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<\/a>Is there meaning at Salzburg Hauptbahnhof? The answer is shrouded in eternal mystery....<\/p><\/div>\n
SIX<\/strong><\/p>\n The Search for Meaning<\/strong><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n And here we have it \u2013 a chapter in Borstlap\u2019s book with which I cannot disagree on the whole. Probably\u00a0 because he talks only very little about music here.<\/span><\/p>\n Instead this is a mostly \u201ckulturphilosophisches\u201d essay, in fact the most \u201cheavy\u201d and difficult to read chapter so far, as it is about the underlying principles of European culture and the challenges it faces in the 21st<\/sup> century. Superficially this can be read as a traditionalist\u2019s point of view and critique of the current state of affairs. But actually many of his opinions here are very level-headed, yes, dare I say \u201cmodern\u201d, and I cannot help but agree with them on a very fundamental level. <\/span><\/p>\n And yes, I really wrote that.<\/span><\/p>\n The main focus of this chapter is a critique of the negative effects of \u201ccultural relativism\u201d, which goes back (in Borstlap\u2019s opinion) to German philosopher Herder\u2019s idea that there are no universal values of civilization but instead an ever-changing \u201cVolksgeist\u201d (a word that much later acquired a quite bitter taste). What follows is a discussion of the necessity of a sense of \u201cvalue\u201d of cultural achievements (instead of an \u201canything is good\u201d attitude, where there are no differences between the trivial and the sublime), including also a sense of pride and \u201cbelonging\u201d without falling in the trap of arrogance or totalitarian tendencies. Herder back then was (understandably) criticizing the arrogant and condescending stance of the Age of Enlightenment, which thought European culture the most superior, but his views degraded today into a kind of weary and tired\u00a0 political correctness without any real values anymore, where the tolerance to pretty much everything results in a situation where everything is also worth the same, therefore removing the idea of \u201cvalue\u201d altogether.<\/span><\/p>\n Even though Borstlap understands the reasons for this stance historically (happening mostly out of guilt for European crimes, especially of the 20th<\/sup> century) he correctly laments the fact that the loss of any kind of standard has resulted in a general loss of quality. In short, he strives for a new objectivism that sets new standards that things can be measured against. This is actually not dissimilar to my personal view that more objectivity is needed in art, even though my personal argument would be that modernism itself is deeply subjective and therefore late-romantic, whereas Borstlap seems to be longing for a new romanticism \u2013 I don\u2019t!<\/span><\/p>\n For Borstlap the ideal European artist would be one who is proud of his\/her heritage and deeply rooted in it, but at the same time acknowledging the diversity of other traditions and respecting them, perhaps looking for some kind of \u201cuniversal\u201d values (which in itself is a deeply European idea, but that\u2019s another story). Only then would we be culturally inviting to foreigners coming to live in Europe (the main example at the moment being muslims) \u2013 because we treat our own culture with so much disrespect it seems like a wasteland to non-Europeans, who then rather keep to their own isolated ways instead of creatively co-existing and assimilating\u00a0 (like Jewish European immigrants have done admirably over the centuries, despite the injustice they often faced).<\/span><\/p>\n Therefore this state of affairs, the \u201cEurope\u2019s doubt of Europe\u201d, is to be faulted for the current backlashes of both right-wing extremism and religious fundamentalism by immigrants, says Borstlap. <\/span><\/p>\n Sometimes in this chapter Borstlap comes over as a little grandfatherly and mildly old-fashioned, but the heart of his argument is solid. <\/span><\/p>\n He then goes on to lament the negative effects of Germany\u2019s \u201cbad conscience\u201d, although I don\u2019t think he realizes that the following statement is not true anymore:<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cAs long as \u201cmodern music\u201d in Germany strains under the taboo of the \u201cdark period\u201d, its new music is imprisoned within the walls af a moralistic totalitarianism not much less suffocating than the communist cultural climate in the former Soviet union\u201d.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n I think this is certainly true of the 50\u2019s to late 60\u2019s, with ripples felt until the late Eighties, but I don\u2019t feel this \u201cmoralistic totalitarianism\u201d at work anymore, although there might be remnants in the form of some very isolated personalities. The German music funding system has many aspects that can be definitely discussed, but it enables quite a lot of artistic freedom and has traditionally been extremely welcoming to foreign musicians (including Borstlap by the way), and that is certainly not a bad thing for the cultural climate here in general. And since the formerly extremely influential Donaueschingen and Darmstadt festivals have ceased to be the definitive temples of taste and are just part of a bigger scene (which I think is very healthy) I don\u2019t know any composer who currently feels any kind of \u201cmoralistic totalitarianism\u201d at work here, honestly.<\/span><\/p>\n Of course the big (unspoken) question of this chapter is: how can we introduce a new sense of \u201cvalue\u201d without creating just another artistic dictatorship? I don\u2019t think I would follow Borstlap\u2019s personal vision for this lightly, to be honest. I am looking for more freedom than boring old discussions of tonality or \u201cwhat is music\u201d and \u201cwhat is not music\u201d which seem so important to Borstlap. As a composer I don\u2019t want to know what music is, I want to discover what music is by writing it.<\/em> Otherwise all joy is gone.<\/span><\/p>\n There is also nothing inherently wrong with \u201cgeräusch\u201d or \u201cnoise\u201d in music. There are so many fascinating musical cultures that incorporate \u201cnoise\u201d instead of just \u201ctones\u201d (think of aboriginal didgeridoos or west-african drumming) that I think noise is a valid element of music. Period. Of course creating a cult of sound events is also not the answer, and can be boring really quickly, but there are a lot of interesting composers who do \u201csound art\u201d very well, it seems to me. <\/span><\/p>\n \u201cSound Art\u201d is therefore no negative term for me, I just think it is unnecessary, because music already is sound art. Why can sounds not be \u201cspiritual\u201d, as Borstlap demands?\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0I am also not at all with him in his constant bickering about Cage \u2013 Cage\u2019s big contribution to music was not the idea of \u201cconceptuality\u201d (that is perhaps developed more interestingly by current young composers) but the idea that listening itself is something that can change instead of being just an act by which music is aurally perceived.\u00a0 He opened up the discussion about the perception of music, that is for sure, and I am still very happy he did so. If we discuss music it is also perfectly feasible to discuss and challenge the stance of the listener, and that\u2019s basically what Cage did. <\/span><\/p>\n Which brings me \u2013 finally \u2013 to my fundamental doubt about\u00a0 Borstlap\u2019s thesis against \u201cModernism\u201d. If we should develop a new sense of tradition again, why do we have to actually NEGATE modernism? Hasn\u2019t modernism become part of our tradition already? Why should it be excluded from that tradition like that naughty distant cousin nobody talks about anymore at family reunions? I just don\u2019t get it \u2013 and I suppose there are personal pet peeves and frustrations at work here from Borstlap.<\/span><\/p>\n If we really want to overcome the old-fashioned \u201cAvantgarde\u201d (and yes, I agree with Borstlap that it has become a mostly old-fashioned term) the best way to do it would be to fully perceive it as part of our tradition, instead of retconning it into something evil that has to be erased from existence. <\/span><\/p>\n And this doubt against Borstlap\u2019s argument remains strongly in me, even after reading all these chapters. Perhaps in the final chapter everything will come together and I\u2019ll be suddenly convinced and only write nice little symphonies in the future?<\/span><\/p>\n Ok, just kidding\u2026.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0Moritz Eggert<\/p>\n