Misuk

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Misuk is an attempt to transfer the principles of epic theater to music. The word creation comes from Bertolt Brecht , who made fun of the music theories of his time. His rejection was directed against the emotionalization that music, if used without reflection, can generate. Hans Bunge relates: [Brecht] explained that Misuk is a comprehensive term for all kinds of noise, of which music is only a ridiculous sub-category. And so today [...] it would be a matter of depriving this sub-division of its claim to exclusivity.

reception

The reception of the term goes back to Hanns Eisler and Kurt Schwaen . Eisler describes that Brecht wanted to replace the decadent and formalistic in music with a popular misuk. Another aspect is the lack of reason in musical practice, which Brecht takes as an opportunity to express his criticism. Because he is not ready to "hand over his brain to the cloakroom", he demands that the use of the mind be established as a form of entertainment. Eisler considered these theses to be outright nonsense.

literature

Individual evidence

  1. Possibly in connection with the Lukullus discussion (...) a previously unpublished draft of a Keuner story entitled Misuk was created at the beginning of the 1950s: "Mr. Keuner followed the musicians' dispute about what was allowed in a composition, and what not, with moderate interest ”(BBA 673/30, see also BBA 673/29). Brecht's “invention” rumored by Eisler that one had to invent a new way of making music - “Misuk” - out of aversion to Beethoven's symphonies (Eisler, Schriften 2, 373f.) Has occasionally been overrated. Probably more through Eisler than through Brecht himself, in whose writings only two peripheral references to “Misuk” can be found, this term seems to have acquired a certain weight. Eisler points out this misunderstanding in a letter dated June 26, 1959 to Walter Meusel: “You did not understand the anecdote 'Misuk' (not music) in the Brecht booklet 'Sinn und Form'. It was a joke by Brecht, but not a more or less elaborated music theory. Brecht was only interested in music to the extent that it was useful for his theater. "Joachim Lucchesi / Ronald K. Shull: Musik bei Brecht , Frankfurt am Main 1988, p. 86
  2. Werner Mittenzwei: The life of Bertolt Brecht or dealing with the world riddles . Suhrkamp, ​​Frankfurt / M. 1989 II p. 607.
  3. Schwaen noted: "Brecht (...) lamented the direction of music. A few decades ago it seemed as if music was heading in a new direction. Small forms. But everything has become too difficult, since Beethoven one can follow this development. Schoenberg had told him that there was no other way. It would only be primitive, there would be no beggar on the street corner who sang ballads. Brecht developed a new art: "Misuk." This would only work after listening, I know no other laws. Of course there will also be good and bad »misuk«, but not prejudiced. One does not surrender to rules whose meaning is controversial. " Kurt Schwaen, special issue Brecht (PDF; 992 kB)
  4. ^ Hanns Eisler: Music and Politics. Writings 1948-1962 . Leipzig 1982, p. 373.