IRONY AND SOCIAL REALITY

Chapter:

CHAPTER 9 Lost—or Rejected—Illusions

Source:

MUSIC IN THE EARLY TWENTIETH CENTURY

Author(s):

Richard Taruskin

But did that consoling sense of order jibe with Berg’s avowed purpose, in Wozzeck, of exposing a social problem? Or was it just a palliative? And what is the point of exposing a social problem if not to do something about it? Otherwise, it could again be argued (and it certainly was argued), the exposure amounts to no more than voyeurism, no more socially useful than the titillation Puccini’s suffering heroines afforded the gawking men in the traditional opera theater. Indeed, such titillation was socially regressive, the argument went, because it was experienced (or rationalized) as pity, vice thus masquerading as virtue.

Citation (MLA):

Richard Taruskin. "Chapter 9 Lost—or Rejected—Illusions." The Oxford History of Western Music. Oxford University Press. New York, USA. n.d. Web. 21 Jan. 2025. <https://www.oxfordwesternmusic.com/view/Volume4/actrade-9780195384840-div1-009006.xml>.

Citation (APA):

Taruskin, R. (n.d.). Chapter 9 Lost—or Rejected—Illusions. In Oxford University Press, Music in the Early Twentieth Century. New York, USA. Retrieved 21 Jan. 2025, from https://www.oxfordwesternmusic.com/view/Volume4/actrade-9780195384840-div1-009006.xml

Citation (Chicago):

Richard Taruskin. "Chapter 9 Lost—or Rejected—Illusions." In Music in the Early Twentieth Century, Oxford University Press. (New York, USA, n.d.). Retrieved 21 Jan. 2025, from https://www.oxfordwesternmusic.com/view/Volume4/actrade-9780195384840-div1-009006.xml