anthony burgess and the classical dilemma

[Paige Poe <Viviandarkbloom3@aol.com>]

>  > The most deeply shocking examples, to me, have been
>  > * "A Clockwork Orange," where the brutal sadist Alex has
>  > a deep and sincere appreciation and love for Beethoven.
>
>   Well, its a long time since I saw the film, but I do remember thinking
>  that, > important as this idea was to the story, it was one thing about the
>   portrayal of Alex's character that did  NOT  ring true. For the reason
>   stated above: music is chosen by the man, and Alex did not seem to
>   demonstrate the qualities that would lead you to expect him to be ana
>  dmirer of Beethoven.
>  >

>Does one need intelligence to appreciate classical music? I dont mean great
> genius necessarily, but reasonably high intelligence . I would think that
 >this point would not have been raised in this thread unless  above-average
 >intelligence was meant. My opinion is yes, it is necessary,

It has also been a long time since I've seen the film or read the book A
Clockwork Orange, but I think I see where my opinion lies: of course, fiction
and screen writers use a love of classical music in a morally corrupt
character to create irony (not exactly dramatic irony but almost) or a
discrepancy between the characters' actions and their deep, inner-most
soulful feelings (some kind of existential dilemma), but I think Alex is a
little different. Burgess used the standard technique in making him love
classical music, but this goes back to the question 'Does one need
intelligence to enjoy classical music?'--Alex is an extremely intelligent
character, as far as intuition, common sense application and quick critical
thinking skills are concerned, but this does not apply to his love for
classical music; no, I do not think that one needs 'intelligence' to
appreciate this music. As a child I listened to nothing but old records of
the works of Mozart, and did so often and eagerly, and I was a complete
hillbilly ragamuffin who had no patience or attention span. While to fully
appreciate the work that went into it and to understand its meaning, at its
rawest state in the relationship between the music and the listener, a
listener responds only to the emotion and passion incurred within the music
on some level I don't understand.

As far as a fictional element, the music is also used as a sort of
representation of Alex's guilt and redemption, I always thought. He embraces
the music as the beauty of life and of these emotions that he cannot produce
in the real world, the music symbolizing his actual emotions while he guards
them in his outward appearance. And I could go on a rant about first person
point of view here, but I just can't right now. I also found Glenn Gould
reading those Hannibal books a very amusing thought.

Paige Poe.