The Trial of Music

Group 18 Presentation
May 10 2011

Josh- Elvis, Beethoven
Pollyann- Judge
Rachel- Prosecutor
Michael-Pozdnyshev, Henry Rollins

-Opening-

Judge: Order, Order, I now call the defendant to the stand. Please state your name:

Pozdnyshev: Mister Pozdnyshev

Judge: Thank you, Prosecution may begin with examination.

Prosecutor: Mr.Pozdnyshev, did you murder your wife?

Pozdnyshev: Yes

Prosecutor: Now sir, can you describe for us what resulted in you killing your wife?

Pozdnyshev: It was the Kreutzer Sonata.

Prosecutor: Beethoven’s Kreutzer Sonata? You can’t be serious.

Pozdnyshev: Oh but I am. You see music acts upon us, with terrible effect. Pieces such as this one are only to be executed in rare and solemn occasions in life, not in a drawing room to ladies in low cut dresses whom applaud it and immediately afterward eat ice creams and discuss the latest scandal.While my wife and that reprehensible fiddler played the sonata all the dinner guests appeared to me in an entirely new light, but that light did not dawn fully until a few days later. I realized then that everything between my wife and that fiddler was consummated between them on that evening. It was as clear as daylight and that not only was there no barrier existing between them but that they both felt some little shame at the recollection of what had taken placed between them.

Prosecutor: So you believe that Beethoven’s Kreutzer Sonata is the real murderer?

Pozdnyshev: Yes. Music is evil. It is an irritating force that causes one to feel some other state that does not belong to them.

Judge: Thank you Pozdnyshev, you may step down. Next witness, please. State your full name.

Beethoven: Ludwig van Beethoven.

Judge: Proceed.

Prosecutor: Have you heard the Kreutzer Sonata before?

Beethoven: Yes I wrote it.

Prosecutor: Did you intend for your music to consume the human conscience, causing those who listen to be overcome with passion?

Beethoven: I intend my music to be moving; to shake the soul. However, I do not intend to take blame for the demons that awake. My music is not responsible for the murder of Pozdnyshev’s wife.

Prosecutor: So you think you have no fault in her death, although your music both drove the players to an affair and the husband to murder? These are the ways in which your music moved these people, affected their lives. And you take no part?

Beethoven: I take no part. Is the blacksmith held accountable for those slain by he who wields his sword?

Prosecutor: No further questions.

Judge: Thank you Beethoven. Next witness may take the stand. State your full name.

Elvis: Elvis Aaron Presely

Judge: You may proceed.

Prosecutor: Mr Presely, is it true that you have been accused of morally corrupting young men and women in America with your devil music and lewd dance maneuvers?

Elvis: Well, uh, that may or may not be true. But you see, uh, it’s, uh only music.

Prosecutor: So when young girls faint and sweat and cry at your performances, and young people all over the country have abandoned their manners on the dance floor after you swivel your hips on the television, you think it’s only music?

Elvis: In a lot of papers, they say that rock’n’roll is a big influence on juvenile delinquency. I don’t think that it is. I don’t see how my music has anything to do with it at all... I’ve been blamed for just about everything wrong in this country.

Prosecutor: Well I’m simply blaming you for the desecration of our youth.

Elvis: You can blame me for anything you want, doesn’t make it true.

Prosecutor: No further questions.

Judge: Thank you Mr. Presley. Next witness. State your first and last name.

HR: Henry Rollins.

Prosecutor: Mr. Rollins you are the frontman of a punk rock music band named Black Flag, is that correct?

HR: Yes.

Prosecutor: Is it true that your music encourages violence and anarchy?

HR: Our music explores raw aggression and doesn’t shy away from the ills of society.

Prosecutor: Isn’t it true that you said in your lyrics: “Drink. Drink. Don't Think. Drive. Kill.”

HR: It’s sarcasm. Just my sense of humor. I can only write about personal stuff, about my point of view. I’m not trying to build an army.

Prosecutor: When you’re onstage in front of hundreds of fans, don’t you think you words make an impression? Don’t you think there are consequences?

HR: Being an artist is dragging your innermost feelings out, giving a piece of yourself, no matter in which art form, in which medium. I don’t expect audiences to take my words as instructions, just as an artist doesn’t expect the onlooker to see the world the way he does.

Judge: Thank you, Mr. Rollins. Closing argument, please, Prosecutor.

Prosecutor: As human beings we are clearly helpless victims of the follies and insidious messages embedded in this so called “art.” Music is the villain. Music has compelled some to resort to violence. Music should be discouraged at all costs. If only there were some way to cut back the music programs in our schools and show children that the arts really aren’t important at all. We must do everything we can to save ourselves and our children from being brainwashed and controlled by the propaganda...[judge interrupts]

Judge: Thank you Prosecutor, but this is not a soap box…After careful consideration, I have made my decision. The theme here is clear. There is a fiend in this courtroom that has destroyed the rose of love. The fiend is music. Unbridled passion that is used so destructively, and without discretion in music across the ages is clearly the culprit. Music, like all art, should be simple and subduing. It should never excite passion nor thought, nor should it ever inspire those who encounter it. The defendant, Pozdnyshev, was clearly caught in a crossfire created by Beethoven’s Sonata, in which the evil music consumed his wife in adultery and his common sense in anger. I hereby find the defendant, Mr. Pozdnyshev, not guilty.

Pozdnyshev: Oh, that’s good. I’ve got a train to catch anyway.