# classical utopia



## kontseptsioon (Apr 30, 2011)

Lately I've stumbled on the definition utopia as such a lot and therefore as a big classical music listener started to think that utopia is seen as creating a perfect system and is found in literature (Thomas More) and film (Kubrick's 2001), but not so much in music. I suppose Wagner can come to mind in away. What do you think, in what ways does utopia exist in classical musicians works or visions?


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## KJohnson (Dec 31, 2010)

Schoenberg wanted to do something like that... Anton Webern outlined some ideas, hoping to revolutionize music and introduce a perfect system. Utopia by definition is a totalitarian concept. No good use in it.


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## Weston (Jul 11, 2008)

The obvious one would be the conclusion to Beethoven's 9th with its pre-hippie "all men are brothers - reach for the sky" message. Speaking of hippie-dom, I can think of a lot of counter culture music that shows visions of Utopia. The Todd Rundgren song "Utopia" comes to mind, though it has sinister undertones as well as Joni Mitchell's "Woodstock." Much progressive rock is utopian or visionary. 

I've often felt Strauss' Death and Transfiguration is utopian, but I suppose it's probably more spiritual.


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## Ukko (Jun 4, 2010)

*Allee, allee NOT infree*



KJohnson said:


> [...]Utopia by definition is a totalitarian concept. No good use in it.


Utopias are also 'by definition' associations of the like-minded. Huxley's _Brave New World_ is certainly totalitarian, but a pseudo-utopia. "Going along" does not describe the attitudes in a real utopia (if there were such a thing).

The Christian Heaven and the Muslim Paradise are Utopian concepts, carefully selective of entry to preserve like-mindedness. So... there is a nearly infinite number of Utopian musics.


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## SuperTonic (Jun 3, 2010)

There is Scriabin's unfinished _Mysterium_. He believed its performance would bring about the end of the world and cause the human race to be replaced by "nobler beings."

Mysterium


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## Guest (Apr 30, 2011)

Berlioz detailed a musical utopia in Euphonia, his novel about an ideal set up for training musicians and performing music.

In many ways, it is a blueprint for Bayreuth.


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