# Classical composers described as a "god"



## Fabulin (Jun 10, 2019)

Some relatively frequent examples would be Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, Chopin... or possibly Wagner, Brahms. 

I wonder though if there are any modern composers who have admirers frequently calling them "a god", including in articles and in person, and not just in chat or forum comments. 

For all I know, maybe that's what the fandom of Gubaidulina or Kurtag does... also, I am curious whether some 20th century composers such as Shostakovich or Boulez also have such titles bestowed on them.


----------



## RICK RIEKERT (Oct 9, 2017)

In one of his journals Scriabin, perhaps in a moment of impatience at the comparative reticence of his admirers, bestowed the title on himself: "I am God", he proclaimed.


----------



## RICK RIEKERT (Oct 9, 2017)

"In all the time I studied with Schoenberg, he never once led me to believe that my work was distinguished in any way. He never praised my compositions, and when I commented on other students' work in class he held my comments up to ridicule. And yet I worshipped him like a god."

~John Cage (in an interview)


----------



## Lisztian (Oct 10, 2011)

I don't know, but the practice of deifying composers seems problematic to me.

Modern music lovers are far too sensible for that :devil:

Just kidding (on the second sentence). Of course I've seen it here and there, but no general trends for specific composers come to mind.

Is it that common for canon composers these days either? When I hear stuff like that it's usually a quote from awhile ago, but maybe I'm out of the loop.

Why do you ask?


----------



## Fabulin (Jun 10, 2019)

Lisztian said:


> Why do you ask?


There is a specific kind of "worship" around classical composers, which seems distinct - as far as I can tell - from any performer worship (of pianists, violinists, vocalists etc.). It seems to be about their promethean powers of creation of gifts for the rest of humanity.

Bach's creations are enduringly and still frequently called divine, perhaps in a part because of the general religious leanings of many of Bach's fans.
Mozart's and Schubert's talents are also subject to that. Beethoven is on one hand considered more "human" and heroic than than divine, but especially recently, he is considered the paramount composer by many learned and less learned observers alike. Wagner had a cult in his own time, and a Schumann / Brahms cult to counter it, and in this divide divine descriptions were and sometimes still are made.

Chopin, as others have noted in other threads, gets heaped with most florid purple prose, especially by his women fans.
Liszt in his time certainly got that as a performer, but Chopin's fame is more "alive" A.D. 2020.

Direct examples of the trend described in the OP nonwithstanding, there are plenty of mentions of the concept of treating composers as "gods" or "demi-gods". Many other fames are mentioned in such indirect descriptions, such as Mahler and Ravel.

I was curious whether any more recent composers are getting such reactions and such praise. I mentioned Shostakovich, Boulez, Gubaidulina, and Kurtag, because they are big names.


----------



## Ariasexta (Jul 3, 2010)

It is fine to consecrate the best artists not deification. Oscar Wilde called uncompromising people as the star gazers, I am with that, if anything more, just linking them with specific stars or constellations. We do name some meteors and asteroids with the famous peoples names.


----------



## Bulldog (Nov 21, 2013)

This "God" thing is so silly. Best to pay it no attention.


----------



## Tikoo Tuba (Oct 15, 2018)

If someone says it about you , run away . Getting angry could just make things worse .


----------



## Jacck (Dec 24, 2017)

And God created Mozart
https://www.theguardian.com/music/2017/dec/05/mozart-god-created-archive-1991

_Mozart's contemporaries such as Goethe knew him as a 'stinking artist'_

does anyone know something about this Mozart as the "stinking artist"? This is the first time I read about it


----------



## Tikoo Tuba (Oct 15, 2018)

MostArt is fine , even that it smells like onions and pickled garlic and sauerkraut through-out the concert space .


----------



## Botschaft (Aug 4, 2017)

Bulldog said:


> This "God" thing is so silly. Best to pay it no attention.


Heresy! Blasphemy!


----------

