The music of Nietzsche
Besides creating a philosophy that turned out to be a
game changer for Western culture, Nietzsche also wrote poetry and composed music.
Below are some examples of his compositions.
While authors today seem to agree that the
philosopher’s “music reveals a definite talent and a natural mode of
expression” (DeVoto, 1994) reception from Nietzsche’s contemporaries was
a bit harsher. Asking for feedback on his work, the Manfred Meditation, Hans
von Bülow, a noted musicalof the time commented that “you can
find no worse way of killing time than raping Euterpe in this fashion”.
Subsequently composing has marginalised in the life
Nietzsche, and to this day he is mainly thought of ‘only’ as a philosopher.
