| | Msr. Reed-
Ah, Mozart. I'm not so heavily studied, but studied enough to understand why we see eye to eye here.
That said, this recalls to me a scene from the (I know, historically dubious) movie Amadeus), which sparks a different take. There's a part where Mozart is talking to some snooty Italian courtiers, who are holding for 'aristocratic'. 'Italian' standards of aesthetics and romance; Mozart rebuffs with more integrity that tact and instead defends a 'German' romantic folk tradition. Now, I have no idea how accurate this scene is, but it fits with the dangerously social radical tone of some of Mozart's pieces- say, the Magic Flute- as well as what I do know of the German folk traditions, which however rustic had strong strains of a life affirming ethos- with a heritage in the earlier versions of Germanic Paganism (the Vanir or older gods of the standard Norse tales) and a legacy in oral culture- the 'fairy stories' which form the basis of much 19th century Romanticism as well as modern fairy tales.
The reason I mention the above is because you present 'old high culture' standards, represented by classical Western and Eastern civilizations, as both liberal and unstratified, and I think this mixes together two different sociological strains. What I have been calling 'old high culture', typified by Periclean Athens, Republican Rome, Imperial Britian, or Feudal Japan, does deserve the name of high culture- with its worldliness, it's appreciation for the arts, and its pragmatic tolerance of other niches of life. Nevertheless, these cultures qualities attractive. There is a heavy emphasis of keeping, not fixed social race, but 'face', honour, dignitas, a deliberate training in a proud social callousness, and specifically a very sharp sexual double standard- such societies create conditions of virtual slavery for all females except prostitutes and the female aristocracy, who strongly resemble each other; being pragmatically married off in political marriage is the norm.
I'm far from saying that 'old high cultures' are irredeemably vicious- on the contrary, such cultures have been virtually the sole backgrounds for the flourishing of philosophy and the arts and sciences. But their shameless pride and good life does not translate into universalistic respect for happiness or persons, and easily promotes a sense of cultural demand for the heights which disparages and despises and all else; the paradigm case for this is the decline of Athens following its imperial ambitions, which simultaneously cultural war against a more feminist and egalitarian counterculture with little use for glory-seeking, as recalled by Medea and Lysistrata.
Mozart touches this because Mozart's work- particularly his popular strain represented by works such as the Magic Flute- show every last characteristic, from aesthos to flow to symbols to morality- of a worldview that in some respects concords and some respects dissents from "old high culture" values- I'm tempted to call it 'old low culture'. Examples of this formation include ancient Sumer, Minoan Greece, the Hellenistic near East and the popular culture of Plebian Rome, as well as the popular culture of modern America. None of these examples are perfect (nor are those for 'old high culture'), but all emphasize the 'Dionysian' (Nietzsche's misleading term) themes of enthusiasm and immediacy that high cultures distrust as connected to a loss of control; their social life is more egalitarian, more empathic than standards-focused, and more 'democratic' in Plato's sense of democratic culture. On the other hand, 'old low cultures' concur with high cultures in an emphasis on worldly happiness, aestheticism, and sexuality; both are resolutely opposed to Christianity and a morality contrary to nature.
I have in mind something like the following:
heirarchical egalitarian moralist Protestant Ethic Christian love duty, chastity, propriety sacrifice, faith, agape authoritarian right authoritarian left converted high culture converted low culture 'father knows best' 'what about the poor?' Robert Bork Jesse Jackson naturalist Apollonian Dyonisian pride, virtu, philia inspiration, empathy, eros Libertarian Right Libertarian Left old high culture old low culture 'we are the champions' 'well, we all shine on...' Gary Johnson John Lennon
Note this model allows for blends of adjacent categories: Victorian capitalism was an Apollonian/Protestant cross, the Medieval Church a Protestant/Christian cross; contemporary leftism and feminism is generally a Christian/Dyonisian cross, while Rush or Camille Paglia show a Dyonisian/Apollonian cross. Mozart, by his schema, is also a cross between Apollonian and Dyonisian virtues. (apologies for the many anachronisms ineviable in any crosscultural typology:
Ayn Rand, by this model, emphasizes an Apollonian/Dyonisian mix at the beginning of her creative period, becoming steadily more purely Apollonian as her life progressed.
Well, my thoughts.
Jeanine Ring )(*)(
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