Strictly for the record, Wagner
himself did not use the word Leitmotif, but rather preferred his own
word Grundthema for what we are commonly referring to as a Leitmotif.
It is only because the word Leitmotif is far more common, and it has
somehow become closely associated with Wagner, that I am using it here as the
term of preference. As long as we are on this subject, it is interesting to
note that as far back as in 1938 our old friend Adorno in his book Versuch
über Wagner observed the degeneration of Leitmotif as a means of expression,
which was Wagner’s original intent for his Grundthemen, into a mere
tool of identification.
“It
leads directly to cinema music, where the sole function of the Leitmotif is to
announce heroes or situations so as to allow the audience to orient itself more
easily.”
It should be quite obvious that I
am referring to Nietzsche’s Leitmotifs in the Wagnerian sense of the
word Grundthema.
***
Nietzsche the Wagnerian
practicing the art of the Leitmotif? Or was it Wagner the philosopher
discovering a new way in music in the old trade of philosophy, in which our
Nietzsche, nobody’s follower, is a natural adept? Such people do not borrow or
appropriate. They partake in the philosophical communion.
The answer is of course the
latter. My purpose, however, is to put the question of the Leitmotif,
particularly the Nietzschean constellation of them, in sharp focus.
Examples? They are all there, in
Nietzsche’s writings. Take the Master and Slave Leitmotif, for instance.
It is not limited to his discussion of morality (or racial superiority), of
course, but runs through his discussion of creativity, originality, freedom,
and captivity of the human spirit. There is enough fertile material in this one
Leitmotif alone, to occupy a serious thinker full time “through many
a sleepless night.”
And here comes another one,
Nietzsche’s Latin invention: fiat veritas, pereat vita! This is not just
a theme, but a theme with variations. It follows, in one of the
variations, that lies sustain life, whereas truth destroys it…
Next, we cross the ethical river
from our customary side, where good is good and evil is evil, to “the other
side,” where we find ourselves Jenseits von Gut und Böse… Et cetera,
et cetera…
Another useful suggestion: Let us
transcribe the history of the world, especially, our modern history (if we can
see any redeeming value in our history that permits it to measure up to its
noble, although bloody, and politically incorrect predecessors), to Wagnerian
music, and, having done so, let us then trace Nietzsche’s Leitmotifs through
every single page of the score…
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