Dear Jeyamohan,
I was listening to Chaidanya’s talks on Western music and the connection of Western philosophy with it. They are really interesting. She says some brilliant remarks with utmost easiness; only a really erudite person can make such a confident remark on the masters of western culture. Yes, as far as I know, Wagner is the best creative personality Western culture created. He is far above Beethoven and Mozart. His operas are modern epics, and he created an array of epics.
But there is an interesting question. Wagner is not communicable to non-European persons because, as he himself says, he is more ‘German.’ Mozart is extremely popular throughout the world. I think the reason for his popularity is not the simple and jolly nature of his music, which you refer to as youthfulness. I think there is something really ‘human’ in his music, which is basically global. You can see a lot of eastern copies of Mozart. That element cannot be ignored, and from this perspective, Mozart is the real-world master of music.
We can observe this curious thing: a lot of Western masters are not communicable to Eastern minds; we have to train and push ourselves towards them to absorb them. They cannot be naturally our artists; their cultural elements and philosophical visions are essentially western. James Joyce is Western, and Tolstoy is global. That difference is essential; we cannot overlook it so easily.
Victor Hugo once said that his work should go to the houses of all poor people across the globe and knock on their doors. That is the real spirit of a ‘human master,’ right? A real master will never talk for a particular culture or be the integral part of a specific culture.
B.R. Sabarigireesan
