Aesthetics, Richard Wagner, and Iconic Realism

I took this photo of the River Shannon in Limerick, Ireland.

(Click here to listen to Wagner's Ride of the Valkyries)

Through the use of the semiotic theory of iconic realism, artists shape the consciousness of various aspects of culture, including education, history, business, and aesthetics whereby their works of art combine an iconic figure with a realistic setting that communicates an incompatibility with the accepted environment in which the audience commonly associates the iconic figure. Understanding the language presented through the art form, be it literary, visual or aural, the audience may respond with an emotional resistance as it perceives the iconic representation in this new realistic setting.

An example of iconic realism in a musical composition utilizing instrumentation is Wagner’s mythical composition, The Ring of the Nibelungs.  In this piece, Wagner represents various aspects of society through instrumental characterizations. As Eero Tarasti affirms, "the gods appear in the Ring not only as personifications of the elements of nature, for example, Loge as the god of fire, Donner the god of thunder etc, but also as a society, whose leader is Wotan." [1] His use of contrasting instrumentation throughout his opus reveals an intense desire to illustrate corruption within his society. Many filmmakers choose to accompany the drama of their themes utilizing the nineteenth century Wagner music. An example of such intense films is Apocalypse Now, which illustrates the corruption associated with war, in particular, the Vietnam War.

1. Tarasti, Eero. Myth and Music: A Semiotic Apporach to the Aesthetics of Myth in Music, especially that of Wagner, Sibelius and Stravinsky (Paris: Mouton, 1979) 177.  

Brian Eno's Ambient Music and Iconic Realism (Click here to view and hear video of Eno's Earth, "An Ending")

A photo of a nearby lake at sunset

From my first book on the semiotic theory of iconic realism: 

Some musical composers apply electronically produced music with natural sounds from the environment to provide the audience with a real association, such as wildlife, bodies of water, seasonal sound sources, and weather phenomena. This particular form of musical presentation, known as ambient music, for its affect on the ambience of one’s surroundings, is often recorded for health facilities. 

  

An example of such musical composition is the healing music of composer, Brian Eno, and his 1978 release, Ambient I: Music for Airports. In the liner of this album, Eno writes, “My intention is to produce original pieces ostensibly (but not exclusively) for particular times and situations with a view to building up a small but versatile catalogue of environmental music suited to a wide variety of moods and atmospheres.”[1] This form of incorporating musical sounds with nature provides the added aesthetic of stimulating the senses with a portion of reality to which the audience relates through memory, transporting an individual to an aspect of memory, aligning the audience with the composer’s perception of reality. 

In his musical composition, Earth, An Ending, he provides the audience with a reality that heightens awareness of the possibility of positive cultural change either within an individual or within Earth’s community as a whole.

[1] Eno, Brian. Music for Airports/Ambient 1. Liner notes. PVC 7908 (AMB 001), 1978. 

"Don't Stop Believing" and Iconic Realism

Photo of a lake in New England

Any song that speaks of south Detroit draws my attention, and the classic song, "Don't Stop Believing" by Journey is no exception. How does this song demonstrate the semiotic theory of iconic realism? 

1.  The song reveals iconic images of the human struggle with emotions.

2.  They are juxtaposed with light and enlightenment.

3. This placement brings the audience of this song in tune with the perpetual dilemma of humanity's search for meaning. "It goes on and on and on and on."

Don't Stop Believing

by Journey

Just a small town girl, livin' in a lonely world

She took the midnight train goin' anywhere

Just a city boy, born and raised in south Detroit

He took the midnight train goin' anywhere

A singer in a smokey room

A smell of wine and cheap perfume

For a smile they can share the night

It goes on and on and on and on

Chorus:

Strangers waiting, up and down the boulevard

Their shadows searching in the night

Streetlights people, living just to find emotion

Hiding, somewhere in the night

Working hard to get my fill,

Everybody wants a thrill

Payin' anything to roll the dice,

just one more time

Some will win, some will lose

Some were born to sing the blues

Oh, the movie never ends

It goes on and on and on and on

(chorus)

Don't stop believin'

Hold on to the feelin'

Streetlight people

Symphony at The Cloisters, New York City, and Iconic Realism

The Cloisters, New York City

www.pbase.com/ terraxplorer/image/68935986

The following excerpt is in the Introduction of my first book: The Theory of Iconic Realism. I'd like to thank Professor Lionel Bascom, RIP, for telling me of this experience as his illustration of iconic realism.

A group of New Yorkers assembles in the Cloisters museum, which sits atop a hill overlooking the Hudson River, just outside of Manhattan. These individuals have come to listen to a concert, which will be presented just before sunset. Anticipating a traditional concert with musicians performing in front of a listening audience, they search for seating. They notice that chairs have been strategically placed throughout the museum, a few here, a few there, up the winding staircases, in the garden, along the walls of stone. Confused, the concert attendees seat themselves, waiting.

Soon, echoing through the interweaving chambers of the museum, low brass instruments create a resonating medieval drone, monotone voices chanting in Latin with sustained pitches, fill the damp air with a sound that transports the audience from the busy New York City museum to a medieval stone castle. The glow from the setting sun mixed with low lighting envelops the medieval tapestries, statuary and paintings while muted melodies fill the audience with an aural feast. Iconic melodies that signify this medieval period permeate the halls.

The medieval tones mingle with the realism in the works of art, architecture and presence of the audience, sensually transported to this era. When the concert ends, the members of this audience become aware of the cultural distinctions between the two worlds of medieval Europe and twentieth century New York City, now transformed in their perceptions of continuity of human interaction in time and space, having experienced iconic realism.

Sydney Owenson: 'The Life and Times of Salvator Rosa,' Independence, and Education

Saint Francis in Ecstacy by Salvator Rosa

Courtesy of Google Art

From my book, Innovations in Rhetoric in the Writings of Sydney Owenson (Lady Morgan), p. 231

Sydney Owenson (Lady Morgan), a voice representing independent consciousness, does not discriminate between various forms of aristocratic domination and the voice of the common person. Where knowledge and awareness are concerned, she reveals her perspective of the truth as she illustrates in the following passage from her biographical sketch, The Life and Times of Salvator Rosa:

Knowledge, which is supremacy as long only as it is a monopoly, was then the exclusive possession of the clergy; and the intellectual disparity, which existed between the many and the few, long continued to be the instrument of delusions, of which ignorance inevitably becomes the dupe and the victim. (Owenson, The Life and Times of Salvator Rosa, p. 2)

Her purpose for writing evolves from her focus on bringing awareness of the global and historical significance of Ireland to a philosophical focus on the dissemination of knowledge to all thinking individuals. In the above passage, she points out an ‘intellectual disparity’ which exists between those who have been taught through intensive educational programs and, consequently, then use that education as an “instrument of delusion.” 

Even though she presents Rosa in a discrete manner, Owenson reveals her disdain for any totalitarian control over the human spirit, be it religious or governmental. She remains devoted to the concept of independent and critical thinking as the way for humanity to advance to an  elevated consciousness. Thus, her biography of Salvator Rosa is a statement on the evolution of human culture and the possibilities that exist when human beings utilize the knowledge they gain (educational experiences) in a positive way to enlighten others.