64
PARTISAN REVIEW
in Gothic architecture, in polyphonic music and equal-tempered
harmony, in repeated victories over the barbarism of vernacular
tongues, and not less in the continuity of its hold on a part of the
population whose very habits of eminence and wastefulness made
them heedless, stupid, or proud.
As
regard these last, the vicissitudes of the great artists at grips
with the rulers of the earth need but a word to be recalled. Everyone
knows about Mozart's treatment by the Archbishop of Salzburg, the
complaints of Michelangelo and Cellini about the Popes, the tussles
of Poussin or Dr. Johnson with their respective patrons, Louis XIV
and Lord Chesterfield; the encounters of Dante, and Tasso, and
Cimarosa with the forces of the state. Again, one need only allude to
other recurrent evils such as Puritanism, censorship, cabals, popular
vandalism, and even the dangers of having powerful friends. After
all, the clearest fact in the biography of Phidias is that he died in
prison for having committed masterpieces on money which
his
patron Pericles had misappropriated to beautify Athens. One direct
utterance from an embattled artist will typify the artist's struggle
with adversity: here is what Bach tells an old friend in 1728 about
his post of cantor at Leipzig:
I find that the duties are by far not so agreeable as they were
originally described to me; and that quite a few of the bonuses at–
tached to the post have been withdrawn; that the cost of living is very
high here; and that the authorities are rather strangely hostile to music,
that I have to live with the powers that be in a state of almost constant
struggle; that envy prevails and vexations are numerous; [hence] I find
myself, so help me God, compelled to seek my fortune elsewhere.
If
Your Excellency knows of any suitable position, I should be deeply
obliged for your help and recommendation in securing it; in exchange
for which I can promise fuII satisfaction in the discharge of duty.
My salary here is 700
thalers,
and when there are more burials than
usual, the added fees raise this proportionately higher. But whenever the
air is a little more healthful, the loss is great. Last year the fees for
common burials showed a deficit of 100
thalers.
With 400
thalers
I
could support myself in Thuringia more comfortably than here with
twice that amount, for the cost of living in Leipzig is exorbitant.
Taking only the great masters is of course misleading. The
energy of the genius generally enables him to survive. But art does
not live by geniuses alone, and in every age and in every art we
