Thursday, October 1, 2009

Music for Heroes

The opening of Richard Strauss' Ein Heldenleben (A Hero's Life), Simon Rattle conducting the Berlin Philharmonic in Tokyo.




I sometimes wonder if it is the historic role of art to transform thieves and murderers into epic heroes, and district sales managers into Achilles and Beowulf.

Anyway, up and at 'em heroes! All of you would-be Masters of the Universe and aspiring Uebermenschen, time to go out there and conquer!

(and then get greedy and piss it all away, and get a tax-payer funded bailout).

I don't know why, but lately I've been on a Richard Stauss jag. I haven't really listened to Strauss' music since I was a teenager. I suppose that makes sense since all teenage boys (including the gay ones) see themselves as epic heroes.

Did I mention that I was a weird kid? I listened to Freddy Mercury singing Bohemian Rhapsody one hour, and then Richard Strauss' Zarathustra the next.

1 comment:

john iliff said...

ROTFL! I never thought of "art" that way. "Counterlight" is always an education. Thanks!

John