Critical Review #6

Bruno Nettl’s Heartland Excursions is a reflection on the way groups of people in schools of music, or in this specific case, a fictitious Heartland U., interact. He presents four possible perspectives for viewing schools of music: the first being the view that a music school is “like a religious system or social system in which both living and deceased participate” (5); the second perspective divides specific aspects of music and examines the similarities and contrasts between the two parts; the third attempts to create a universal forum, so to speak, for the interaction of musics and cultures; finally, the fourth examines how the people of music schools explicate the music they study. He spends the entire first chapter on the theoretical view of music schools being like a religious system, comparing the musical deism of Mozart and Beethoven, and their relationship to other not-so-well-known composers (i.e. Wagner, Bach, Chopin, etc.). Within this view, Nettl makes a clear distinction, however, between composers (i.e. Mozart) as historical figures and composers as “heroes” in present light.

Discussion Question: With regard to the idea that the creator and inherent authenticity of his or her creation deeply impact the interpretation of the work, (i.e. Wagner’s Meistersinger would not be the same had it been discovered that it was actually not written by him) how is one to to achieve such a status in the first place? Is it by sheer volume or quality of work that distinguishes a composer as being great?