Some Notes on Modernity, Referring Particularly to the Germanophone World
I haven't posted here and I don't think anyone's posted here in a long time. But I finally have something to say.
I got back from watching Bluebeard's Castle and Erwartung at the Seattle Opera,, by Bartok and Schoenberg, respectively. Both productions were carried out using basically the same set, which included a golden frame inside of which the majority of the action is featured.
This gold frame is important because it is stylistically linked to the early modernist period, or more precisely, the fin de siecle period. The use of gold was, I think, influenced by Ancient Greek styles. Particularly by the discoveries of Heinrich Schliemann, the man who in the 1870's was thought to have discovered the historical Troy (although in the process he may have either willfully or unwittingly destroyed much of the ancient city). In any case, the finds of the these and other excavations revealed artifacts such as "Agamemnon's Mask," the crude polygonal make of which along with other finds influenced contemporary artists.
This is important is because although Modernity and "Modern" art such as Bartok and Schoenberg's Operas are thought of as unique and without precedent, most Modernist works of art (be it literature, music, painting and so forth,) draw on thematic traditions from the past, although Modernity often succeeded in severing the direct link.
Klimt and Joyce sought to find art via Ancient Greece. Wagner sought to place opera in Pagan Germany. Even J.R.R. Tolkien clearly sought to reclaim components of mythical Britain as an act of mental hygiene against World War I. The motives were diverse and not always honorable by today's standards, but they did link with the past, however briefly (the past however, being something of an invention in its own right.)
These days we often bemoan the lack of originality in art. One could easily say that 100 years ago it was the same problem. But no one batted an eyelash at someone's reinterpretation of Don Juan; it was tradition yes, but the reinterpretation was key to its originality. Today Americans at least are divorced from the tradition. Instead of Achilles, Gawain and Faust we have James Bond, Darth Vader and Homer Simpson. Don't get me wrong, those are good too, but they only exist in a self-contained universe. I've been thinking about these thing even before tonight and I think I've misunderstood Modernism. I think I better understand what T.S. Eliot was talking about in Tradition and the Individual Talent.
(X posted to my LJ)
I got back from watching Bluebeard's Castle and Erwartung at the Seattle Opera,, by Bartok and Schoenberg, respectively. Both productions were carried out using basically the same set, which included a golden frame inside of which the majority of the action is featured.
This gold frame is important because it is stylistically linked to the early modernist period, or more precisely, the fin de siecle period. The use of gold was, I think, influenced by Ancient Greek styles. Particularly by the discoveries of Heinrich Schliemann, the man who in the 1870's was thought to have discovered the historical Troy (although in the process he may have either willfully or unwittingly destroyed much of the ancient city). In any case, the finds of the these and other excavations revealed artifacts such as "Agamemnon's Mask," the crude polygonal make of which along with other finds influenced contemporary artists.
This is important is because although Modernity and "Modern" art such as Bartok and Schoenberg's Operas are thought of as unique and without precedent, most Modernist works of art (be it literature, music, painting and so forth,) draw on thematic traditions from the past, although Modernity often succeeded in severing the direct link.
Klimt and Joyce sought to find art via Ancient Greece. Wagner sought to place opera in Pagan Germany. Even J.R.R. Tolkien clearly sought to reclaim components of mythical Britain as an act of mental hygiene against World War I. The motives were diverse and not always honorable by today's standards, but they did link with the past, however briefly (the past however, being something of an invention in its own right.)
These days we often bemoan the lack of originality in art. One could easily say that 100 years ago it was the same problem. But no one batted an eyelash at someone's reinterpretation of Don Juan; it was tradition yes, but the reinterpretation was key to its originality. Today Americans at least are divorced from the tradition. Instead of Achilles, Gawain and Faust we have James Bond, Darth Vader and Homer Simpson. Don't get me wrong, those are good too, but they only exist in a self-contained universe. I've been thinking about these thing even before tonight and I think I've misunderstood Modernism. I think I better understand what T.S. Eliot was talking about in Tradition and the Individual Talent.
(X posted to my LJ)