Thursday 9 April 2009

Agnus Dei

"Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi, miserere nobis."

I thought this would be appropriate for Easter, Mozart's Agnus Dei from his Coronation Mass. As you know, I am not a believer, neither am I religious (well, one can be even as an atheist, it is rare but it exists). One of Québec's best actors, Luc Picard, once said in an interview that one cannot absolutely deny the existence of God when he listens to Mozart, he has to consider that God might exist. I disagree with this, but I do see Picard's point. In any case, Picard's point just illustrates that Mozart was a great composer and the creator of divine music, by human standards at least. It is more logical to worship Mozart, or any other great artist, than God: we know for sure Mozart existed (he even died after much suffering), we know he created and what he created is worthy of our praise, his work is also immortal, as far as human perspective is concerned. Art is amoral, and that makes worshipping it and its creator an amoral act. It is aesthetic, but devoid of any ethic. This, again, makes perfect sense: worship is never a moral act.

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