My
notes indicate that some time ago, during a conversation about music
(including, apparently, Beethoven), I had sent these quotes to K:
“Music
reveals to man an unknown realm, a world quite separate from the outer sensual
world surrounding him, a world in which he leaves behind all precise feelings
in order to embrace an inexpressible longing.”
and
“Beethoven’s
music sets in motion the machinery of awe, of fear, of terror, of pain, and
awakens that infinite yearning which is the essence of romanticism. He is
therefore a purely romantic composer.”
At
the top, I had written in all caps one word: TRUTH.
I
can’t recall the conversation, or what inspired me to find and send those
snippets. In any case, their wisdom persists. Their origin, of course, is
E.T.A. Hoffmann’s justly-famous review of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 5.
Ernst
Theodor Amadeus Hoffmann (1776-1822) was a prolific, broadly talented writer,
composer. and critic; nowadays, he is probably best known as the author of the
story that underlies Tchaikovsky’s ballet Nutcracker,
or as the author of the stories that forms the libretto of Offenbach’s opera The Tales of Hoffmann and inspired
Delibes’ ballet Coppélia. Perhaps his
greatest legacy, however, are his critical writings, especially his review of
Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony, which was included in a longer exploration
of Beethoven’s instrumental music (1810, revised 1813).
The
review itself is penetrating and insightful, combining technical analysis with
descriptions (predictions?) of the powerful response it would evoke in its
hearers. Modern readers might be astonished to know that at the time he wrote
his analysis, Hoffman had not heard a performance of the music; he was working
entirely from the score.
Here’s
an excerpt from the beginning of the essay, wherein Hoffmann discusses the
merits of pure (i.e., instrumental) music. His
characterizations of the music of Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven ring true.
“When
music is spoken of as an independent art, does not the term properly apply only
to instrumental music, which scorns all aid, all admixture of other arts
(poetry), and gives pure expression to its own peculiar artistic nature? It is
the most romantic of all arts, one might almost say the only one that is
genuinely romantic, since its only subject-matter is infinity. Orpheus’ lyre
opened the gates of Orcus. Music reveals to man an unknown realm, a world quite
separate from the outer sensual world surrounding him, a world in which he
leaves behind all precise feelings in order to embrace an inexpressible
longing. . . .
“In
singing, where the poetry suggests precise moods through words, the magical
power of music acts like the philosopher’s miraculous elixir, a few drops of
which make any drink so much more wonderfully delicious. Any passion -- love,
hate, anger, despair, etc. -- presented to us in an opera is clothed by music
in the purple shimmer of romanticism, so that even our mundane sensations take
us out of the everyday into the realm of the infinite. Such is the power of music’s
spell that it grows ever stronger and can only burst the fetters of any other
art.
“It
is certainly not merely an improvement in the means of expression (perfection
of instruments, greater virtuosity of players), but also a deeper awareness of
the peculiar nature of music, that has enabled great composers to raise
instrumental music to its present level.
“Mozart
and Haydn, the creators of modern instrumental music, first showed us the art
in its full glory; but the one who regarded it with total devotion and
penetrated to its innermost nature is Beethoven. The instrumental compositions
of all three masters breathe the same romantic spirit for the very reason that
they all intimately grasp the essential nature of the art; yet the character of
their compositions is markedly different. . . .
“Haydn
romantically apprehends the humanity in human life; he is more congenial, more
comprehensible to the majority.
“Mozart
takes more as his province the superhuman, magical quality residing in the
inner self.
“Beethoven’s
music sets in motion the machinery of awe, of fear, of terror, of pain, and
awakens that infinite yearning which is the essence of romanticism. He is
therefore a purely romantic composer. Might this not explain why his vocal
music is less successful, since it does not permit a mood of vague yearning but
can only depict from the realm of the infinite those feelings capable of being
described in words?”
Source:
Allgemeine musikalische Zeitung
(Leipzig), 1810, trans. Martyn Clarke. In David Charlton, ed., E.T.A. Hoffmann’s Musical Writings
(Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1989), pp. 96-7, 98.