Daily High Culture 16: Light Into the Darkness

Classical Rebellion

May 8, 2020 "To send light into the darkness of men's hearts - such is the duty of the artist." Robert Schumann This is a noble calling but what about those of us who aren’t artists? Our responsibility is to let the light of art into the dark recesses of our hearts. Our responsibility is to cultivate ourselves in order to receive the light. How is that done? My first recommendation would be to subscribe to Classical Rebellion and turn on notifications! If we start interacting with the arts just a little bit every day, our capacity to allow light into our hearts will grow. Whenever this idea of just a little bit every day comes up, we need to remember that for some of us that is almost impossible. If your parents had to nag you to brush your teeth or make your bed or clean up your room, your personality resists “just a little bit every day.” That’s a big part of why we are doing this exploration. You can come to Classical Rebellion and get your little bit every day. As we listen to a piece of great music and look, however briefly, at a great piece of art every day, our bandwidth to absorb the light of the arts grows. This is the primary function of interacting with the arts. They make our lives better. The temptation is to think that the arts are valuable because of the skills involved to produce them. That is one sure indicator of value but the primary value of art is that it makes our lives more liveable. Art and music open us up to a more profound experience of life. They provide context to the human condition. They can inspire us to move beyond our basic needs and addictions. As a side note, the human condition is often used as if we all understand what it is. In a nutshell, the human condition means we aware that we are going to die. We are aware that our actions or lack of action today will curse or bless us in the future. The arts bring light. If a piece of creativity does not bring light, it is something other than art. A creative piece could be a legitimate expression of human suffering but an expression that leaves us with only suffering is meaningless. We know how to suffer. We look to art to provide some light to guide us through our sufferings. The piece of music for this quote is Schumann’s Requiem fur Mignon. Mignon was a character in Goethe’s novel Wilhelm Meister's Apprenticeship. The character of Mignon is a 13-year-old Italian girl whom Wilhelm rescues from the carnival. Mignon became something of an icon for Romantics such as Schumann. The piece of art for this quote goes with the music. Mignon Desires Her Fatherland is a painting by French/Dutch artist Ary Scheffer from 1836. We can see the orphan Mignon considering the life which was taken from her when she was abducted by the carnival operators. www.classicalrebellion.com