Again I should start by pointing out how fully unqualified I am to discuss Alex Ross’s The Rest Is Noise. My experience with music lasts all day every day (if possible), but my formal knowledge is slim and my knowledge of classical music doesn’t go much beyond Bach, Beethoven, Mozart, Vivaldi, and Peter and the Wolf (since I had the record and loved it as a kid). Anyway, I’m 400 pages in and here are a few observations:

First, I guess I’m surprised how un-shocking the early modern composers sound today. I checked out Richard Strauss, Gustav Mahler, and Arnold Schoenberg from the library. I like them all—especially Mahler—and I’m sure they sound revolutionary compared to Bach, but they aren’t especially grating or disorienting like I expected them to be. I only notice that the sounds are a bit more aggressive and the mood less Romantic. Just by chance I also listened to Black Sea by Fennesz and Drum’s Not Dead by Liars today. I guess if I’m comfortable with these sounds—one seems to lack coherent rhythm or progression, the other is all rhythms diluted with flatness—then I’m a product of Modernism more than I expected. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised that my reaction is not that different from the common attitude toward Modernism in painting. We’ve grown accustomed to rule violations and it takes a LOT to surprise a mildly accepting modern human.

Second, perhaps my favorite part of Ross’s book is his constant connection between music and politics. I’m sure a few people disliked his obsession with German politics and its interconnectedness with 20th century music, but I think it’s essential. I’ve mentioned numerous times my respect for Roberto Bolaño, especially his insistence that you can pretend that art and politics don’t intersect—but that avoidance is in itself a political statement. People who argue “Art for art’s sake!” are either (1) hermits or (2) living off a trust fund. Number one I can respect, but if you’re number two—like most proponents—then your rebellion is reactionary. Richard Strauss comes across as a #2 in Ross’s book, which is only a step better than Wagner’s entire family (who sympathize with the Nazis and deserve the shameful stain of historical judgment). I digress. My point is that I’m fascinated with how artists respond when politics forces its way into the purity of art, especially in the cases of Strauss/Hitler and Shostakovich/Stalin.

“Everything begins in mystique and ends in politics”—Charles Peguy

Finally, I really dislike Theodor Adorno, in whatever context I stumble upon him. His statements always reek of authoritarianism, which is ironic since his goal seems to be denouncing the same. It comes from this view of life:

“[Modern music] has taken all the darkness and guilt of the world upon itself. It is happy only when representing misery; it is beautiful only when rejecting beauty’s illusion.”