At the Music Hum lecture today, Oliver Sacks mentioned that Brahms' music was religious in nature but that Brahms himself was an atheist. Upon a few Google searches, I've learned that Brahms' religious beliefs are more ambiguous and unclear. Assuming that he was an atheist, or that he was nonobservant, this relates to a question that we discussed earlier this semester: if music does not arouse the feelings in the listener that were originally intended, has the composer failed? alternatively, is it possible for music to arouse feelings that the composer him/herself did not feel when creating/conducting the music? What do you all think?
Check out this essay on Google Books written by our friend Schoenberg for more on Brahms and his interactions with other composers of his time.
A blog for students of Todd Tarantino's Music Humanities Class at Columbia University.
2 comments:
I imagine it's much like creating a painting. When I paint, I consider the work finished when it generates a certain emotional response for me. I can only hope that other viewers will have a similar emotional experience when they see my work, but I wouldn't think that I have failed if they did not. The piece is a success so long as I can look back and be proud of it...
I had a student give a presentation once that looked at a Beethoven Sonata and mentioned that during this time in his life he was depressed and that's why the piece sounded the way that it did.
It's an old Romantic notion that the composer is "feeling something" when they are composing the work and the work is intended to express their feelings. This doesn't really respect the long creative process and the realities of the market. In the case of Beethoven, many of his works have long gestation periods and others were done to fulfill a specific commission. Many people (especially in the past where it was a viable career) write music because it is a craft, in much the same way that carpenters build tables: Rossini retired from composing when he had made enough money and didn't think anything of it - he focused on eating. Others, as the spate of premieres by the 99 year old Eliott Carter suggest, compose until their dying day.
I think an interesting question might be why we think that music is outside of the realm of market economics and exists as a personal expression of the creator's feeling?
On a personal note, when I compose I don't think about putting across a single feeling or mood throughout, rather I'm thinking about a narrative arch. If someone feels something that's good, if they don't that fine too.
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