Art talking about art

One of the things that I found so lovely about Argento's version of The Aspern Papers was the change he made to the character of Aspern himself. By changing Aspern from a writer to a composer, specifically a composer of opera, Argento allowed his work to be somewhat self-reflective. This is evident to me in his exploration of the timelessness in art that is expressed by Aspern in the duet with Juliana. The scenes from 1835 are the ones that Argento invented, so it seems to me that, in a way, Aspern acts as Argento's mouthpiece. That addition adds another layer to the work in terms of the plot, but it also explores the creative process and makes the audience aware of their own part in the story...

As one of my classmates brought up, there is a religiosity to Argento’s (and James’?) treatment of Aspern and his work. Unlike the novella, where the work is this undefined shapeless thing, Argento gives form to the sacred work, both through the use of a prop on stage and the creation of music in the score that represents and is supposedly drawn from Aspern’s work (Juliana is rehearsing it, then it comes back as the work is burned).

In the duet, many things that are said by Aspern and Juliana touch on the theme of art. Juliana’s assertion that, “the joy I can share, but the glory belongs solely to you,” speaks to the process of composition and the power of art has to live beyond its creator. The characters talk about the performance process (“A hundred years from now, upon a lighted stage…”) and the rediscovery of a work (“ A thousand years from now, from off some dusty shelf...”). They explore the permanency of art, as well as its power to freeze moments in time. As Aspern and Juliana say repeatedly, “They will know it celebrates our eternal love.” So, they assert, music has the power to hold love and to transmit that love throughout time. As one of the writers described the last scene, they said that each character appears as the pages of the score are burned, hinting that not only do the pages contain living art, they contain memories as well.