Dali Actually Loved Music

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                Salvador Dali was a very unique artist in the early 1900s.  He was known as a surrealist because he painted many dreamlike pieces of art such as his famous painting of melting clocks called “The Persistence of Memory.”  Dali was extremely influential in the realm of surrealism and his paintings are extremely unique as well as different in many ways.  Dali inspired others to paint in similar ways as well as giving light to a new type of art due to his prominence in surrealism.  Although Dali was very passionate about his paintings, surprisingly, he was known to publicly hate music; however, after summarizing as well as analyzing Antoni Piza’s article, “New York: Dali’s Musical Roundabouts,” it is clearly evident that this is not the case.

                Primarily, in Piza’s article, he states that although Dali was very contradictory, he was good at masking his thoughts. According to those who witnessed Salvador Dali, he was known to be “quite musical and, time and again, he could be caught off guard singing or humming Catalan folk songs, sardanas, zarzuelas, and cuples – all folksy, kitschy, and, by most accounts, tacky popular songs” (Piza 256).  Piza’s thesis in the article seems to be that although Dali masked his love for music, he was actually quite engaged in this form of art and enjoyed music substantially more than what is perceived.

                Throughout the article, Piza gives readers a vast amount of information about Dali’s early years as well as his connections he had with music.  According to the article, Dali and some other famous artists of the time formed a group known as the Associacio d’Amics de l’Art Nou.  This organization was created to promote new art as well as music.  Furthermore, Dali was known to attend events with many musicians and members of different choral organizations.  Piza states that “one of the earliest musical influences on Dali was the Pitxot (or Pichot) family;” since in Cadaques they held many musical events such as “they would set a grand piano on a boat from which music was performed” (Piza 256).  Dali also had many friends who played musical instruments, and he would frequently attend concerts as well as marching bands to indulge in the music.  An interesting fact stated by Piza since Dali was thought to despise music is that “Dali would sing on television a song from one of the most popular zarzuelas, the campy La corte del Faraon” (Piza 256).  As far as the type of music that Dali liked, he became a huge jazz fan and collected various records of jazz music.  Dali is known greatly for his surreal art pieces; however, “as soon as Dali moved to Paris, many composers, writers, and stage directors requested his collaboration in the design of sets and costumes for theater, ballet, and opera production” (Piza 257).  Furthermore, Dali is even credited for his various plans for plays, musical projects, and singing of folk songs.

                After learning a great deal of Dali’s musical origins and contributions, it is somewhat difficult to say that Dali despised music or was not influenced by it in some form.  Piza offered a great amount of information concerning Dali’s musical appearances as well as the musical facet that he contained within himself.  After analyzing the article, one can see that the clear controversy is whether Dali disliked music as he publicized or if he actually enjoyed it but tried to cover it up due to his contradictory nature.  Piza takes a stance throughout her article that suggests Dali was in fact passionate about music alongside his art, but simply would not publicize it.  Due to the various historical accounts that Piza lists throughout “New York: Dali’s Musical Roundabouts,” it is hard to disagree with her side of the controversy.  Piza obviously has researched deeply into Dali’s life and provides numerous examples that expose Dali’s true nature regarding music.  By providing so many examples and occurrences, Piza provides a strong argument that definitely would sway readers’ opinions to agree with him.

                Dali was a major influence to the surrealism form of art as well as art itself.  Although he may have tried to cover his passion in music for whatever reason, it is clearly evident that he enjoyed some part of it.  After a summarization and analysis of “New York: Dali’s Musical Roundabouts,” Piza provides a strong argument to refute that Dali distasted music; however, this does not alter the fact that Salvador Dali was an excellent artist.  By exposing Dali’s musical side, he may be deemed more influential than popular belief.  Dali’s art was famous during his time, our time, and should be famous for future years to come.

Piza, Antoni. "New York: Dali's Musical Roundabouts." Music in Art 28.1/2 (2003): 256-57. Art Full Text. Web. 12      Apr. 2012. <http://ehis.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail?vid=4&hid=101&sid=c9889bf3-4a51-4448-9605-           1aaae4f730c0%40sessionmgr104&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZSZzY29wZT1zaXRl#db=aft&AN=5050               64227>.