‘What kind of music would Beethoven have composed had his hearing stayed normal throughout his life? It is an impossible but thought-provoking question. The only certainty is that it would have been another, a different kind.’ Syn og Segn focuses on musical expression and its capacity for articulating emotion.
‘What kind of music would Beethoven have composed had his hearing stayed normal throughout his life? It is an impossible but thought-provoking question. The only certainty is that it would have been another, a different kind.’ Espen Aspaas quotes the composer: ‘I am doomed to be misunderstood … Wordless, isolated from conversation’, and ends with responses to Beethoven’s Apassionata, composed during the early years of his deteriorating hearing.
Protest songs
Jan Lothe Eriksen, a cellist and musicians’ trade unionist, stresses that the music of protest exerts a powerful unifying force. Those in authority know it: the lethal danger run by performers of protests songs in Chile prove the point. The Vietnamese singer and guitarist Mai Khoi is also at risk: ‘All she wants is to be free to be an artist, but the situation in her homeland forces her into political activism.’ Europe is not immune: ‘In 2018, Spain imprisoned more musicians than any other country – fourteen rappers were sentenced for choosing subjects like Catalan independence and the absurdity of national symbols.’
Lost art
Diplomat and political speechwriter Øyvind Søtvik Rekstad praises the power of words: ‘Writing is becoming a lost art. The written language is a wizard’s toolkit that enables us to create power as if through magic. Why don’t our politicians spend more time on writing good speeches?’
More articles from Syn og Segn in Eurozine; Syn og Segn’s website.
This article is part of the 1/2020 Eurozine review. Click here to subscribe to our reviews, and you also can subscribe to our newsletter and get the bi-weekly updates about the latest publications and news on partner journals.
Published 24 January 2020
Original in English
First published by Eurozine
© Eurozine
PDF/PRINT
Invest in insight!
After over 20 years of publishing for free, Eurozine needs your support to get through an exceptionally lean year.
Become a Patron and get exciting perks for your help!
Want to hear a human voice?
Listen and subscribe wherever
you get your podcasts.
Newsletter
Subscribe to know what’s worth thinking about.
Related Articles
Related Articles
Serious listening
Positionen 4/2022
Featuring an interview with ambient pioneer Suzanne Ciani; the origins and meaning of ‘deep listening’; deconstructing the concert hall; and contemporary opera from Ukraine.
The many names of Chernivtsi in Ukraine attest to the tumultuous military and political history of Europe, borne out in cultural and linguistic competition, conflict and compromise in literature, music and art. What traces of this past can still be seen in the city today?