In neomodern societies, ordered on the "recognition paradigm" (Honneth), the time of feast has extended to the time of the whole existence: the time of work is no longer aimed at producing goods necessary for common subsistence, but only to acquire commodities in order to "be recognized", to realize the represetation of the self. Life has become a perpetual feast, a perpetual "performative standard". Music no longer positively portrays the time and meaning of the feast (and Carnival even more);

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... but it must unveil the dark side of melancholy, opposed to the illusory appearance of feast. Examples taken from Robert Schumann, from the samba and samba-canção culture, and from Francesco Filidei's Giordano Bruno (2015) are examined.