§64 Art as ‘veil of order’
Classical pianist Alfred Brendel is widely considered one of the greatest of our times. In a BBC documentary he is presented as a disciplined musician, whose character extend beyond the typical musician. He has published highly regarded poetry and essays on music. Born in Austria he is a cosmopolitan who enjoys socializing in cultivated circles. He entertains a sophisticated set at parties in his Hampstead home and is considered an intellectual* in his own right.
However, this well-rounded and cultivated portrait is challenged by a scene in the documentary about Brendel’s relation to ‘nature’…
The Brendel family is shown in their country residence, located in the rural Dorset landscape. Plush Manor is surrounded by horses, dogs, stables, trees and other green stuff. Irene, Brendel’s wife, provides her account of Alfred’s unease with the surrounds.
“… I think in Alfred’s case … he finds the outside world — the nature — quite threatening because it is quite uncontrolled and it makes him cold, and it blows him away — all these things that we [the rest of the family] like, because we feel it is exciting, frighten him. His inspiration comes from art, from painting, from literature, from being inside himself, rather than extending himself out — except from when he plays as a performer.’ (“Alfred Brendel — In Portrait” 1996: 00.59.58- 01.00.45)
Audio clip: Brendel and Nature
Why does Brendel harbour this aversion to nature? A (first) possibility is offered by the artist himself, through a quotation by Novalis:
‘In the work of art chaos must shimmer through the veil of order.’ ** (’Afterthoughts on Edwin Fischer’ in Brendel 2015)
The quotation’s meaning is clarified in Brendel’s own voice:
“The dark forces should not completely prevail: you need the chaos but you need a sense of order, or, as Novalis said ‘a veil of order’ to produce a work of art.” (“Alfred Brendel — In Portrait” 1996:30.00–30.17)
Does control and order, then, stem from art, painting, literature, being inside oneself… ? From ‘human’ nature?
* Isaiah Berlin specifically named Brendel as rare in that he is both musician and intellectual (1992; listen here ).
** ‘Im Kunstwerk muss das Chaos durch den Flor der Ordnung schimmern.’ (Novalis, quoted in ’Afterthoughts on Edwin Fischer’ in Brendel 2015)
References
“Alfred Brendel — In Portrait.” 1996. BBC 4.
Brendel, Alfred 2015. Music, Sense and Nonsense: Collected Essays and Lectures. Biteback Publishing.
“Desert Island Discs: Isaiah Berlin.” 1992. BBC Radio 4. https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0093y6n.
Originally published at anowmedia.com on October 12, 2018.
