tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8827040061563065922.post1657555309459421700..comments2024-03-29T07:38:17.008-05:00Comments on The Music Salon: Pop Music Fights Totalitarianism?Bryan Townsendhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09482696991279345516noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8827040061563065922.post-52502973230228702122013-08-17T11:01:25.166-05:002013-08-17T11:01:25.166-05:00Thanks for that link, Rickard. I have been contemp...Thanks for that link, Rickard. I have been contemplating ordering that book of essays by Taruskin. He is nearly always worth reading, even if he goes off the rails sometimes. Yes, the idea that classical music is morally questionable simply because the Nazis used to listen to it is both often claimed and ludicrous! You make more sense than both Taruskin and Alex Ross on this question.Bryan Townsendhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09482696991279345516noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8827040061563065922.post-21619653145650368162013-08-17T10:40:23.337-05:002013-08-17T10:40:23.337-05:00This reminds me of http://musicalassumptions.blogs...This reminds me of http://musicalassumptions.blogspot.mx/2013/06/taruskin-on-classical-music-audience.html (Elaine Fine quotes an essay by Taruskin (without commenting on it)). <br /><br />Anyways, in the essay, Taruskin claims that playing Beethoven's 9th to celebrate the fall of the Berlin wall was wrong because it (classical music) was earlier exploited by dictatorships. It's most likely the most ridiculous things I've seen Taruskin write. As one commentator properly noted in the context Beethoven even removed his dedication to a dictator (Napoleon). And even if originally written for a king or queen (like much of Handel's music) why would it be wrong to listen to it today? Beethoven's 9th (one of the greatest achivements in music) is more than proper to celebrate important human achivements (especially the fall of dictatorships).Rickardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08084578675339015204noreply@blogger.com