6 Comments

Certainly every artist in differing genres alters the expression of the narrative whilst keeping some of its DNA intact, as is said. It is the mark of greatness, and Bach is himself the greatest exemplar to this regard, since he represents the summa of a millennium of Western music which until Monteverdi, was scattered in differing, even opposing, genres. Bach upshifted the whole thing and gave history an entirely new art form. All that said, see what you think of this piece:

https://gvloewen.ca/2022/07/22/bathing-with-bach-showering-with-shostakovich/

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Very interesting - I'll give this article a read when I've got some time to do so!

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If only the soundtrack was on the streaming platforms...

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I was very disappointed to discover it wasn’t. Very.

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One of my favorite films. Never understood why Burgess himself disavowed it. There is a eerily similar psych-'therapy' program ongoing for child-porn sex offenders in Quebec; this reality is by far more disturbing than the oddball fiction. And as I regularly listen to Beethoven, I will sometimes call to mind the always reassuring 'Good old Ludwig Van!'. At the end of the day, if one has superior aesthetic instincts, the rest can go to hell. Or was such a 'Reichgeist' indeed part of the film's subtext?

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Yes - it is an excellent film, and one which I often hold up as a standard to what 'art/literature/drama/film' should be. I'm a Kubrick fan anyway - and appreciate the way he took source material and made it his own ('The Shining' and 'Eyes Wide Shut' come to mind), regardless of the author's agreement. In a way, I think he preempted (and possibly inspired - I'm not au fait with this) Stanley Fish's theories outlined in Is There a Text in This Class?

As for Beethoven, I am a listener, but for me it's Bach. Perfection - every time.

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