If, by some twist of fate, only the first eleven chapters of the Book of Revelation had been preserved, the doctrines and dogmas of Christianity would still regard this text as a work of profound religious and spiritual significance. Yet it is in the full span of its twenty-two chapters that the true complexity and… Continue reading The Two Revelations
Tag: Oratorio
A multitude in Hell: The Case for ”Globality”
Two nights ago I had a dream. I dreamed of a multitude; I dreamed of the multitude. This multitude, these people, were like pieces of glass blown up high in the sky, each one of them constituting, reflecting as it were the image past of an organized whole: the tower of human endeavor rising up… Continue reading A multitude in Hell: The Case for ”Globality”
Juscheld, Quixote: Metastructure or Vision
In this article I describe Juscheld’s view of the artistic work as visionary structure, particularly in the way an author’s stance and experience of the world structures his or her emotional life, which in turn shapes his or her work. I propose the term “metastructure” as a an approximate, mid-way concept of what the composer… Continue reading Juscheld, Quixote: Metastructure or Vision
Apocalypse as Limit of Signification
The Apocalypse is the limit of signification. For the western mind there can be no beyond it, no possible emotional commitment can be found in anything but the twin Janus faces of the apocalypse: revelation or destruction; the one looking ahead, the other drowning all possible futures in the abyss. Ours is a culture that… Continue reading Apocalypse as Limit of Signification
Happy 200th Birthday Socialist Richard Wagner
An Introductory Note As I edit this article, in a world where the socialism that Richard Wagner fought for may have achieved gigantic global proportions, and perhaps should deserve a name more fitting to its real nature (since humanity seems now to be the enemy), I wonder what the revolutionary, some say “terrorist” genius that… Continue reading Happy 200th Birthday Socialist Richard Wagner
Routine is not Revelatory – Destruction in the Book of Revelation
The usual associations of the Book of Revelation with plague and destruction can hardly be called a mystery and less of all a revelation. The exploits of the dragon and the beast are sadly commonplace and a daily occurrence there to be seen for those who care to look: either the beast behaves like men… Continue reading Routine is not Revelatory – Destruction in the Book of Revelation
The missing heroine: Revelation 12
Who knoweth the spirit of man that goeth upward, and the spirit of the beast that goeth downward to the earth? (Ecclesiastes 3:21) If the Book of Revelation is not a tragic piece it is because the main character is missing. No matter how hard we attempt to convince ourselves that the protagonist is humanity… Continue reading The missing heroine: Revelation 12