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German Music and Culture Notes...

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HHON233 German Music+Culture

Die Meistersinger: *Nuremberg *Luther: protestant revolution-translated bible into Germany *Cult of Nuremberg viewed Nuremberg as the center of history and German culture *Proliferation of German poetry *Knittlevers: form of poetry *Hitler had his Nazi rallies in Nuremberg *Nazis celebrated this opera by Wagner *Various trade guilds in Nuremberg at the time *audacious for Walther to just step in and decide to become a Meistersinger (as you must pass a test and it takes a lot of training) *Wagner participated in the revolution; wanted to have the aristocracy to be overthrown *Wagner wanted new government to subsidize the theater and make it free of charge to the general public *he fled into exile, wrote essays and books for 6 years and did not compose *started composing again in 1854 *a “music drama” *What was Wagner trying to do with Die Meistersinger? What was his goal? -celebrate the tradespeople more than the royalty seen in operas (looks more at the common people) - a celebration of the common German *Walther is an aristocrat who has become impoverished *The music Wagner is composing is music that Beckmesser would criticize, which is ironic. *through-composed *Look for: relationship between people on art *degree to which authentic creation is not based on copying *^Wagner’s thoughts on a Jewish musician copying German music The Case of Wagner-Nietzsche  Criticizes Wagner’s work as well as his character  Nietzsche met Wagner when he was 24 and Wagner was 55  Nietzsche was very familiar with his work  Wagner exploited Nietzsche  Birth of Tragedy- praises Wagner, credits him w/ resurrecting Greek Tragedy. Has united the two principles of the Apollonian and the Dionysian  Nietzsche: The eternal return: history=cyclical  Nietzsche: God was dead, ‘superhumans’  Nazis were highly influenced by Nietzsche  “slave” morality : those who have no power decide that because of their suffering they are actually superior (Nietzsche said this was the basis of western morality and he thought it was a sham)  Max Nordau – degeneration : those who grow weaker over time fail  every society “comes to its height” and then decays.  The Case of Wagner: Nietzsche turns against Wagner  Nietzsche wanted to be a composer  17 years after German unification

Germans don’t recognize that Wagner gives them a false representation of themselves Uses Wagner’s arguments against him Why did Nietzsche turn on Wagner? Nietzsche’s doctor was a big fan of Wagner; Wagner wrote a letter to his doctor about what he thought Nietzsche’s problem was  In the 19th century there was a belief that masturbation caused health problems such as Nietzsche’s ; this was considered a horrendous insult  He believes German culture may not survive because it is “sick” (one indication- it likes Wagner)  An attempt to save German culture  Praises Wagner for expressing ideas in music like never before, says Wagner does not recognize that he is a minimalist  Wagner is able to express emotion so briefly and in fleeting moments  Wagner does not realize this because he thinks in totality  Nietzsche claims Wagner’s success is a symptom of modernity  Nietzsche – “Put Wagner in the middle class” to show how absurd they are Fi del i o   

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