28-03-2015, 19:40
Greetings all round
To be honest, I don't quite understand the point of ronPrice's original post in this thread. To me, most music is such an abstract and pure art that the enjoyment and satisfaction a listener derives from it is almost irrelevant to the personal circumstances of its composition. Of course it may aid one's understanding of (say) Brahms' Requiem to know that he was by conviction an atheist (hence the choice of texts from the OT of the Luther Bible, to the exclusion of any reference to the NT themes of redemption, let alone any mention of Jesus Christ as a Saviour), and of course it is a material fact that Bach composed the B-minor Mass as a devout Lutheran. Janacek went deaf, and his second string quartet audibly reflects the tinnitus he experienced in his head, and Wagner's Wesendonck Lieder (prefiguring Tristan) were composed when he was infatuated with Mathilde Wesendonck. But does this seriously affect our understanding or appreciation of these and other composers' works?
Genuinely open question, this, which I hope may stimulate further discussion.
L
To be honest, I don't quite understand the point of ronPrice's original post in this thread. To me, most music is such an abstract and pure art that the enjoyment and satisfaction a listener derives from it is almost irrelevant to the personal circumstances of its composition. Of course it may aid one's understanding of (say) Brahms' Requiem to know that he was by conviction an atheist (hence the choice of texts from the OT of the Luther Bible, to the exclusion of any reference to the NT themes of redemption, let alone any mention of Jesus Christ as a Saviour), and of course it is a material fact that Bach composed the B-minor Mass as a devout Lutheran. Janacek went deaf, and his second string quartet audibly reflects the tinnitus he experienced in his head, and Wagner's Wesendonck Lieder (prefiguring Tristan) were composed when he was infatuated with Mathilde Wesendonck. But does this seriously affect our understanding or appreciation of these and other composers' works?
Genuinely open question, this, which I hope may stimulate further discussion.
L
