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6. In Search for Music
Beethoven (1770-1827)Some say that atonal music, electronic music, concrete music, etc, reveal a decline or inhaerent disease, but this is not true: these are just quasi-music. If we were to search for and study a decline and a disease we should search for Beethoven. Beethoven is the "ergo sum" without the "cogito". Beethoven's Highest is where Schubert starts from... Schubert (1797-1828)...that High, that Schubert needs not go much further - on the contrary, very often he loses it. Absolute Balance above the abyss - without sinking, without fearing and without ignoring it: music encounters the unjustified (equivocal) tragedy of a personal error and internalises it by means of a sublime patience. Much of the later music is only comments (and almost blemishes) at Beethoven's and Schubert's margin - to paraphrase Whitehead. 
Wagner (1813-1883)When music attempts a full Ontology of the Person. Stravinsky saw here a phonebook - but this is just a tasteful exaggeration of an age, when ontology became impossible. In purely morphological terms, Wagner offers the fusion of a novel, rich and complete chromatic style with texts of poetic/philosophical ambitions. He created a concrete and global Meaning and he explored it to the end of his desire. Winds become an essential actor in the musical stage, combining, and, sometimes, uniting, power with subtlety. Scriabin is not so devoted to him as Bruckner, but is probably his best student. Indirectly, we also owe him some of Nietzsche's finest remarks on music! Debussy (1862-1918)The 'idea' is not in the phrase, not even in the word: it's in the syllable! Don't think of innocence, or some kind of mysticism: it's only the first signs of the fall: impression in its way, or, rather, as a way, to depression... A concentration in oneself in the very manner that excludes this concentration: "For a composer is more useful to see the sunrise that to listen to Beethoven's pastoral symphony"... Ellopos Guide to Classical Music: Back to the Table of Contents
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