I am reading a book about composer Richard Wagner, because I have been hearing his music on KUSC for many years now, and as I mentioned a couple of weeks ago when doing the blogs for my "favorite composers" list, I became interested in learning more about him because of his association in the public mind with Hitler and anti-Semitism. I wondered how anyone who could write such a beautiful and transcendent piece as the "Tannhauser Overture" could also be a hateful, despicable person, as Wagner is often depicted.
So I got this book from the Libe, called "The Tristan Chord" by Bryan Magee, and it turns out that Wagner's life and evolving outlook were quite a bit more complicated than the synopses about him that have become rubber-stamped into the historical record would indicate. If you wish to read more about his life you can do so, and he was indeed anti-Semitic (which cannot be excused but in his case was also a complicated issue).
What I am thinking of tonight, though, was his interest in philosophy. I may have mentioned this in an earlier blog, but he began his professional musical life as an idealistic young man who followed the writings of a German philosopher named Ludwig Feuerbach. Now, most philosophers do not believe in a higher power, but Feuerbach did have a positive philosophy nonetheless. He believed that the use of logic and rationality could lead mankind to solve conflicts, which would result in more understanding between peoples and ultimately to world-wide peace and love. He didn't believe in God, and believed that this Earthly life is all there is, but he did believe that rational thinking, if applied worldwide, would lead to an epiphany for Man and bring about the highest way for him to live in his brief time on Earth.
Richard Wagner did not believe in God or an afterlife either, but he was an optimist at heart and when he was young, Feurerbach the philosopher was his hero. He believed that universal love would be achieved on Earth, perhaps in his lifetime, and his earliest operas were based on this philosophical principle.
But as he got older, his life's circumstances - which were very difficult, he lived in exile in extreme poverty for much of his career - led him to a change of heart. He was no longer optimistic about the basic nature of man or the possibilities of human redemption through logical thinking and the expression of free love. At this point in his life, he discovered another philosopher named Arthur Schopenhauer.
Here I must pause to express a single chuckle, even though to consider Schopenhauer in the context of humor would be the ultimate in irony, or maybe even sarcasm. I mean my chuckle in neither way, but I laugh because just as I was reading this long chapter in the Wagner book about the exceedingly grim philosophy of Schopenhauer, who believed that life was unrelentingly painful and meaningless, and who used points of logic to rationalise his thoughts, I received the news on the Mueller report.
That was yesterday afternoon. I had been reading about Schopenhauer the night before, and I had Googled him and saw his picture, which in retrospect makes me laugh even more. I am not laughing at him, but with him, because if you Google Schopenhauer and go to Images, you will see studio portraits of him as a grim-faced old man with a crazy white hairdo, and he looks exactly as you would imagine, given what you know about his philosophy.
So Arthur Schopenhauer was Pessimism personified, and because of his philosophy - which I most decidedly do not agree with - combined with his photographic portraits which I saw last night, I just had to laugh, because the news about the Mueller report had just come down, and I got so depressed that I thought, "well, I have always been an optimist but now I am switching to Schopenhauer".
The timing was perfect, and in the end he had me laughing because I kept picturing his photo, and it is so cliche that it feels like he is in on the joke himself.
So all of this was to tell you that Schopenhauer and his ultra-depressing philosophy, and his photograph, actually lifted my spirits on a day when you might have expected any thoughts of him to make my mood even worse.
Maybe it's a "hair of the dog" thing. At any rate, thanks Schopenhauer! And if you guys ever want to go down to the emotional bottom, read a little bit about his philosophy of life. Or better yet, don't! What's amazing, though, is that Richard Wagner could have his life transformed by this guy (he read his books over and over again and based his most famous operas on Schopenhauer) and would go on to write his greatest and most famous music under the near total influence of Schopenhaurian thought.
Listen to the Prelude to "Tristan und Isolde". This is where the title of the book comes from, "The Tristan Chord". Wagner based this piece on dissonant chords and unresolved musical themes, according to Schopenhauer's philosophy of the everpresent longings of human life, which are also perennially unresolved throughout history. The piece is based on atonal chords, and yet.........
I think it is one of the most beautiful and mystical pieces of music ever written, and it was conceived on the belief that life consists of only suffering.
Give it a listen if you are so inclined., and make sure to Google the picture of Schopenhauer.
I did watch a movie tonight, "The Lost Moment" with Susan Hayward, but it will have to wait until tomorrow as it is late.
As for Trump, remember that he is still "Individual One" in the investigations of the Southern District of New York. Keep in mind that O.J. was initially found "not guilty" too, but eventually they got him.
See you in the morning. xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
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