Parallels and Paradoxes : Explorations in Music and Society

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Summary: Two cultures, one uniting force
Review: Having heard Barenboim and Said interviewed on NPR I rushed to Amazon to acquire this book. I was not disppointed! These are highly literate men, wise men, who see music in a social context. Although their roots are Israeli and Palestinian, their exposure to other cultures has broadened their perspectives so that their opinions are informed by their experiences in Egypt, Argentina, America, Germany, Israel, etc. The continuing theme is music, especially that of Beethoven and later Wagner, but in the context of their societies and ours. It may be that the hope forpeace in the world is shared music!

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Summary: The meaning and value of music
Review: I was very excited to read a book written by one of my favorite 20th century intellectuals and one of my favorite pianists. This is not a musicology text; it is perhaps, something more valuable than that. Edward Said, who died recently, was a pianist himself; this fact combined with his explorations into the meaning of democracy and social culture made reading this book a very interesting proposition alone. The book did not disappoint and offered many surprises both in terms of exploring what classical music can offer to contemporary culture and what music - especially Beethoven's music - means in political terms. The book is organized as a series of conversations in which Baremboim and Said discuss topics that include the apparent detachment that classical music has today from the rest of culture as opposed to the time when an understanding and admiration for it was deemed indispensable for the educated and higher classes. However, what makes the book a pleasure to read is one one level Said and Baremboim clealry love music passionatley, on the other Baremboim is an Israeli citizen, who was the first to perform in the occupied Territories with a palestinian orchestra and also sponsored a Palestinian orchestra to play inn Germany. Edward Said was an intellaetcual that argued passionatley for the Palestinian cause. Their firendship and coomon interest in music offers an undeniable sense of hope for those of us, like myself, who are troubled by the ongiong Arab-Israeli conflict that appears to worsen ebery day. That this hope should be nunaced and coloured with the music of Beethoven seems to be not only fascinating and beautiful, but a tribute to a composer who saw and used music to shake the world and argue for freedom. In so doing baremboim and Said discuss the possibility that music can serve as a model or for undertsanding between peoples and global citizenship. They are both idealists in this sense, but their vision makes beautiful sense nonetheless.

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Summary: A Book So Full
Review: If there is a book that presents valuable and valid lessons in how to resolve differences, be they in attitudes towards the arts, the lack of music in our educational system, the etiology of the Israeli/Palestinian dichotomy, and so much more, then this collection of conversations between Daniel Barenboim and Edward W. Said as edited and synthesized by Ara Guzelimian is it. This powerful but too brief book reaches for the Nobel Peace Prize in its courage, exploration of the state of man and the possibilities for the future, and in its tremendously accessible format that makes the workings of these three great minds available for us all. Each of the extended conversations taped betaween 1995 and 1999 addresses an interesting topic that serves to open vistas that go far beyond the crux of the topic. Hearing Barenboim expound on the fact that no one can exactly interpret a composer's score because the spirit is not on the page but in the making and experiencing the 'sound' that happens in a live performance rather obliterates all critics who descry individual interpretation of the great composers as "not the composer's intention!" Said carries this into the realm of literature, suggesting that contemporary writers are where they are because of the giants of the past and that we, as readers, are influenced in our interpretation of new work dependent upon our exposure and digestion of works by the old masters. Contemporary music by composers such as Carter, Schoenberg, and Birtwistle are discussed in a way that assists our concept of listening and learning in the concert hall. Similar parallels and similar paradoxes in the international political arena are given the same level of inspiring dialog and paths to understanding. This is a fine, fine book and we are indebted to Ara Guzelimian not only for his written and conversational contributions, but for persevering in having this volume published. Read this and gain insight and intelligence on many streams of thought that will help us all save this planet.

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Summary: Mildly interesting, but we've sorta been here before
Review: This book encompasses a series of talks between conductor Daniel Barenboims and writer Edward Said just before the turn of the millenium. It is short and an easy read, and to my mind doesn't really go anywhere bold or surprising. If you've seen intervies with Barenboim before--on 60 Minutes, for example, or on the several conductor and pianist DVDs on which he appears--you've heard him say much of this before--music is the opposite of silence and it is not the printed page but rather the notes the of the orchestra that are the composition. He also talks about such subjects as the "velocity" of music (a subject distinct from tempo) and the interrelation between music and politics. It is here in particular that he and Said go off on all sorts of tangents about the Israel-Palestine peace process (a process that has since basically collapsed), as well as the role of anti-Semitism in Germany, in Wagner's time, Hitler's time and now. Again, I've heard this before from Barenboim and Said many times--the difference between Wagner's ideals and Wagner's art and whether the two are separable, and so forth.

The most interesting chapter to me was the last, where both men made a very persuasive argument that classical music is dying or dead because of a narrowing of our cultural and intellectual life, especially in America, excluding anything universal and to limiting one's knowledge deliberately to a narrow sphere. It's virtually a proud provincialism, reinforced and encouraged by our consumerism culture that discourages critical thinking and expanding horizons, prefering sheep to minds. Wisely, neither man professes to have "the solution" but they do show how it's hard to really grasp the message of Beethoven this way, and I feel they have a strong point, one you won't find dealt with in most classical magazines or programs, as they too are an encouragement of a sort of mindless capitalism (disguised as "Art").

However, the best thing I can say about this volume is it refers often to the writings of Theodore Adorno, whose dense essays, though in some cases dated, are far far more penetrating and interesting than the rather pedestrian concepts bandied about here. At least this book is inexpensive and a quick read, so if you're curious it can't hurt to check it out. However, this volume will be taken to the second-hand shop the next time I go weeding through my stuff. For those of you who think you may be interested in this, and who don't mind thick, densely-written books, check out Adorno's "Essays on Music," also available from Amazon.