tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6023790787993015527.post5157077132388077083..comments2023-07-08T05:15:02.421-07:00Comments on Schenkerian Gang Signs: The Death of Klinghoffer in SimulcastSchenkerian Gang Signshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09298568829059964797noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6023790787993015527.post-82124295740887498622014-06-19T10:26:44.453-07:002014-06-19T10:26:44.453-07:00Beckmesser's occupation is significant to his ...Beckmesser's occupation is significant to his artistic shortcomings but not for reasons that would be obvious today. Wagner's Meistersänger drew on contemporary art historical themes that valorized and idealized the medieval craftsmen as ideal laborers. (The idea got started in the 1830s by an English art historian named August Pugin.) Of the 12 Meisteränger, 10 are explicitly artisan laborers. Beckmesser and Eisslinger are the outliers as town clerk and grocer, respectively. Anyway, medieval artisan laborers supposedly had a more direct connection to their artistic output and this provided superior quality of art. Some of these themes are also taken up in Act 1 of Siegfried, in which Siegfried is eventually convinced by Mime (who is annoyed that he keeps toiling to forge swords that will break) that the person who will use the sword must be the one who makes it. And thus Siegfried forges Notung.<br /><br />Now, I have no idea if Beckmesser's class status and occupation would suggest to an audience that he was a Jew. But my impression is that the stereotypes around intellectual labor, manual labor, and Jews is pretty old. <br /><br />And now a plug: If you want to learn more about the idealization of medieval craftsmen and how it was taken up by the likes of architect William Morris and harpsichord-maker Arnold Dolmetsch, you should come hear my AMS-Milwaukee talk.erichttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14921369861892472578noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6023790787993015527.post-16996373321047981212014-06-19T06:47:07.091-07:002014-06-19T06:47:07.091-07:00Thank you for the long and thoughtful response. Th...Thank you for the long and thoughtful response. There is at least some merit in much of what you say. My quibble was with "cannot assimilate", which smacks of unthoughtful regurgitation of some of the sillier secondary literature. It's hard to get more "assimilated" than Town Clerk. I live in a little upstate New York village, and my Town Clerk's ancestors probably came over on the Mayflower. He is very "assimilated". Beckmesser *IS* Nuremberg. His artistry is the accumulation of centuries of native (German) tradition. This is very clear in the libretto. Walther comes along wants to push the envelope. The rest of the town decides to go along and Beckmesser is humiliated. "Holy German Art" is that instinct to move forward from the traditions of the past, holding on to what is valuable but creating new forms of expression at the same time. Beckmesser is a traditional Nuremberger. He is a respected member of the community. But he's a tight-ass and can't adapt. He's Old <br />School German, and Walther is New School German. To make the Town Clerk a Jew is a little, well ... creative.Monte Stonehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11644255672712196974noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6023790787993015527.post-29170121291217385422014-06-18T17:41:10.677-07:002014-06-18T17:41:10.677-07:00It is hard for me to ignore the fact that Wagner e...It is hard for me to ignore the fact that Wagner explicitly lists the same character traits that he ascribes to Beckmesser to failed Jewish composers in his 'Judenthum' essay. Beckmesser is more than a simple buffoon. His mangling of the Prize Song language is definitely a quality that Wagner ascribed to Jews, and that Wagner felt prevented them from being true Germans. Furthermore, he can memorize rules, but he cannot apply them in an artistic way, which also mirrors what Wagner said in 'Judenthum.' Beckmesser's issues during the song contest stem from his misunderstanding of text and music, the two artistic elements that Walther takes on with such ease and grace. As I stated in my essay, you may not think that he is a Jew, but to ignore the parallels between what Wagner identifies as specifically Jewish traits and the qualities that he assigns to Beckmesser is, to me, ignoring his true intentions. Wagner portrays Beckmesser as unable to contribute to the 'true' culture of Nuremberg. Considering that Wagner was representing Nuremberg as the epitome of Germanness, then Beckmesser is what is holding it back from its true role as the core (and beacon) of German culture. Let's not forget that this opera dates from 1867, when these ideas of German nationalism were omnipresent in discussions about culture. <br /><br />It's worth bearing in mind what Wagner intended by his anti-Semitism. He was not advocating for a Final Solution, but he was stating that they were incapable of creating German art. Wagner likely would have made the exact same argument about French, Italian, and composers of any other nationality--as was commonly accepted during his lifetime, nation was inherently part of any creative work from an artist. However, he saw the Jews as particularly threatening because they had achieved such success with German (and international) audiences. Beckmesser may be accepted into Nuremberg in the sense that he can hold a position, but his art is worthless, even when he 'cheats' in his attempt at the Prize Song. This is Wagner's caution: that art by Beckmessers (and Mendelssohns and Offenbachs and Meyerbeers, as per 'Judenthum') may fool people on the surface, but underneath it is as flawed as what Beckmesser presents in the contest. <br /><br />It's worth noting that Nazi editors would continue to publish works by Jewish poets, but they assumed that these poets had stolen them from 'real' Germans, so they were listed as 'Anonymous.' This is what happened with Heine's famous 'Lorelei' poem. The logic goes as follows: such good poetry could never have been written by a Jew, so he must have stolen it, otherwise it would not resonate with Germans. That same idea informs Meistersinger. Beckmesser can't create his own song, he seeks to steal Walther's, but his inability to perform it demonstrates that he is incapable of creating art all together.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16866615611725949260noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6023790787993015527.post-19634904384838447462014-06-18T14:47:58.623-07:002014-06-18T14:47:58.623-07:00Be serious. Beckmesser "cannot assimilate&quo...Be serious. Beckmesser "cannot assimilate"? He's the Nuremberg TOWN CLERK. What hogwash.Monte Stonehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11644255672712196974noreply@blogger.com