Love, Sex and Death in Music

Paper Summary:

This paper reviews the conceits of sex, love, and death as they are portrayed in the representative works of three great "modern" composers. This paper argues that these three individuals do possess modern sensibilities vis-a-vis at least one or two of the items mentioned above, but they are also distinctively unique in several respects. The paper, in any event, notes how a full appreciation of the relationship between music and the baring of the human soul can only be possible by reviewing the work of these three gentlemen.

From the Paper:

"Love, Sex and Death are common preoccupations of all ages. In particular, the work of three great "modern" composers - Mozart, Chopin, and Monteverdi - mirrors our own obsessions with these elements of the human experience. In brief, it may be said that Mozart's satyric treatment of sex is thoroughly "modern" in its cynicism; it may also be said that Chopin's haunting Sonata in Bb Minor is a "democratization" of the experience of death and the suffering of those left behind to grieve the loss of loved ones. Finally, it may be suggested that Monteverdi, despite his contributions to modern opera, is the least "modern" of all because the over-riding theme of his Orfeo - the irreparable loss of a loved one - is replete with patriarchal, pre-modern romantic conceits."

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