Alexander Stoddart unravels the relationship between art and politics
The great British philosopher Brian Magee, writing about Richard Wagner’s political life, points out that it is wrong to think of the Sage of Bayreuth moving to the Right in his later life. Magee’s proposal is compelling; Wagner leaves left-wing politics precisely as men who are maturing leave politics generally. They drift in middle age towards the static wasteland of metaphysics, and this is observed by those still remaining in politics as a move towards the Opposition, since they still cannot think of anything outside the political sphere. It appears that the ageing man ‘goes Tory’. In reality, however, there is every chance that he has simply glimpsed his first sight of the ‘other side’. In the parallel musical experience of the common man today, he has left the North Africa Campaign of Radio One, passed through the demob camp of Terry Wogan, and finally arrived home in the leafy suburban shades of Classic FM.
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