gillian wrote @ June 3, 2009 at 12:21 pm

What a wonderful – and clever! – initiative to join articles about music in this blog,which is about optimism! There is nothing as positive and upbeat as music. Music – whatever kind of music – has a particular way to “talk”into the heart of people.
A few days back, I had a strange and very interesting experience. Some people post in the twitter new or old music. I listened to these and was surprised to discover that new horizons were opened into my mind, an experience quite similar to what is described here. Those people posted music that I do not listen to, normally. And I discovered that this music was beautiful, uplifting and it made me feel good.
Thanks to one of the posts, I discovered Velvet Underground, an old group producing extraordinary songs. I may seem ignorant, but I knew nothing of this group. I loved their songs and I spent quite a long time listening to them, especially to the awesome “Sunday Morning” and I had the feeling that I was transported into a dream world.
The second discovery was Mister Willem Maker http://tinyurl.com/l8zv8m . This is a wonderful song; it had something uplifting and it had a way to fill you with much positive energy. I think sincerely that it is worth to follow the suggestion of the person who posted the song, ” go and give the guy a listen”. You will not regret it. Well, in any case, I didn’t.
Now, a last word about a music of a completely different kind. In the article, there is question about “written SF releases dystopia upon doomsday book upon Ragnarök upon gotterdämmerung. ” Honestly, those subjects, coming of Scandinavian mythology and concerning the end of the world could not easily be used in a positive or upbeat work.
There is, nevertheless, a man, who was able to use them in some positive – and relatively optimistic – context. This man was a musician : Richard Wagner. In his huge opera “The Ring of the Niebelungen”, Richard Wagner uses the Gotterdammerung (=the fall of ancient Scandinavian Gods) to criticize hypocrisy and excessive concessions for social purposes. In Wagner’s philosophy, the Fall of the Gods is the way for men to take their own responsibilities, have the courage to take their own decisions without any moral oppressions from any kind of religion. The Fall of the ancient Gods and the destruction of the world would result in the rebirth of a better, more self-conscious world, a world were the humankind would be free and people would be able to follow their own path.
Wagner has often been contested for different reasons, most of them quite unfair. He was a genius, an idealist hoping a better future for humankind and had a very difficult life defending his free, quite rebellious philosophy. He was not responsible of the use of his work the Nazis ; Wagner was dead at that period. And I doubt that a free minded artist like him, would have supported Hitler’s atrocities. Wagner was banned from his own country because he defended people who fought against oppressive kings. How could he have defended a dictatorial regime?
Anyway, the man was a genius and his music is wonderful and grandiose. AND optimistic, so as everything defending freedom of the mind.
And some people pretend that Wagner’s music was the predecessor of hard rock…