Samuel Barber’s “Adagio for Strings” is said to be one of the saddest classical works ever written, and was a part of the funeral service for Princess Grace of Monaco, Prince Albert, Sen. Robert A. Taft, Albert Einstein, and John F. Kennedy. Why do we do this to ourselves? Life is already full of pain; why do we design art to exacerbate it? If we enjoy the sadness that we claim to feel, then it is not plainly sadness that we are talking of, because sadness is not an enjoyable experience, writes philosopher Stephen Davies. On the other hand, if the sadness is unpleasant, we would not seek out, as we do, artworks leading us to feel sad. How is it possible to enjoy sadness? — Thomas Larson, The Saddest Music Ever Written, 2012; Stephen Davies, “Why Listen to Sad Music If It Makes One Feel Sad?”, in Jenefer Robinson, ed., Music and Meaning, 1997. (via Futility Closet)?
Posted on: Sat, 01 Nov 2014 11:12:03 +0000