Why is....?!
Question: flattery so common among artists? I read some of the letters Wagner and Liszt exchanged and their diction almost insinuates that they were homosexual! No offence though. Because i really respect both of them. However, their love for each other is so exaggerated and they obnoxiously complimented each other's pieces. That, I think they deserved, but it really nauseates me. It's melodramatic.
Answers: flattery so common among artists? I read some of the letters Wagner and Liszt exchanged and their diction almost insinuates that they were homosexual! No offence though. Because i really respect both of them. However, their love for each other is so exaggerated and they obnoxiously complimented each other's pieces. That, I think they deserved, but it really nauseates me. It's melodramatic.
Ah, mon cher .....
Now, now, now, now, now..... flattery is not so bad. Not to worry.
It is with my most heartfelt greetings that I write you this morning. I hope you are your family are well. I know you are all fond of each other, taste in Persian music notwithstanding, and that your home is full of the high resonances coming from all the esoteric questions you have been considering in recent months.
As for me any my humble and sober life, it is with great happiness that I report that all my hard work taking care of my yellow chrysanthemums is finally paying off. They are in bloom, which is so suitable for the fall weather and so chromatically correct for the fall foliage that I cannot thank my Chinese gardener enough for his support and encouragement in this matter. I was thinking of painting them in true Chinese style, but in fact the work on the chamber music series is about to begin and I have not had time to reorder the pale yellow and Chinese white gouache that is missing from my paintbox. Naughty, naughty me!!!
The entire palace and gardens, the orchards and reflecting pools, the gazebos, the horse paddies, and the gorse bushes here are glowing from happiness and the distinct rosy charm of great art that is emanating from every window. For a few moments, before rehearsals for our chamber music series begin ~ tonight is opening night ~ we gathered in the west parlor for mochaccinos and exchanged our enthusiasm for the music we are scheduled to play. We are about to disperse for the morning to different sections of the palace to our rehearsal rooms, but I do have a few moments to type out this little epistle to you ~ the apostle ~ so I hope you appreciate the fact that I type 86 words per minute and this is no strain at all, and because I bear you such undying affection for your interest in the details of musical performance, I cannot refuse you these few moments out of my morning.
Tonight, I am playing "Jardinieres" and my friends are working out the last details of a Wagnerian ode to heavenly activities. I forgot the title for the moment, but I may be forgiven this oversight.
Now, with respect to your being able to hear the diction of Wagner and Liszt: I find it absolutely remarkable, mon cher, that you are able to hear their diction from a written letter. I assume that you understand German well. What ever is their diction like? Has it any Bavarian influences, or is there something from the Southern Wienerwald that strikes you especially? I have only the ability to read the written word, not to hear it. How clever you are. You surely are born with remarkable ears and other perceptions that are lacking in those of us who are not so gifted.
You know, I have a confession to make: I have often wondered who you are and how it is that you have an astonishing gift for luring out from the woodwork all the old mastodons of the musical world here on Answers and that you can trap them in the tar pits of your imaginative questions in such a way that all of us old fossils simply grab the bait you throw us and in spite of ourselves we snap and snarl it all up!!! We really do spend a lot of time on you, do you not think so, my dear? You must be someone very special that you can cause us to pause so carefully over the question of whether or not something written in cut time can actually sound as though it is a waltz. Bien sur, who am I to say, mon cher?
Now, should I ever be accused of flattery, I wish you to understand that I have every respect for you and wish to avoid offending you and hope that no melodramatic thoughts send you into a nauseous fit. Those are definitely to be avoided. However, things being as the are, I suggest that to appease your family, you lower yourself to finding in YouTube the little video: A Real Moroccan Snake Charmer. I think you will find it fascinating. And do not forget: the cobra has been defanged, A Good Thing when it comes to playing with cobras. I think you might like it if you share an opinion with your family, rather than being at odds with them, so do be my good boy and have a look at that video. It makes meal times and holidays far easier if you share common interests with your family.
I see my friends peering around the curtains at the door ....they want me to put up my work for the morning. My flute is being polished, the maid is taking away the breakfast dishes in my study, and I have a small Moroccan rug coming from The Berber Trading Company, so I must drop by the mail room to check if it will be here in time for this evening's performance.
You know, my dear .... sometimes I think you are a little bored. You should take up cooking!!! Really, it is a grace that no gentleman of any education and background can afford to lack. In order to help you on your way, I can dig around in my files for any one of my Quiche recipes::::the herbed tomato quiche is spectacular, and I have just learned a new / old French technique from one of the guests on The Martha Stewart Show which might interest you. I really really really *do* think you are a bit hungry. In fact, I detect that you have a distinct cashew nut deficiency. Also, upon suggestion ......although I must say, these chamber music concerts are going to take up a good deal of my time .... I can also dig around for recipes for Flan, Gratin, and maybe a great Potatoes Dauphinoise which I preseume comes down to us from Cosima Wagner, but that will, of course, depend upon my schedule.
By the way, I have two pairs of Moroccan shoes coming in the mail. They are absolutely wonderful. Embroidered, fancy and exotic. They have nice shoes for men too....soft leather, rounded toes and ever so comfortable. All the guys in our chamber orchestra have them on order, and are waiting patiently for their arrival. They are not at all expensive.
I really must go. I wish only to leave you with one of the most important thoughts in my mind at the moment. It is in the form of a joke. I urge you to understand it.....I *urge* you ....the understanding of it is absolutely vital to the success or failure of your entire life. The joke goes as follows, and then I must sign off::::
Masochist to sadist: Beat me, beat me !!!!!
Sadist to masochist: No !!!!!
Now ... if the meaning of this is not immediately apparent, I urge you to take some moments out of each day to consider it. The meaning is quite......quite melodramatic. I hope you detect that my diction insinuates that I have been tempted to write you on many occasion but that I either am having trouble with my houseplants or I am waiting for some instruction from my spirit guide when and just when is the best time to write. The occasion seems to be this morning when you are so taken with in microcosm within the macrocosm that it has reached a cocoon stage that surely needs to come out as a butterfly, and please do not worry so. I see that you need to open your windows to take in greater detail so you will forget..... just forget ..... please: forget your tar pits, and take it easy on us, ok?
Ever so in need of another moccachino, I am
Lakshmi Parimala,
your partner in crime
Because great flattery is an art form!
We live in a very saged generation. What nauseates us today may have been considered respectful and affectionate then.
It's not always fair to use our own perspective to compare to intentions of years gone by.
You're getting trapped by anachronism, Al. The language of polite discourse, and of courteous discourse in the 19th C is very much more elevated than we are used to in the 21st C. If anything, Liszt's discourse with Wagner, and vice versa, was distinctly tart at times, cloaked by gracious platitude. You will need to get used to the language of the period before making a judgement like you have done. Read a dozen major 19th C novels by French, German and English masters to start you off, and you'll soon get the hang of it.
Alternatively, if you're really in a hurry, just read George Sand's 'Histoire de Ma Vie' and you'll have both the language and the entire social perspective at first hand from one who was intimate with all the protagonists, in one go. :-)
Yes, all educated people wrote in such a flowery style. It may seem nauseating to us but that is really how they wrote letters.
Compare that style to our cell phone text messages LOL