On Late Style: Music And Literature Against The Grain
by Edward W. Said /
2006 / English / PDF
3.5 MB Download
In his fascinating last book, Edward Said looks at a selection of
essays, poems, novels, films, and operas to determine what late
style may explain about the evolution of the creative life. He
discusses how the approaching death of an artist can make its way
“with anachronism and anomaly” into his work, as was the case in
the late work of Thomas Mann, Richard Strauss, Jean Genet, Giuseppe
Tomasi di Lampedusa, and C. P. Cavafy. Said examines Beethoven’s
In his fascinating last book, Edward Said looks at a selection of
essays, poems, novels, films, and operas to determine what late
style may explain about the evolution of the creative life. He
discusses how the approaching death of an artist can make its way
“with anachronism and anomaly” into his work, as was the case in
the late work of Thomas Mann, Richard Strauss, Jean Genet, Giuseppe
Tomasi di Lampedusa, and C. P. Cavafy. Said examines Beethoven’sMissa Solemnis,
Missa Solemnis, Genet’s
Genet’sLe captif amoureux
Le captif amoureux and
andLes
paravents,
Les
paravents, Mozart’s
Mozart’sCosì fan tutte,
Così fan tutte, Visconti’s film of
Lampedusa’s
Visconti’s film of
Lampedusa’sThe Leopard,
The Leopard, Euripides’
Euripides’The Bacchae
The Bacchae and
andIphigenia at Aulis,
Iphigenia at Aulis, and Thomas Mann’s
and Thomas Mann’sDeath in
Venice,
Death in
Venice, among other works.
among other works.
He points out that one can also find an “unearthly serenity,” in
last works, for example, in Sophocles, Shakespeare, Rembrandt,
Matisse, Bach, and Wagner, which, as Said puts it, “crown a
lifetime of aesthetic endeavor.” But in
He points out that one can also find an “unearthly serenity,” in
last works, for example, in Sophocles, Shakespeare, Rembrandt,
Matisse, Bach, and Wagner, which, as Said puts it, “crown a
lifetime of aesthetic endeavor.” But inOn Late Style
On Late Style he
concentrates on artistic lateness as “intransigence, difficulty,
and unresolved contradiction.” He also writes about Theodor Adorno
and about Glenn Gould, who chose to stop performing, thereby
creating his own form of lateness. Said makes clear that most of
the works discussed are rife with deep conflict and an almost
impenetrable complexity. In fact, he feels that lateness is often
“a form of exile.” These works frequently stood in direct contrast
to what was popular at the time, but they were forerunners of what
was to come in each artist’s particular discipline—works of true
genius.
he
concentrates on artistic lateness as “intransigence, difficulty,
and unresolved contradiction.” He also writes about Theodor Adorno
and about Glenn Gould, who chose to stop performing, thereby
creating his own form of lateness. Said makes clear that most of
the works discussed are rife with deep conflict and an almost
impenetrable complexity. In fact, he feels that lateness is often
“a form of exile.” These works frequently stood in direct contrast
to what was popular at the time, but they were forerunners of what
was to come in each artist’s particular discipline—works of true
genius.
Eloquent and impassioned, brilliantly reasoned and revelatory,
Eloquent and impassioned, brilliantly reasoned and revelatory,On Late Style
On Late Style is Edward Said’s own great last work.
is Edward Said’s own great last work.
