CHAPTER 22
1. What is historicism, and how is it related to Hegel’s idea of dialectic?
Historicism is the philosophical position that human culture is driven by the historical force of
progress. In music, this means that composers are obligated (in the name of history) to push for
change, not content themselves with the status quo. Avant-garde impulses are thus the most truly
“historical,” because they transcend the past. The Hegelian dialectic, which is closely related to
historicism, presupposes that thesis and antithesis interact to product a synthesis, which then
becomes a new thesis in an unending flux. To Hegel, history is purpose-driven (toward greater
degrees of freedom), and this claim is the fundamental underpinning of historicism.
2. Describe Brendel’s view of music history and the ideals of the New German School. Why
did Brendel see Liszt as the composer who best represented these ideals?
Brendel believed that music history is an evolutionary process of steady, progressive
improvement. In his view, early music was primitive, and a series of revolutionary
emancipations of musical technique and composerly freedom—primarily thanks to German
composers—intervened at key points over the years to drive history forward. The summit of
musical achievement was thus the (German) present, the culminating historical moment. This
historical vanguard was, to Brendel, embodied by the New German School. Liszt’s mid-century
compositions were daring, forward-looking, and experimental, and Brendel considered this form
of modernism to be the “summit of thinking,” the absolute cutting edge of history and an arrow
pointing toward the future.
3. Describe Hanslick’s philosophy of art, comparing and contrasting it with Brendel’s.
What do you find most compelling in each side of the debate?
Hanslick emerged in mid-century as a fierce opponent to Brendel. He believed that the true value
of music lies in its abstract beauty, the sheer, “absolute” quality of its sonic patterns, rather than
the concepts (content) it represents. This position unifies content (what music means) and form
(how music is structured)—content is form—in contrast to Brendel’s philosophy, which holds the
two in opposition (content generates form). Hanslick looked to the timeless past for inspiration;
Brendel looked to the progressive future.
Hanslick’s ideas are compelling in their emphasis on the timeless beauty of sounds themselves,
irrespective of historical context. The past, to Hanslick, is not a graveyard of inferior music but a
repository of wisdom and truth that composers can draw on today. What is important is not
progress but beauty. In contrast, Brendel’s ideas are compelling in their very denial of
timelessness: Music is part of history, and it is the artist’s duty to challenge him/herself and
society with bold new thinking. Music should point the way to a better future, not dwell on an
irrelevant past.
4. What is a symphonic poem? How is it different from a symphony, both in underlying
philosophy and in musical form?
Symphonic poems (as championed by Liszt) are single-movement orchestral pieces with
evocative, poetic titles. In contrast to the symphony, which generally consists of four movements
driven by the logic of sonata form, symphonic poems employ thematic transformation to
“organically” unify the music around a dramatic premise, often with a nod to heavy metaphysical
ideas. Liszt viewed them as the most thoroughly emancipated genre of the time: To him, they
represented the “music of the future” (Zukunftsmusik).
5. Describe the program of Liszt’s Les préludes. How is the program represented in the
music?
The program to Les préludes—based on poem by Lamartine—consists of an opening
“Question,” followed by four episodes entitled “Love,” “Storm,” “Pastoral Calm,” and “Battleand-Victory.” It essentially follows a traditional symphonic trajectory of “there and back,”
ending in triumph. However, the program is not represented through traditional symphonic
means, but rather through the principle of thematic transformation. The piece begins with a
three-note motif (the “Question”), and everything that follows is a transformation of this
germinal thematic material. This motivic compression (reminiscent of Beethoven and Berlioz)
structurally unifies the whole piece in the representation of its poetic content.
6. To what extent can music represent a specific program? Do you agree that “a third,
fourth, or twentieth program might be just as convincing, hence just as ‘true’”?
Music is non-semantic, and thus incapable of conveying a specific program to the exclusion of
all others. For example, Les préludes, contradicting Liszt’s ultimate poetic designation, was
originally set to another program. It is hard to say, however, that this discrepancy of
programmatic inspiration somehow makes the work less “true.” Indeed, musical topoi
correspond to a range of possible representations that, while related, differ profoundly in
specifics (e.g., musical topics for “storm” and “war” can be identical). Any number of possible
programs could be just as convincing as the one Liszt ultimately settled on; thus, any
programmatic interpretation is equally valid, whether it is historically accurate or not. The
question of historical accuracy is different from that of interpretation, though both can be volatile
and ethically contentious depending upon the historical argument or musical interpretation being
advanced.
7. Describe innovations in the concerto of the mid-nineteenth century, especially as
reflected in Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto in E Minor, Liszt’s piano concertos, and
Berlioz’s Harold in Italy.
The concerto in the hands of earlier composers (e.g., Mozart) emphasized cooperation between
soloist and ensemble, a social model espoused by Enlightenment thinking. However, Romantic
composers beginning with Beethoven altered this dynamic to highlight an element of opposition
between the heroic individual (the soloist) and the masses (the ensemble). In mid-century, a new
generation of composers brought their own developments to the genre. Mendelssohn’s
innovations were primarily structural and thematic: He changed the role of the cadenza (as
transition between development and recapitulation), thematically integrated the soloist and
ensemble, and established a Classical balance between the two forces. Liszt employed his
principle of thematic transformation, leading to an unpredictable form (much like a fantasy). And
Berlioz blurred generic boundaries by essentially writing a symphony with a non-virtuoso solo
part, drawing his program from both a Byron poem and his own travels.