One of my more favourite books about artistic matters is Bryan Magee's little volume entitled, in a sneekily modest yet accurate way, Aspects of Wagner. I was provoked into thinking about this short but stimulating volume by reading the article about Shostakovitch that Alan Little recently linked to, in which both the Jewishness (musically) and the non-Jewishness (by descent) of Shostakovitch is gone into. Shostakovitch not Jewish? I had always – I don't know – assumed that he was.

And the Jewishness (by descent of course) of such an extraodinary proportion of the creative artists and intellectuals of the last hundred years or so is something that Magee both describes, and – with the (very surprising for such a vicious anti-semite) help of Wagner – explains.

Having nothing to say today for myself, I dipped into this little book to see if I could find a quote about the Jews to put up here. The trouble is, however, that the argument is such that you never want to end the quote (a constant problem with good writing which you are trying to quote – I often find this with good pieces of journalism also). I did, however, find this striking passage about musical interpretation which can just about survive being amputated from its context and savoured separately:

"Great music" said Schnabel, "is music that's better than it can be played." A simple but eloquent demonstration of this can be got by comparing the Brahms symphonies as conducted by Toscanini and Bruno Walter. Under Toscanini they are played with an almost demonic ferocity and drive, and are deeply disturbing. Under Walter they have a glowing, autumnal relaxation and warmth, and are deeply consoling. Neither conductor transgresses the letter of the scores, nor their spirit. Yet the sum of what they bring out in them could not possibly be combined in a single performance. The acidity and cutting edge of the one entirely precludes the loving embrace of the other. High tension and heartsease are mutually exclusive. Everything each gives us is unquestionably there in the music, but for every element that is realized in performance some other has had to be sacrificed.

I like that.

And now I am reminded that Magee has written another book, which the first of the reviewers here is better about Wagner (and about Wagner's anti-semitism) called The Tristan Chord. I must get hold of that.