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Entry: The Death of Music by the Spirit of Government Subsidies Link: http://www.takimag.com/site/article/the_death_of_music_from_the_spirit_of_government_subsidies#16148 Post contents: What a revisionism of the History !!! Art has always been the product of the most undemocratic process, which is that a king or a prince is reallocating the ressources of his people to please his own pleasure. And the best art has been the product of this reallocation, when the prince was "well educated" (Louis XIV with Lully and the invention of the orchestra, Estherazy and Haydn, Beethoven and his sponsors, Nero, China, etc...). The crisis of the 20th century, particularly in a non-subsidies culture like the US, is to believe that art is for everyone, and everyone is able to express his taste and influence what is a culture and a civilisation. This is what Adorno calls the "cultural industries", when people begin to think that Britney Spears is more important than Ligeti because she makes more money and she is more known.... Yes, art is for everyone, on contrary to wealth, it means everyone can afford it, when enough courage and preparation (particularly in European subsided culture countries, where culture is not expensive, and when children can go early with their teachers to intelligent theater, to concerts, etc...). But it doesn't mean that everybody's taste makes a great culture, what David Hume already called in the XVII century an "educated person". So in the XX century, unfortunately, since decisions are much more democratic (everyone), or at least capitalist (the freedom of the taste is just fake, in fact), you need a counter-power to encourage what is not so easy on the first eye for everybody, to support education, culture, etc.. The problem in the XX century is not that nobody is listening to Ligeti. It is more that nobody is listening to Beethoven ! (or things Beethoven is just great strings). This sort of "essay" above is just very dramatic since, behind such "fake-democratic liberalism", this is all the principles of the enlighment that you are contesting (education, improving the thoughts, etc..). Sent at: 2008 07 06