Music and Literature in German Romanticism

The interrelationship between music and literature reached its zenith during the Romantic era, and nowhere was this relationship more pronounced than in Germany. Many representatives of literary and philosophical German Romanticism held music to be the highest and most expressive, quintessentially Romantic art form, able to convey what cannot be expressed in words: the ineffable and metaphysical. The influence was reciprocal, with literature providing a rich source of inspiration for German composers of both instrumental and vocal music, giving rise to a wealth of new forms and styles. The essays in this volume are selected from papers presented at an international, interdisciplinary conference held at University College Dublin in December 2000, and include contributions from Germanists, musicologists, comparatists, and performance artists. This interdisciplinarity makes for informed and complementary approaches and arguments. The essays cover not only the "Romantic" nineteenth century (commencing with the early Romanticism of the Jena circle), but also look ahead to the legacy, reception, and continuation of German Romanticism in the modern and postmodern ages.Alongside new readings of familiar and established writers and composers such as Goethe, Hoffmann, Wagner, and Schubert, a case is made for other figures such as Wackenroder, Novalis, Schlegel, Schumann, Brahms, Liszt, and Berlioz, as well as less-known figures such as Ritter, Schneider, and Termen, and for a reconsideration of questions of categorization. The essays will appeal to readers with a wide variety of academic, musical, and literary interests.Siobhan Donovan is a Lecturer in the Department of German at University College Dublin. Robin Elliott is Jean A. Chalmers Chair in Canadian Music at the University of Toronto.

“There is no doubt in this reviewer's mind that Music and Literature in German Romanticism is destined to be an indispensable reference-point for future interdisciplinary studies in this field.”

[...] the conviction of music's ability to convey meaning, rather than to imitate or represent an external phenomenon as was generally accepted during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, lies at the heart of German Romantic aesthetics. This theme forms the central subject of discourse in Music and Literature in German Romanticism.... This book makes an important contribution presenting current approaches from diverse perspectives related to a unified theme. H-GERMAN
MLR
[O]f general interest to those exploring the interrelationship between music and literature during Beethoven's time.. THE BEETHOVEN JOURNAL

SIOBHÁN DONOVAN is Lecturer in German Studies at University College Dublin. NATASHA LOGES is Head of Postgraduate Programmes at the Royal College of Music and has co-edited Brahms in the home and the concert hall: Between private and public performance and contributed to the Cambridge History of Musical Performance and is currently co-editing Johannes Brahms in Context. As a song accompanist, she has performed in various venues overseas and in the UK.

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