{"id":1884,"date":"2013-10-15T15:30:05","date_gmt":"2013-10-15T15:30:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.geraldgarcia.com\/wordpress\/?p=1884"},"modified":"2013-10-30T14:48:26","modified_gmt":"2013-10-30T14:48:26","slug":"without-music-life-would-be-a-mistake-friedrich-nietzsche","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/geraldgarcia.com\/?p=1884","title":{"rendered":"“Without music, life would be a mistake” – Friedrich Nietzsche"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Just a nod in the direction of the German philosopher,\u00a0cultural critic,\u00a0poet\u00a0and\u00a0composer<\/a>,\u00a0Friedrich Nietzsche,\u00a0whom many remember for his declaration “God is dead”.<\/p>\n

It’s his 113th birthday today<\/strong> (Nietzsche’s) and is celebrated by the Google Doodle.
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Nietzsche made quite an impact on\u00a0composers<\/strong>\u00a0during the 1890s.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Writer on music\u00a0Donald Mitchell<\/a>\u00a0notes that\u00a0Gustav Mahler<\/a>\u00a0was “attracted to the poetic fire of Zarathustra, but repelled by the intellectual core of its writings.”
\nHe also quotes Mahler himself, and adds that he was influenced by Nietzsche’s conception and affirmative approach to nature, which Mahler presented in his\u00a0Third Symphony<\/a>\u00a0using\u00a0Zarathustra’s roundelay<\/a>.
\nFrederick Delius<\/a>\u00a0has produced a piece of choral music\u00a0A Mass of Life<\/a>\u00a0based on a text of\u00a0Thus Spoke Zarathustra<\/i>, while\u00a0Richard Strauss<\/a>\u00a0(who also based his\u00a0Also sprach Zarathustra<\/a>\u00a0on the same book), was only interested in finishing “another chapter of symphonic autobiography”, but we have him to thank for the popularity of the opening scene in Kubrik’s 2001<\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n

Nietzsche’s most influential works include\u00a0Beyond Good and Evil, The Birth of Tragedy<\/em>\u00a0and\u00a0The Will to Power<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Nietzsche saw his philosophy as a counter-movement to nihilism through appreciation of\u00a0art<\/a>:<\/p>\n

Art as the single superior counterforce against all will to negation of life, art as the anti-Christian, anti-Buddhist, anti-Nihilist par excellence.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Nietzsche suffered a breakdown in 1889 having struggled with mental health issues his whole life. He was placed under the care of his mother and subsequently his sister Elisabeth F\u00f6rster-Nietzsche, who assumed the role of curator of his manuscripts.<\/p>\n

Here is some of Nietzsche’s music<\/strong> just in case you thought you had misread the introduction above! Nobody seems to have discovered a transcription for guitar yet! I used to think “Also Sprach Zarathustra” by Strauss might work!<\/p>\n