Immortality To Whom?

Galen Brown from Sequenza 21 pointed me in the direction of an article in the Guardian about Carl Orff, the German composer, his dubious political passed and problematic personality.
Orff is know for Carmina Burana a choral celebration of sex drinking and youthful excess, as well as for his musical education system, about which Alex Ross says

“Untold millions of children would learn the basics of musical language by tapping out notes on the mallet percussion instruments that Orff had constructed to his purposes. The man himself may have been politically duplicitous, but his passion for teaching was profound, and it probably touched more lives than any music described in this book.”

The guardians article ends with this sentence:

The musical establishment may continue to agonise over the important question of whether a bad man can produce a great piece of work, or whether Orff’s sub-Stravinskyan ostinatos are an explicit homage to the ethnic paganism in which the Nazis wallowed.

Galen Brown thinks that a mans politics should and does make no difference in our like or dislike for music and musicians.

Would we think any more of Wagner’s music if he hadn’t been a raging antisemite? If we found out tomorrow that Beethoven was secretly an axe-murdering serial killer and that the “Immortal Beloved” was, say, Voldemort, would we think any less highly of the Grosse Fugue?

I can see Galen’s point and half way agree with it. Musicians like Beethoven, Mahler Mozart and others have achieved immortality via their music. As long as people listen to there music they will live.
The question is do we, as the resurrecting power in this case - give a great musician or artist immortality, regardless of who they were in there life and what things they did, or not.

Orff might not have been a wonderful man, and his politics might have been dubious, but so was many’s during that period of time in Germany, he was nothing exceptional in that respect - but, neither was he a very active Nazi either, just your average German - so I would not eliminate him from the chance of musical immortality if it was up to me.

Wagner on the other hand - I am not so sure about. He might have been a wonderful musician but his music will always be mared by his actions - sullied, if you will.

The only other thing that I can demonstrate what I am thinking is not from the music world at all, but a political assassination - The murderer of Yizchak Rabin who is now behind bars, still manages to get headlines even 12 years after the murder.

He gets headlines with all sorts of petty personal stuff, and not only that, was interviewed by the israeli press a while back, giving him voice once again.
I think, that he and his business and his opinions should be completely ignored and not given any voice at all, and that he should fade into oblivion without getting immortality aside from being one of the most destructive individuals in history.

OK. I side tracked a bit there - but what I am saying, is that in some cases - although an absolute psychopath might be a very gifted musician or artist, it might be a good thing to ignore there artistic product, so as not to emanate there evilness for generations.
Sounds a little weird, I know, but I find that a bad persons music will be marred for me, because I know of their despicably.