http://www.moyak.com/papers/adorno-schoenberg-atonality.html
Theodor Adorno's Theory of Music and its Social Implications by Moya K. Mason Art is mind, and mind does not at all need to feel itself obligated to the community, to society, it may not, in my view, for the sake of its freedom, its nobility. ^^^^^^^ CB: "Mind" here is "individual mind". There couldn't be a clearer statement of the Individualist conception. ^^^^^ An art that goes in unto the folk, which makes her own the needs of the crowd, of the little man, of small minds, arrives at wretchedness, and to make it her duty is the worst small -- mindedness, and the murder of mind and spirit. And it is my conviction that mind, in its most audacious, unrestrained advance and researches, can, however unsuited to the masses, be certain in some indirect way to serve man in the long run. Excerpt from Thomas Mann's Doctor Faustus http://www.moyak.com/papers/adorno-schoenberg-atonality.html During the 1930s Adorno considered Arnold Schoenberg the most progressive person in modern music.(13) He was a musical genius who received only a few months of training from Alexander von Zemlinsky. His early songs provoked hostile criticisms and he found solace in his painting, revealing strong expressionist tendencies. He taught at the prestigious Sterns Conservatory in Berlin, and later, conducted in important cities across Europe before entering military service in World War I. During the early 1920s he lived and taught in Vienna, leaving the city to teach a master class at the Prussian Academy of Arts in Berlin. When he was fired by the Nazis in 1933, Schoenberg went to Paris and converted back to his childhood religion of Judaism. Soon after, he relocated to the United States, where he lived out the rest of his life.(14) Schoenberg composed for chorus, orchestra, chamber ensemble, stage, voice, and keyboard. Alongside his musical interests and passion for painting was a proficiency for writing, with many articles, books, and essays, to his credit. One of his many maxims, which seems autobiographical was: "genius learns only from itself, talent chiefly from others." ^^^^ CB: Another genius, Newton had it better. He knew he stood on the shoulders of giants. ^^^^^ (15) Schoenberg's music developed through four major transformations. The first was typified by a postromanticism and was influenced by Gustav Mahler and Richard Wagner, as was Alban Berg's early music. His second period was considerably more abstract and reflected an innovative spirit. His atonal-expressionism began with Das Buch der hangenden Garten in 1908, and employed an increased absence of tonality and a tendency towards dissonance over the typical consonance. He eliminated symmetry and disregarded formal sequences in his music, destroying the traditional bonds of coherence and unity in compositions. These manifestations were considered quite revolutionary and were abhorred by the general population of the day.(16) _______________________________________________ Marxism-Thaxis mailing list Marxism-Thaxis@lists.econ.utah.edu To change your options or unsubscribe go to: http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/listinfo/marxism-thaxis
