From: Jurriaan Bendien (adsl675281@TISCALI.NL)
Date: Mon Jul 16 2007 - 19:04:15 EDT
Actually, Barosso's "empire" idea isn't a new one, he'd mentioned it before: (30 January 2007) In his closing words, Barroso expressed his thanks to Daniel Barenboim and to the initiative "A Soul for Europe" for this important encounter and for providing the opportunity to listen to further well-named representatives from Europe's intellectual and cultural spheres in the future. Barroso once more emphasised the relevance of culture in the context of European politics: "Europe is an empire united by common ideas, not by force." www.berlinerkonferenz.net/uploads/media/Barenboim_Press2_070130.pdf THE WSWS site has a critical article on Barrosso here: http://www.wsws.org/articles/2004/jul2004/port-j21.shtml Hitler is said to have regarded Beethoven as one of the three greatest composers along with Richard Wagner and Anton Bruckner. But the music has also inspired French republicans, Catholics and communists. Indeed, Beethoven, an admirer of the French revolution, is said to have been inspired by the revolution to write the Ninth Symphony. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/3007629.stm Poor old Beethoven (I am a fan of Beethoven). What did he really know about politics... Well, in reality, quite a bit it seems (e.g. http://www.ucpress.edu/books/pages/10005/10005.intro.html). The relationship between musical tones and political life cannot usually be understood in a reductionistic way, but there is evidently some relationship between them (I am not a musicologist, and therefore there's not a lot I can say about it). It can evidently rouse or soothe the moral feelings of social classes. Jurriaan
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