Tag Archives: Heinrich Heine

violence and loss: dead moon fever

The beauty in ambivalence? Theodor Adorno said that after Auschwitz it was impossible to write poetry. But, is attempting to make beautiful art irresponsible? Is it responsible to invoke, to posit, monumentalism to unyielding hopelessness; to imply that nihilism is … Continue reading

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one of the boys: men in long black coats

John Lennon was once quoted as saying  that Bob Dylan was intentionally opaque in his lyrics so as to position himself as “secure in his hipness”. It is often taken that Dylan provided the Beatles with the understanding of depth, … Continue reading

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heine sight is everything

The personification of a straight line. Those who philosophize everything delicious out of life. Does the ancient land of dreams still exist? Heine did not believe that it would so soon come to pass; there were too many black ravens … Continue reading

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heine in paris: hope amid les miserables

When he died in Paris, his last words were “god will forgive me. Its his job.” Among the thousands of books burned in Berlin in 1933 following the Nazi raid on the Institut für Sexualwissenschaft, were works by Heinrich Heine. … Continue reading

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small is beautiful: a free man in paris

It was a time when Paris was a city for the young. Students, painters, intellectuals, journalists, grisettes: all were there along with a young German poet who recorded a period of creative ferment between one revolution and the next. …. … Continue reading

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chopin of dissonance: nocturnes on renunciations of reality

For sixteen prolific years in France prior to splitting with George Sand, Chopin had produced an uninterrupted stream of masterpieces on such a consistently brilliant level of craftsmanship and invention that it is well-nigh impossible to talk of a bell … Continue reading

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Sand and Chopin….. etudes of the muse or the ballade of the…vampire

George Sand is often cast as the villain of the piece, though actually, she did wonders for Frederic Chopin by shielding him from the buffetings of the world. Chopin’s connection with Madame Dudevant, the French novelist, better known as “George … Continue reading

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liberated from foursquare classical rhythms

His life was brilliant and brief, much like his masterpieces on the piano. This segment tracks Frederic Chopin in Paris. He had left Poland to spend eight inhospitable months in Vienna before making his way to Paris at he time … Continue reading

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Chopin and the unpredictable mazurka

Chopin’s Polishness went deeper than the color of his passport. From a musical standpoint, in fact, it was of paramount importance because of the way Polish folk music shaped his whole thinking on questions of rhythm and melody. His formal … Continue reading

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the foe of the metronome: Does the right hand not know…

… what the left hand is doing?  Chopin, his life though it was marked by illness, was nonetheless, a success. His life brilliant and brief was much like his masterpieces for the piano. Masterpieces cloaked in the enigma  of his … Continue reading

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