The Music of Friedrich Nietzsche - Aus der czarda

Hans von Bülow's Opinion of Nietzsche's Music

Naturally, Hans von Bülow did not remain unknown to Nietzsche, owing to his frequenting Wagner's house--and thus he sent him his "Geburt der Tragödie" (in 1872). After a visit to Basel--Wagner was already preparing for his departure to Bayreuth-- they saw each other again in Munich, where Hans von Bülow, on the orders of King Ludwig II and against Wagner's wishes, conducted Tristan und Isolde.

Thanking him for "den erhabensten Kunsteindruck meines Lebens" (the most sublime impression of art in my life), Nietzsche took this opportunity to present to Hans von Bülow his Manfred Meditation for an evaluation. In a written address that was full of self-irony, he called his music "zweifelhaft" (doubtful), even "entsetzlich" (awful). However, this self-qualification did not prevent von Bülow from rendering an honest opinion. According to von Bülow, he was faced with "das Extremste von phantastischer Extravaganz" (the most extreme in phantastic extravagance), the "Unerquicklichste und Antimusikalischste" (the most unsatisfying and most anti-musical) in a long time. If the entire thing was a joke, he asked, a musical parody of the "music of the future"? Did he, Nietzsche, want to deliberately mock all rules of tonal harmony, of the higher syntax as well as of ordinary orthography? His musical fever product was, in musical terms, the equivalent to a crime in the moral world, with which the musical muse, Euterpe, was raped. If he would allow him to give him some good advice, just in case that he was actually serious with his "Abberation ins Componiergebiet" (abberation into the area of composition), then he should (stick to) composing vocal music, since, in it, the word can lead the way "auf dem wilden Tonmeere" (on the wild sea of tones). In this manner, his music was even more "entsetzlich" (awful) as he, himself, might mean it: namely, harmful to himself in the highest degree. Nevertheless, in this "musical fever product", with all its abberations, one could detect a distinguished mind, and, in a certain sense he, with his staging of the "Tristan", was indirectly guilty of "einen so hohen und erleuchteten Geist wie den Ihrigen, verehrter Herr Professor, in so bedauerliche Klavierkrämpfe gestürzt zu haben" (having thrown such an enlightened mind as yours, esteemed Herr Professor, into such regrettable piano cramps).

In any event, Nietzsche was open enough to communicate the content of this letter to his friends, and thus, he wrote, for example, to Erwin Rohde: "Der Brief Bülows ist für mich unschätzbar in seiner Ehrlichkeit, lies ihn, lache mich aus, glaube mir, daß ich vor mir selbst in einen solchen Schrecken geraten bin, um seitdem kein Klavier anrühren zu können" (Bülow's letter is invaluable to me in its honesty, read it, laugh about me and believe me that I have become so scared of myself that I cannot touch a piano ever since).

http://virtusens.de/walther/musik_eng.htm

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[andrewMLhero]

@Hofsteder Unlike African or East Asian identities then? Why is it that only European peoples are denied their racial being?

A black man is not a European in the racial sense, and therefore cannot be a part of European culture proper.

[andrewMLhero]

@TheDavid2222 European classical music is an expression of European culture, and therefore an expression of European peoples.

To say that a black man could write the music of Mozart is to deny Austrians their cultural heritage.

This should not be construed as an insult to peoples of African origin, but rather an affirmation of European identity.

[TheDavid2222]

@Bregowald the definition of Classical music is music that is created as art with no other functional purpose. It has nothing to do with when it was made, or what race you are.

[MrPontiusPilate]

@Bregowald

Come on troll, try a little harder.

[MrPontiusPilate]

@Bregowald

You're obviously a white troller posing as a black person in order to make black people appear stupid and arrogant. If you're so against white people than why is your video selection only composed of white people without a single black person in any video. Not only that but you have several videos of Adolf Hitler showing that you have a fascination with him. That's not a charateristic of black people, it's a characteristic of white nationalists. Which is of course what you are

[tiakpark]

@MrPontiusPilate MF-Doom comes to mind.

[Dilinza]

@Bregowald so you have written the same comment in most of the nietzsche videos ive seen ...i dont get it if u dont like it why do you even bother to comment?

[MrPontiusPilate]

@Bregowald

That's fine. Stupid but fine.

[omargigyani]

@MrPontiusPilate....:)

[MrPontiusPilate]

@omargigyani

Beware the ides of March