Tuesday, 29 January 2013

The glory of classical music

The world turns in giant circles of civilizations. What dominates today will die tomorrow. Culture is relative.

Yet. Oh, yet.

Western civilization, which I have criticised so mercilessly while living in both Africa and Asia, has one glorious highlight that has never been equalled by any other.

What is this splendour whereof Ru speaketh?

Science? No.
Technology? No.
Philosophy? No.
Democracy? No.
Equality for women? No.
Literature? Shakespeare, Chekhov, Proust, Eliot and Tolkien rule, IMO, but no.
War? You could argue that Western civilization has killed more effectively than any other rival, but actually, no, not war.

Music. Classical music.

Has any civilization produced anything remotely as magnificent as Corelli, Monteverdi, Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, Mendelssohn, Verdi, Arvo Pärt?

No. I offer as evidence ...




However, let us not forget that Western civilization also unleashed Justin Bieber upon the world. Canada, why?! I thought all Canadian men were real men who wore dashing Mountie uniforms and bashed each other's brains out on the ice rink?
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48 comments:

  1. Lekker verjaar..paint the town red and wearing all red too?

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    1. Baie dankie, Bananaz! I'm now getting so old that I'll definitely have to wear Sugamo red bloomers every day! :p

      PS: Perfect Afrikaans! ^^

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    2. Googled & it's pronounced “buy a donkey” ;). Sama sama

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    3. When I use a South African term on my blog, I always make sure it's included in the words list → in the sidebar on the right (or I provide a translation in brackets).

      Though it's always fun to Google phrases. Like sama sama. I've added sama sama to my "exotic foreign words" list. :)

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    4. Ooops sorry awareness not good enough to use your sidebar on the right. Noted getting more and more familiarized pretty soon.

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    5. Don't worry. I'll just wallop you on the head to get your attention! :p

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  2. I liked that Arvo Part a lot. Loved the music and the image, too. Thank you!

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    1. Arvo Pärt never fails to calm me down - better than meditation, better than a remote mountain, better even than chocolate! ^^

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  3. How are the classical music concerts in Tokyo? There must be a plethora of them around. Any recommended venues?

    Oh, I see from Bananazஇ that we should be wishing you お誕生日おめでとうございます! And thanks for putting a sparkle in my eyes whenever I stop by to visit your blog.

    No matter how many years you add on you will always be just a kid (extraordinarily precocious) to this old man.

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    1. Tokyo is a haven for classical music lovers. Tokyo Bunka Kaikan is my favourite, simply because I can walk there! I also like Suntory Hall, which is smaller and more intimate.

      Thanks for the nice wish, Gary-san! As we say in Afrikaans: Oud, maar nog nie koud nie. Old, but not yet cold. That applies to both of us! :D

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  4. Lekker verjaar, Ru!

    Happy birthday, Ru!

    Selamat Hari Jadi, Ru!

    生日快乐, Ru！

    誕生日おめでとう, Ru！

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    1. Thanks, Yvonne! It was fun to see a birthday wish in so many languages! Afrikaans, Malay and ... let me guess. It's written the same in all the Chinese dialects, but pronounced very differently? You'd use Hokkien? Google says in Hokkien it's pronounced sen-jít khoài-lók. No idea how to say that! :)

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    2. 生日快乐 is Mandarin dialect, the "international" language for all Chinese :D

      Which, 生日 means birth-day and 快乐 means happy.

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    3. You know, when Japan decided to adopt China's writing system, they caused migraines for many future generations of struggling confused befuddled foreigners! Hmph!

      生日 can be used in Japanese too (then it has various pronunciations including seijitsu), but I think the word used most often is 誕辰 (tanjoubi) or ... バースデー, i.e. baasudee, i.e. birthday! :D

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    4. Umm, the Japanese is 誕生日, I think...

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    5. Gaaa! So it is! It's just that, well, see, typing in hiragana and doing the conversion to kanji and hitting the space bar too soon and ...

      No. Won't work. I think I need to drag my Africa excuse into this apology.

      So.

      Where's my brain?! Actually, I know where it is: in Africa ...

      :D

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  5. Ru: So this is what you think of Canada? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wu4krJJkkIs

    While we are sorry for Justin Beiber, we don't really call him ours. At least no adults I know of really do.

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    1. Due South! That was broadcast in South Africa, too, so I know it. You guys kiss on the roofs of moving trains?! Awesome! :D

      Ah well. Canada has Justin Bieber, Japan as AKB48 and South Africa has ... Die Antwoord (The Answer).

      http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Uee_mcxvrw

      Please don't ask me to explain how that got almost 24 million hits. I don't know.

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  6. You can also blame Canada (now there's an annoying song!!!) for Celine Dion. What can I say?! Music is something we just don't do well I suppose. Although Measha Bruggergoesman is an amazing incredible exception to that statement!

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    1. We do have good artists. We produced Sarah McLachlan. We aren't all that bad.

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    2. Sarah, oh, help, I forgot about Celine Dion! (+_+)

      I didn't know about Measha Brueggergosman, but what a voice! (Also, what a name!)

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    3. Dru, I didn't know about Sarah McLachlan either. Thanks for introducing me!

      So ... great female singers in Canada, but the boys are wimps. What's up? :p

      You have one of my favourite stand-up comedians, though, so I forgive you. Russell Peters is brilliant!

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    4. We have good male singers too. Although I can't think of any great ones off the top of my head.

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    5. So go to a karaoke bar already and record us a song! :D

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    6. Comedians we do. Most of the decent comedians in the US are actually Canadians. We have to have something to amuse ourselves during the endless frozen winters, after all!

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    7. PS - Measha Bruggergosman has an amazing voice and is just generally an amazing person too. Apparently she combined her name with her husband's when they got married and they both took the new name. I like that idea, but it would get impractical after not too many generations!

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    8. Never said I was a good singer. :P :)

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    9. Sarah, so it's not all hockey violence, is it? :p

      Combining names in South Africa would lead to wonderful tongue-twisters - English, Dutch, Xhosa, !Kung (yes, that exclamation mark belongs there; it indicates a click) ...

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    10. Dru, I'm sure you are, after a few beers! :D

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    11. I　may say that, but I'm sure I'm not. :\

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    12. Give your listeners enough beers, too, and they will agree with me! :D

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  7. I love "The Nutcracker" Tchaikovsky the most , and the ballet production too. Also love Swan Lake. Very beautiful.

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    1. My favourite Tchaikovsky is his Violin Concerto in D Major. I love it as much as I hate his 1812 Overture. (Not sure why the latter irritates me so much. It just does.)

      http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ec7ffTiSMs8

      PS: Did/do you do ballet?

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  8. That toccata is amazing, I love it. When I was a kid, my mom often played me Bach on an old turntable. I also like to find elements of classical music in modern genres like Neoclassic (New Age) and symphonic metal :) Many darkwave and gothic bands use elements of barocco music. I know it's not your kind of music, but sharing trivia is welcome, right? :)

    Do you know Finnish composer Jean Sibelius?

    I like this one by Bach:
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S6yuR8efotI

    P.S. And special for you - a delivery of two exciting links from Finland:
    http://lettersofgreenfinland.blogspot.fi/2013/01/oaks-and-snow.html - I captured old oaks in the snow ^^

    https://plus.google.com/s/%23TreeTuesday And here people share photos of trees. Lots of trees. Enjoy! ;)

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    1. Sharing trivia is not merely welcome; it's essential! ^^

      I not only know Sibelius; I distinctly remember struggling gamely through his Opus 5 piano impromptus (>_<) and diligently studying the history and harmonics and whatnot of his famous tone poem The Swan of Tuonela.

      I like EVERYTHING by Bach. If I were forced to listen to only one composer for the rest of my life, it would be Bach. One of my favourite background YouTube clips is two hours of glorious Bach cello concertos performed by demi-god Yo-Yo Ma:

      http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KHzfD6XLK7Q

      Thanks for my snowy oak trees and that great tree link! ^^

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  9. It's been bothering me, about the relativity sensei..could you help me to clear up the fog in my brain, it really is causing a befuddlement in me. I can't comprehend that culture is relative, to me culture isn't, it's a material and immaterial subject far from relativity, I can feel, touch, sense it....like dance, language, tv, car, poem, etc, I fail to see it's relativityness unless until I try to make a comparison and judgement which will result in a perception whether the culture is acceptable or not, or to simplify it is good or bad,in this way I can see the relativity...so my shallow minded brain keep telling me that the culture isn't relative but the way I see and feel it is relative..
    Could you help me to see it differently to help me clear up the haze?...arigatou..

    Happy birth day, may the year to come be blessed with much joy,and health, more splendid walks and writings:)

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    1. First of all, thanks for a lovely birthday wish! ^^

      Then ... cultural relativism ... oh dear. I think that might require its own post!

      When I say culture is relative, I'm talking about one culture's "value" or "quality" compared to another. There was a time when Western anthropologists regarded Western culture as the best and even universal, but that's clearly rubbish. (Except classical music. That's definitely the best. Grin!)

      "The way I see and feel it is relative." Exactly! It's all about perception, which is shaped in many ways by your culture. I could live in Japan for ten thousand years and I would still retain an individual rather than a group focus in my thinking (or philosophy) [or ethics], but at least I've become consciously aware of my own tendency and can adjust it (with difficulty) [grin!] when required.

      When we start talking about good and bad, we're venturing into the territory of moral relativism, which is another thorny problem altogether.

      Wikipedia has a very good article about this topic:

      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cultural_relativism

      I'll go sit on a sunny, empty beach in South Africa and ponder this a bit more! ^^

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    2. You're very welcome:) Did you know? Indeed you don't,for I haven't mentioned a word:D-I laugh whenever someone say this phrase to me as a conversation prelude, how can I discern a thing prior to knowing a thing? I wrote your birth day wish more and less like that of I wrote for my best friend,hers is a day later than yours,and she loves walking too:)

      Thank you very much indeed for the explanation and the link,it helps to eliminate the fog in my brain, and washes away the clog:)

      And hopefully...I am looking forward for your writing, I am sure it would be much more exciting:)

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    3. I will do many walkpeditions in South Africa (I'll spend February in SA), and I'll definitely write about it! I'll probably write lots!

      Please tell your friend I say happy birthday! ^^

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    4. Wow wow wow pulang kampung!!!-back to home town- sounds and seems adventurous!! I can't wait the story, please do write and take as many pictures as you can sensei..while you're away I'll read your previous posts, there are piles I haven't read:)
      Have a save and pleasant holiday!

      I'll send your wish for her:) Thank you very much indeed.^^

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    5. Ops spelling error,I mean safe instead of save:D

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    6. Pulang kampung - to return home? ^^ That's a good phrase to remember. I'm going to add it to my list of Malaysian words. (Oh, yes, I maintain a list!)

      I don't think I'll have a save holiday: I'm going to spend way too much money on food! :D

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    7. Yup! It's wonderful to have a list of things we love,I do have one which comes from your posts sensei!

      :D he he

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    8. My list of "chocolate I love" is very short. It contains only one word: EVERYTHING! :p

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    9. Chocolate?! ,little piece of heaven God sends on earth! I'm a chocolate lover as well, but psssttt it's a secret...I'm embarrassed to admit that I'm in a serious affair with cooking chocolate-the one use for pastry- especially that little darling Valrhona dark chocolate pistoles-Guanaja-the sweetness is subtle, intense bitterness,plus a bit sourness, merely heaven!

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    10. I'm a very unfaithful chocolate lover: I'm having simultaneous affairs with all of them! :D

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  10. Hi! Beethoven's No.7 symphony recorded in my Walkman too. Do you like the second movement very much?
    I like Violin Sonata No.9 by Beethoven.

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    1. The seventh is my favourite Beethoven symphony - all of it - but that second movement is sooo beautiful! ^^

      I like the Kreutzer sonata, too! ^^ I've read that it's a very demanding work for violinists.

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