Welcome to the second installment of these notes from, and on, Salzburg, and in particular the Salzburg Festival. For the first installment, go here. Just wade back in, without ceremony?
Every now and then, I’m reminded why I left the Left, long ago. Working for a conservative magazine, I run with a lot of righties, and I have my share of beefs with the Right. But then I’m around lefties, and I think, “Oh, yeah: That’s why I left in the first place. That’s what repelled me in the first place. That’s what pushed me into the arms of conservatives.”
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I’m at a dinner in Salzburg, listening to a man from America discourse on our country to two Continental ladies. He says all the usual things: how stupid and vulgar and pigheaded we are. Then he says that the Tea Party is “racist,” flat-out. He makes no mention of limited government, adherence to the Constitution, grave concern over debt and America’s place in the world. No, the Tea Party is racist, plain and simple.
The ladies nod solemnly. I think it’s what they want to hear anyway. And now they have it confirmed.
Our guy then laments the fact that Americans know so little, and care so little, about the Salzburg Festival. I would think we had enough to know and care about! In music festivals alone, we have Tanglewood, Aspen, Ravinia, Brevard, Ojai, etc., etc. Does any country have more festivals than we? And then there is the rest of life — the rest of life to know and care about.
I say, “Well, at least there’s The Sound of Music, to keep Americans coming to Salzburg.” Americans, and others, have long loved to take the Sound of Music tour. Our guy sneers at this musical — than which neither he nor I will ever do anything as good, in all our paltry lives.
I feel like I repeat myself too much in Impromptus, and here I go again (as a presidential candidate said in 1980): Being a student abroad had a great impact on me — because of the anti-Americanism of the Americans around me. It wasn’t “self-hating Americanism,” as people often say. These people did not hate themselves, trust me. Quite the opposite. What they hated was you, so to speak. Man, were they ashamed of their country — especially when governed by that yahoo Reagan.
For my piece on this — how many times have I linked to “Love on the Arno,” a thousand? — go here.
A German tells a joke, which the Americans soak up — because it plays to the image they have of their compatriots as contemptible, ignorant boobs. An American tourist passes a statue of Schiller. He says, “Look, Goethe! Mozart! Eine kleine Nachtmusik!” Then he sings the opening notes of Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony.
My question: Why does the tourist have to be an American, as opposed to a tourist from any other country in the world? You and I know why: sheer envy and resentment — and, possibly, lurking somewhere, shame.
Since at least the 1930s, America has been, arguably, the music capital of the world: the leader in orchestras, opera companies, choruses, chamber ensembles, conservatories, and so on. Musicians from all over the world have sought to study in America, have their careers in America, pursue their destinies.
How did this start? You know why: because Germans and other Europeans pushed the best among them out, across the sea — when they couldn’t kill them first.
Not many people mention that, do they? Instead they joke about Americans’ alleged lack of culture — a stereotype that has not been true in eons, if it ever was.
As I’ve mentioned before, the Salzburg Festival Society has a series of talks — Q&A’s — and our first guest is Trevor Pinnock, the English conductor and harpsichordist. I feel like calling him “Sir Trevor” — he has that air. But he is not that yet. So, he is “Mr. Pinnock” to me.
He is a cultivated, gentle, refined man — but not dull, not in the least. He has that elegant spark about him, typically English. And he is, of course, smart as a whip.
After our talk, a friend of mine will remark, “There is a priestly aura about him. He is something like a musical priest.” I can buy that entirely. A good insight.
"Pinnock was a leader, a pioneer, in the “period” movement: the movement for “period instruments” and “period practice.” There was a time when this movement had a whiff of Leninism about it..."
The Period Practice movement was as much a countercultural statement as an artistic credo. To confirm this, look at the call-to-arms published in 2007 by the late Bruce Haynes, who was without doubt the movement's leading oboist.
In terms of culture and travel, I'm not really even qualified to read Mr. Nordlinger's observations here, but it is a delightful glimpse at a slice of life I'd like to experience someday.
Just want to throw out that my grandparents took my sister and me to see The Sound of Music in the theatre - it was my first time to see a movie on the big screen. I will always love the movie and remember the experience fondly.
"Being a student abroad had a great impact on me — because of the anti-Americanism of the Americans around me. It wasn’t “self-hating Americanism,” as people often say. These people did not hate themselves, trust me. Quite the opposite. What they hated was you, so to speak."
A brilliant observation. A great many Americans absolve themselves of what they see as the sins of America by expressing their hatred for America and Americans.
Not only do they not hate themselves, I doubt any group in the world has a higher opinion of itself.
Do you find it a bit peculiar that immediately after decrying the stereotype of the uncultured American you write "He has that elegant spark about him, typically English"? Doesn't this imply that Americans do not typically have this elegant spark? Mr. Pinnock has the aura of a priest and you want to call him Sir. Doesn't this mean that he is set apart, a class above?
I think the European disdain for American arts stems from our whole-hearted embrace of democracy and the popular arts that go with it. Europe is still dealing with the class system and the fine arts are a part of that. This is why Mahler didn't feel comfortable. He was literally being patronized by the nobility of Europe.
But isn't that the way to ingratiate yourself among the upper classes, to speak ill of those below you, proving that you are part of the elite class? These days an American abroad cannot give a letter of introduction from a leading family, so he must show his elitism by disparaging hoi polloi. Most Europeans would fall in this category too. I am sure that the Europeans would delight in running down the yobs and chavs in their own countries.
When you owe another country the existence of your tiny little insignificant nation it's easy to hate its people.
And about the whole culture thing, don't they know everyone in the west is an idiot now? I do think they should take some time to quiz their own kids (if they have any knowledge themselves outside of pop culture) in order to show humility and acknowledge that they are as stupid and lazy as anyone else in the first world (and they don't even have to defend themselves!!!)
Not sure I buy the thesis. In the '30s, America was strong in formal music because of Americans, not because of recent immigrants. Scott Joplin, George Gershwin, Paul Whiteman, Aaron Copland. After WW2, when we had more recent Euro refugees, formal music turned to junk and dried up. If anything, the academic and avant-garde tendencies of the Euros spoiled it.
Gershwin's parents were Russian Jewish immigrants. Copland's parents were Lithuanian Jewish immigrants. Both anglicized their surnames. Isn't it amazing and cool how they managed between them to capture the essence of America in their music?
"Instead they joke about Americans’ alleged lack of culture — a stereotype that has not been true in eons, if it ever was."
I daresay not. New England had the highest literacy rate in the world in the late 18th century, and the American farmboy reading Homer as he ploughed was a cliche.
My rejoinder to the "Schiller joke" would of course be, "My uncle passed that statue, with the rest of the US freakin' Third Army, on the way to liberating the rest of Europe from your country's bloody paws."
Very amusing...While on a recent Alaskan cruise, my wife & I were assigned as dinner table companions to an upscale, older Belgian couple (the wife a Canadian national & the physician husband a 1950s refugee from Iran). They proceeded to make well-mannered donkeys of themselves by telling us about evil Fox News, the vicious Tea Party, horrible Republicans & how the "Euro cannot fail"! It was really funny. Ugly Europeans? No, just prime examples of narrow-minded ill-informed Euro-socialists who still believe in Utopia.
I guess I was lucky to have done my junior year abroad in Israel. Well, I know I was lucky to be able to spend my junior year overseas, and Israel is a great place, but I mean "lucky" in that I was in a place where most Americans did not feel compelled to apologize for being American.
I studied abroad about the same time Mr. Nordlinger did. And I have to confess that at the time, I was a leftwing dingbat. (Sigh.) So the "lucky" part also has to do with the fact that I was not in the position to be an idiot like those Jay encountered. Because had I been in Italy, or France, or somewhere else, I might've tried to act "cool" and been an idiot just like them.
Anyhow, back then, Israelis, even the leftwing nut jobs, for the most part back then loved Americans. Admittedly, the American STUDENTS at the University were annoying, but that was because it was kind of a year long joy ride for them, while the Israeli students were older (having finished their army service) and were more serious students.
Occasionally, there would be a European student who would get snotty about Americans, but on the whole, most of the people who came to Israel were not the anti-American sort.
One of my favorite stories concerns an American tourist in France who was assaulted by a Frenchman who was insulting America and Americans.
This tourist simply asked the Frenchman, "Pardon, me can you speak German?"
Surprised at this sudden change of subject from his favorite one, the Frenchman answered, "No."
"You're welcome." The American said.
A German tells a joke, which the Americans soak up — because it plays to the image they have of their compatriots as contemptible, ignorant boobs. An American tourist passes a statue of Schiller. He says, “Look, Goethe! Mozart! Eine kleine Nachtmusik!” Then he sings the opening notes of Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony.
