BOOKSHELF: Nietzsche & Music
Friedrich Nietzsche's most famous (if misunderstood) quote is "God is dead." But the philosopher had a great deal to say about music, as compiled and examined in a new book by Georges Liebert, including, "Without music, life would be an error."

What does that quote really mean? In a review of Liebert's book (Wall Street Journal, Jan. 28 2004), Carson Holloway tells us that Liebert finds Nietzsche shifting between two interpretations: that "music is a way of making life bearable," and that music "in itself is a powerful affirmation of life, in all its joy and sorrow."

The book covers Nietzsche's love and disenchantment with the music of Wagner, his own unsuccessful attempts to turn away from the "emotionalism" of music, his dabbling in composition, and the connections between music and Nietzsche's philosophical worldview.

Browse Liebert's book at Amazon.com

Find out more about the philosopher-composer at the Nietzsche Music Project

Listen to Nietzsche's music at VirtuSens (German & English), the source of this passage from Nietzsche:

God gave us music so that we, first and foremost, will be guided upward by it.

All qualities are united in music: it can lift us up, it can be capricious, it can cheer us up and delight us, nay, with its soft, melancholy tunes, it can even break the resistance of the toughest character.

Its main purpose, however, is to lead our thoughts upward, so that it elevates us, even deeply moves us. ...

Music also provides pleasant entertainment and saves everyone who is interested in it from boredom.

All humans who despise it should be considered mindless, animal-like creatures.

Ever be this most glorious gift of God my companion on my life's journey, and I can consider myself fortunate to have come to love it.

Let us sing out in eternal praise to God who is offering us this beautiful enjoyment.