only be performed as a concert from now on, the <em>Rheinoper</em> announced.</p> <p> </p> <p>Despite the controversies, we cannot separate Wagner into good and evil. Both are amalgamated in his persona as well as his work. Recognizing Wagner is therefore not a question of only like or dislike. He remains a powerhouse, albeit a controversial one,  in the world of European classical music.</p> <p> </p> <p><strong>Author Bio:</strong></p> <p><strong><em>Karolina Swasey is a contributing writer at</em> Highbrow Magazine.</strong></p> <p> </p> <p><em><strong>Photos: <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:RichardWagner.jpg">Wikipedia Commons</a>; Yngve Nielsen (<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/yngvenilsen/3272390682/">Flickr</a>); Brucke Osteuropa (<a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Richard-Wagner-Denkmal_Tschaikowskiplatz_Graupa_Pirna_1.JPG">Wikimedia</a>, Creative Commons).</strong></em></p> <p> </p> </div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-tags field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/richard-wagner" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">richard wagner</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/composers" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">composers</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/composer-richard-wagner" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">composer richard wagner</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/wagner" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">wagner</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/german-composers" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">german composers</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/opera" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">opera</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/classical-music" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">classical music</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/beethoven" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">beethoven</a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-author field-type-text field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Karolina R. Swasey </div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-pop field-type-list-boolean field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Popular:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">not popular</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-photographer field-type-text field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Photographer:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Wikipedia Commons</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-bot field-type-list-boolean field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Bottom Slider:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Out Slider</div></div></div> Wed, 24 Jul 2013 14:01:56 +0000 tara 3229 at https://www.highbrowmagazine.com https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/2637-reflecting-controversial-composer-richard-wagner-his-th-birthday#comments