So I remember hearing in passing that Nietzsche dabbled in music composition at one point in his life. A quick Google search brought me here:
https://www.classicfm.com/discover-music/friedrich-nietzsche-composer/
This article was enough to pique my interest further, so I followed the author's advice and found some of his music on Spotify. The fact that Nietzsche has his own Spotify profile is quite surreal, it felt like as if somebody were putting Pythagoras's music on Soundcloud. A strange combination of new and old.
Anyway, I gave the top five most listened-to tracks a listen. I liked them! They're pretty accessible and average about 5 minutes apiece, so I'd encourage anyone to try them out. The "Einleitung" pieces are my favorite, I'd say. They evokes a lot of emotions in me for how brief they are.
I would love to dive into these pieces and analyze them. There is definitely an amateurish quality to the music, and I want to find out what exactly that is. Are they so unworthy that I would roll around on the floor laughing at them with Wagner? Maybe, Wagner's opinion on composing is a lot more informed than mine.
However, now that I know how toxic their relationship was, I'm tempted to think that Wagner cared more about keeping Nietzsche down than seriously evaluating his compositions. I'm interested in finding what other people's opinions on his music were.
Seeing as how this is the perfect synthesis of music and philosophy, a big alarm is going off in my head: HOSCHO THESIS ALERT.
Yes, Jackson! This would be such a great thesis!
ReplyDeleteI very much doubt you would join Wagner in his mockery!
In my opinion, that anecdote of Wagner rolling on the ground laughing is emblematic of the toxic dysfunction of the relationship... it captures perfectly (in my head, at least) the humiliation tactics that Wagner (and Cosima) employed towards Nietzsche. There are others (for instance, having him pick up their underwear at the tailor... oh, and a public letter that Wagner wrote speculating that Nietzsche's headaches, eye troubles and poor health were a result of excessive masturbation...). In short, not the way a beloved father figure (this is how Nietzsche initially saw the thing) should be acting.
There are many other anecdotes from Nietzsche's school years--which might serve to balance Wagner's response--to the effect that he kept people totally entertained and enraptured with his improvisations on the piano--apparently, he would just sit down and play whatever came to him. I own a cd of his compositions, which are pleasant enough (Wagner's biggest complaint might be that they're too "French"--too light), and remind me a bit of the aphoristic style he's so fond of. But my Nietzsche is the guy banging on the piano, playing with and for the appreciative people around him. Nietzsche-as-Ben Folds! :-)