"Democracy is fatal for the arts; it leads only to chaos or the achievement of new and lower common denominators of quality"

This quote by Walter Legge suggests that democracy is not conducive to the arts. He thinks that democracy results in mayhem, or a decrease in the quality of art. This could be translated as a criticism of democracy, as it suggests that it is not an ideal system for the arts. Legge might be suggesting that the arts need a more structured system, such as a monarchy or upper class, in order to preserve a high level of quality. He might also be indicating that democracy is too chaotic and unpredictable to allow for the development of high quality art. Eventually, Legge's quote recommends that democracy is not the very best system for the arts, and that it can cause a decline in quality.