Art and Politics
The problematic relationship between art and politics was brilliantly explored in a play by Ronald Harwood, that I saw last night at our local CHURCHILL THEATRE, in Bromley.
The play took the form of an interrogation of Furtwangler by and American Military Investigator in Germany, immediately after the war as part of the denazification process.
Furtwangler was of course, one of the few remaining outstanding artists to remain in Germany after Hitler came to power, and the play looked at Furtwangler's possible reasons for staying. The prosecutor maintained that he was a Nazi tool, and effectively was allowed to bypass party membership and even helped individual Jews to escape in return for conducting the Fuhrer's favourite music, though it has to be said it was not really to order and Furtwangler did everything to avoid idintifying himself with the regime.
He was perhaps naive, but certainly not a bad man and one only has to listen to his recordings to realize that he was one of the greatest conductors that has ever lived.
His defence was that he was trying to keep art separate from politics and provide relief from the horrors of the time in the transforming music of the great German masters.
Art is profoundly ambiguous of course, and it has to be said even dangerous. One must not forget Leni Rieftenstahl's 'Triumph of the Will' which is at one and the same time, fantastically artistic and even beautiful,but on the other sinister and beguiling. Much as it pains us, we have to accept that music can be used for the most horrific and one thinks of the classical string quartets that were being played as human beings were being hurded into gas ovens.
Furtwangler's music was also used by the Nazi's to galvanize the troops at the front and Hitler's death was announced to the strains of Furtwangler's conducting of Bruckner's 7th.
Obviously Furtwangler had no control over this, but should he have stayed in Germany to allow himself to be manipulated?
It is of course very easy to judge in retrospect, and the play left the question open as to what possible guilt he bore. And I felt no nearer to answering the question, and indeed another question superimposed itself, and that is, what in fact is art istelf?
At the beginning of the play they played Beethoven's Piano Concerto no.5
And at finale they played part Beethoven's 9th Sympnony, both originally conducted by the great Furtwangler himself.
It was a very thought provoking and intriquing play.
[This message has been edited by Amalie (edited January 25, 2004).]
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