Say what you will about Nazis..

[sir pball]

(created in response to my other post)
They created some amazing artwork too -

What did you play at your wedding?

Oh, also, by the same disgusting Nazi:

We don't have to be nice to make art.

[Mister Ed]

1. Huh? Wagner was a Nazi??

19th-century Nazis were quite the rarity.

[unblock]

2. well if you want to get all technical about it,...

[sir pball]

3. ...srsly?

Ok, so he wasn't a proper National Socialist, but he was a nasty antisemite with delusions of the Ubermensch and he was certainly a Nazi figurehead.

NOT a nice guy.

[SCantiGOP]

8. Wagner was every bit as anti-semitic as Hitler

His works were not played in Israel until a few year ago. He despised Jews and hated everyone but his Master Race.

[sir pball]

9. And?

Damn right he was one of the ugliest, nastiest human beings to ever draw breath.

He's one of the finest artists in history.

Should we erase what he made for what he was?

[SCantiGOP]

13. Hell no

Wagner is one of my all time top 5 composers, and is playing many Sunday mornings in my house.
Misunderstanding.

[hlthe2b]

4. BBC did a nice piece asking whether Wagner's Nazi Stigma is fair

(for those who were unaware of his overwhelming blatant antisemitism and merely thought it unfair that Hitler et al appropriated his music, I think the answer is overwhelmingly YES, it is fair. That said, I certainly appreciate his talent and don't at all believe his music should be banned--though for Israel, I guess that is a bit more complicated)

http://www.bbc.com/culture/story/20130509-is-wagners-nazi-stigma-fair

[sir pball]

6. I don't care what his music is about..

..it's brilliant regardless. That was my point, just because a piece art was inspired by the Catholic Church doesn't mean it may not be the best piece in that genre, ever.

I happen to think the Ring Cycle are the greatest operas ever, even if I do find them pretty White Nationalist
.

[PoliticAverse]

5. Spellbinding even...

[Binkie The Clown]

7. And they had the best rocket men at the time.

[NNadir]

10. In response, I offer reference to Joseph Bor's remarkable book, Terezin Requiem.

Terezin Requiem

It is a book about the great Jewish-Czech musician Rafael Schächter who died on a forced march out of Auschwitz, but not before performing Verdi's requiem at the "model camp" Terezin.

It has been made into a film, Defiant Requiem

Art?

Hitler, I note, fancied himself an artist, and the pillager Herman Goering did steal some great art and lead to the destruction of other great art.

But like the orange Nazi/Confederate nightmare placed in a triumph of ignorance in the White House, these people had the aesthetic depth of a cow pie, not that I mean to insult cow pies.

Fuck Nazi art; fuck Nazis

[ret5hd]

11. You can say what you want about the tenets of national socialism but at least it's an ethos.

[Bradshaw3]

14. But nihilism ... sheesh!

[Generic Brad]

12. Nobody did genocide better than them either

See...I just can't get past the genocide thing.