The Philosopher's Touch

October 17, 2011
In this revealing look at an unexamined commonality in three major philosophers’ lives, Noudelmann, French philosopher and critic, examines amateur piano players Jean-Paul Sartre, Friedrich Nietzsche, and Roland Barthes in light of their brief writings on the subject, which are curiously and frequently at odds with their interests and putative tastes. Sartre, for example, a fierce proponent of most cutting-edge art forms and revolutionary social movements, preferred to play Chopin’s sentimental, conventional pieces in private. (And in spite of his many political engagements, he made time each day to play the piano.) Nietzsche, stentorian Wagner enthusiast, also had a surprisingly soft spot for Chopin, finding in the Polish composer’s subtlety a different dimension of romanticism than what Wagner represented. Barthes, another daily piano player and renowned musicologist, disliked academic discussions on music, preferring instead to speak about the subject “from his own emotions and his own playing.” Instead of working toward technical mastery, Barthes pursued “privileged wandering, fragmentation, and sensible caprice,” enjoying exploring his vast collection of scores rather than perfecting one particular piece. An elegant ode to the emotional and intellectual importance of music and solitude.

December 1, 2011

In this slender volume, Noudelmann (philosophy, Universite Paris VIII) describes the role of the piano in the lives of three great philosophers of the 19th and 20th centuries. Jean-Paul Sartre was a talented amateur pianist who enjoyed sight-reading the music of Chopin and publicly embraced the music of Schoenberg and the avant-garde of the post-World War II era. Friedrich Nietzsche was a passionate improviser at the keyboard and played for two hours every day without fail, even during his final years of solitary madness. Like Sartre, he found solace in the music of Chopin and praised him in his writings. Roland Barthes was an amateur musicologist and pianist and wrote copiously about the physicality and sensuality of piano playing. His preferred composer was the Romantic Robert Schumann. VERDICT Noudelmann writes perceptively and persuasively about the meaning of music in the lives of these iconic figures and its impact on their philosophical outlooks. Readers who enjoy exploring the role of music within the larger context of cultural studies will find this a remarkable and revealing book.--Larry Lipkis, Moravian Coll., Bethlehem, PA

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