Great posts thanks
unreceivedogma
Gorecki symphony is a miracle.... Like some few musical pieces in history....
Politics and Music
The Trumpets of Jericho
Beethoven and Napoleon
Wagner and the Nazis
"Ohio" and the Vietnam War
"Imagine" and consumerism
The Dixie Chicks
Countless examples illustrate the intersection of Music and Politics. Jerry Garcia referenced his group as "just a dance band." Always pondered how we react to our choices of music. Divorce it entirely from the controversies of the day and merely enjoy the artistry or allow it to change the way in which we view the world. Transformative, escapism, nostalgia, intellectual profundity, cultural discovery. Large questions. Your thoughts?
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This is a late 20th century masterpiece. "I think the combination of age and a greater coming together is responsible for the speed of the passing time. It’s six months now, and I can tell you truthfully few periods in my life have passed so quickly. I am in excellent physical and emotional health. There are doubtless subtle surprises ahead, but I feel secure and ready. As lovers will contrast their emotions in times of crisis, so am I dealing with my environment. In the indifferent brutality, the incessant noise, the experimental chemistry of food, the ravings of lost hysterical men, I can act with clarity and meaning. I am deliberate, sometimes even calculating, seldom employing histrionics except as a test of the reactions of others. I read much, exercise, talk to guards and inmates, feeling for the inevitable direction of my life."
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i have all of his work on LP. I have the Oppens performance of People United, but the performance I shared here by a student at SUNY Stonybrook is remarkable. The performance of Cottonmill Blues shared here is also insanely good. Of course, Rzewski’s performances are not to be missed. Most can be found on YouTube these days. |
I think that it is fair to say that all of the artists that I have taken the liberty of posting here are great artists performing at peak form, that all of the work is moving, and that all of it, by intention and design, is implicitly to overtly political (closer to overtly), and that the political views are expressed with intelligence, subtlety, grace, humor, and depth of feeling. |
I met both Oppens and Rzewski when I was attending The Cooper Union. Dore Ashton, the highly regarded art history scholar, Dean of the art school, a card-carrying communist and the most important influence on my intellectual development, didn’t need any excuses to veer off topic and bring people like them in to speak to her classes. I was very blessed. |
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I don't agree this discussion has to be binary. The silent minority of the 60's did support the outcome of Watergate. They could support the war and relinquish their support of Nixon. Musical artists, while not comparable to the giants of literature and philosophy, can point the way to ideological change. And who was ultimately right regarding the war? Countless suffering and death. Lies upon lies. But we fail to learn. Music educates us in the experience of joy, dance, the suffering of others, and yes, even political expression. My mind of mush at 16 was still a mind that I often regret leaving on the sidewalk of mortgages and fruitless careers. Somehow age delivered humility to my doorstep while too many others received all the answers in a box of cynicism. |
@unreceivedogma Thanks for the Laura Nyro vid. I might have mentioned this sometime before on this site, but Laura Nyro remains one of my favorite artists.I have all her records (at least I think I do). I saw her live several times, including a couple times at the Troubadour in Hollywood. I have at least one of her songbooks and I got pretty good at copying her style at the piano. |