Monthly Archives: April 2019

Empathy and Democracy

In this podcast, Georgetown University public policy professor, E.J. Dionne speaks about his perspectives of empathy in our current democratic society. In the podcast, he introduces the topic by speaking about the consequences of recent political polarization and the dangers that stemmed from it. He then went on to explain how those effects culminated in the Trump administration. However, the main topic of his podcast spoke about how it would be possible to get us back to an empathetic society where we were many years ago. How do we take advantage of the climate and reaction to the Trump administration and become more proactive about it?

To start, Dionne speaks about his work during the months leading up to the midterm elections of 2018. Dionne called for “a partisan response to achieve a non-partisan goal in returning a sense of legitimacy to our politics”.  He claimed that, within the scope of the midterms, the Republican candidates were far too “right-leaning”, thus setting a converse with the democratic candidates. But at the same time, he noted that through historical data, a massive shift can be seen in general public support of the democratic party, now towards the Republican party. He mentioned how this change was likely the cause of dissatisfaction within the American populace and their efforts at sending a message. Instead of blaming this type of ugly reaction on pure bigotry, he asserts that the root cause of the issue was the idea that the same political party that provided the civil rights laws and voter rights acts is now unable to act or acts on a very poor scale.

Something else that was talked about was what the standpoint was of conservatives that were not necessarily aligned with Trump but still supported the conservatives ideas. Dionne mentioned that it was worth remembering that, back in the 2016 election, over fifty percent of college-aged, white men actually voted for Trump. How do we turn that around in the next election cycle?

Another idea that Dionne brought up that I thought was particularly interesting was how the Trump administration actually had more of a positive effect on government and politics than initially intended. He states that the number of people, who were originally uninvolved in politics, that was riled up to join this “Anti-Trump” movement will allow a more pressing retaliation in the next cycle. He joked that President Trump didn’t actually damage our democracy, but may have accidentally saved it in a way that was unintended at first.

All in all, I really enjoyed this podcast. Dionne did an excellent job at presenting an idea that, while controversial, is also worth listening to, especially with the 2020 presidential election coming up. Personally, I will take what I have learned from this and try to apply it to thinking about future political participation. I think that making a good voting choice is not only about staying informed, but about making an on-the-spot decision that is creatively secure too. I hope that this idea is shared more around the internet for the next few months.

Beethoven Symphony No. 9

Beethoven composed his 9th Symphony in D minor in the summers between 1822 and 1824. It was premiered in Vienna, Austria in the winter of 1824.  The 9th symphony is one of, if not the most recognizable works written by Beethoven in his time. Certain critics and musicologists regard it as “the greatest accomplishment in classical music”. In an international orchestral survey in 2010, it stands as the most commonly played orchestral work.

The symphony was the first example of a major composer using voices in a symphony (thus making it a choral symphony). The words are sung during the final (4th) movement of the symphony by four vocal soloists and a chorus. They were taken from the “Ode to Joy”, a poem written by Friedrich Schiller in 1785 and revised in 1803, with text additions made by Beethoven. In 2001, Beethoven’s original, hand-written manuscript of the score, held by the Berlin State Library, was added to the United Nations Memory of the World Heritage list, becoming the first musical score to be named as such. 

The first movement, Allegro ma non troppo, is written in traditional sonata form without an expositional repeat. The piece begins with the tonic chord of d minor before going into sets of oscillating 5ths. In measure 301, the piece shifts from the minor key into D major, altering the mood and tone of the movement. The movement then proceeds into a lengthy coda.

The second movement, Molto vivace, is written as a fast and lively movement. The movement is written in a compound ternary design in which the specific sections repeat but get noticeably shorter each time they are repeated. At times during the piece, Beethoven specifies one downbeat every three measures—perhaps because of the fast tempo—with the direction ritmo di tre battute (rhythm of three beats) and one beat every four measures with the direction ritmo di quattro battute (rhythm of four beats). Beethoven had been criticized in his more recent symphonies for failing to adhere to standard Classical form for his compositions. He used this movement to answer his critics and reintroduce a considerably older idea.

The third movement is an Adagio, written in F sharp major. The movement itself is slow to progress and acts as more of a catalyst into the 4th movement.

Finally, the 4th movement, Finale, is presented. The movement starts in the low strings with one of the most recognizable melodies in classical music, the “Ode to Joy”. The piece then proceeds to play on different sections imitating the movement that came before. The movement ends with a majestic set of chords that characterize the piece in a royal fashion.

Unfortunately, this was the last of Beethoven’s complete symphonies. An attempt to write the 10th one was made. However, it was never finished. Next week, we will look into what was written of the 10th symphony and investigate the different interpretations of which critics and musicologists tried to complete it with.