Alan’s TTIM Stories #62

Can you enjoy, and be inspired by, the brilliant work of an artist of questionable character?

Let me explain through a few examples:

Rumors spread of Michael Jackson’s improprieties while acknowledging a musical genius who influenced pop culture. Can we still enjoy Thriller, Billy Jean, and the epic television performance at the Motown 25^th Anniversary?

Charles Dickens, author of Oliver Twist, A Christmas Carol, David Copperfield, and A Tale of Two Cities, fell in love with an actress and tried to have his wife institutionalized to make divorce more acceptable.

Vincent Van Gogh suffered mental illness challenges throughout a life of groundbreaking art appreciated today.

Double Academy Award recipient, Kevin Spacy, accused of several incidents of sexual misconduct.

Grammy Award winner, R Kelly, wrote an amazing inspirational song “I Believe I Can Fly.” Multiple indictments led to a 31-year prison sentence.

My favorite example of this dilemma is the life and work of composer Richard Wagner (1813-1883). When composers of his era filled musical notes with endless uninspired, endless violin pieces, Wagner produced bombastic original musical extravaganzas in memorable operas unlike anything of its time. He perfected music as drama.

His genius is displayed in often played Ride of the Valkyries, The Flying Dutchman, Lohengrin, Funeral of Siegfried – music played by symphony orchestras, numerous soundtracks especially in movies Excalibur and Melancholia, even Bugs Bunny cartoons. In my opinion, he is responsible for the most romantic piece of music ever composed – Tristan and Isolde

This impressive life of music was accomplished through years of turmoil – mostly self-inflicted.
He struggled with financial difficulties most of his life spending years fleeing from creditors from Riga, to London, then Paris. Wagner had a short stay in debtors’ prison. A few funds came from odd jobs as a writer, choirmaster, musical director, and royal court conductor. On the wrong side of German politics of the era, he escaped arrest by fleeing to Switzerland in 1849.

His first marriage to actress Christine Wilhelmine “Minna” Planer, began years of marital shenanigans. Minna left Wagner for another man but returned for a reconciliation. 

To help with personal finances, Wagner received loans from silk merchant and music lover, Otto Wesendonck.  He repaid the favor by having an affair with the wife, poet-writer Mathilde Wesendonk. Speculation points to a possible inspiration for a doomed romance in the work – Tristan and Isolde.

When Minna died in 1866, Wagner didn’t bother to attend the funeral.

The opera Trisan and Isolde opened in Munich.  Hans von Bulow conducted the opening. Wagner found an opportunity to have an affair with von Bulow’s wife, Cosima. They married in 1870 when Cosima was granted a divorce after having three children with Wagner.

Energy was spent on musical events at Bayreuth including a festival in the summer 1876. It included a brief liaison with Judith Gautier, French poet and novelist.

Wagner met his end in Venice in 1883. Legend states he suffered a heart attack while arguing with current wife over his infatuation with singer Carrie Pringle, an Austrian soprano and one of the flower maidens for his last opera, Parsifal.

An explanation for his infidelities is acceptance of the thoughts of German philosopher, Arthur Schopenhauer, a proponent of Philosophical Pessimism. A low opinion of our very existence leads to an apathetic interpretation of morality.   

A history of financial disasters and philandering is not the worst. Throughout his life Wagner wrote essays with opinions counter to an enlightened mind. Many expressed Anti-Semitic sentiments, attacking the Jewishness in all German art. His low opinions of Jews would be repeated in Nazi Germany in the 1930-1940’s. Strangely enough, it is rumored his actual father was Jewish. On top of his less than admirable lifestyle and archaic opinions, we also grapple with the fact he was Hitler’s favorite composer.  

With all his shortcomings as a human, because of the genius of his music, I’ll continue to listen.

So, keep on listening. I’m comforted by the fact Wagner will not personally benefit from my admiration of the work. As for Van Gogh, continue to be amazed at the beauty of a Starry Night without pondering that ear episode.

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Discover previous Stories at: www.alanvandervoort.com/blogs/503

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Sources:
The Encyclopedia of Music, Max Wade-Matthews and Wendy Thompson
Wikipedia
Photo: Ride of the Valkyries by William T. Maud