http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kws0g4Dfvco
When a composer whose music I enjoy also touches on a religious theme, that’s all the more reason to share it, right? But in fact, Tveitt’s ideology, reflected in this piece and others, is disturbing and definitely worth discussing. It reflects the tendency to reject not only Judaism but also Christianity (so intimately connected with the former) in this period in an anti-Semitic manner, favoring in their place of the mythologies and historic beliefs of the Germanic peoples. The relationship between religion, nationalism, and the arts has been and continues to be studied, and this piece provides one of many possible useful starting points for doing so, as well as an enjoyable musical experience. Indeed, something that often disturbs us – and provides cause for reflection – is when we enjoy music by a composer whose ideology we detest.
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