How Practical Is Beauty?

Aesthetic Realism and Beauty
In this magnificent lecture showing the relation of art to life—with discussions of the painter Correggio and composers Chopin and Berlioz—Eli Siegel said:

“Aesthetic Realism believes that aesthetics should be studied because the study will make one more able to meet the good and evil in the world and the good and evil in oneself….A question Aesthetic Realism raises is: What relation have we to an orchestra?”

Knowing Is Expression
Reenactment of an Aesthetic Realism Lesson

“Understanding a person is the most active thing in the world. When we are understanding a person, we are expressing ourselves. The other thing is that we can look at a person for the purpose of exploitation.” –Eli Siegel

Sincerity in Music: Prokofiev’s Classical Symphony by composer Edward Green

“The opposites of power and grace are one whenever expression is sincere. This music is sincere. It tries to make sense of the desires we all have: both to revere and to mock.”

& more!