Any consideration of the history of music in Germany would be incomplete without some mention of her great achievements in musical criticism, history, theory, philosophy and æsthetics. In these departments of literary and scientific work, Germany has accomplished infinitely more than any other nation. We have already had occasion, in speaking of certain composers, to mention their literary works. But the majority of writers on music have left no record as artists.
During the eighteenth century the most noted German writers on musical history and criticism were Forkel, Gerbert, Mattheson, Scheibe, Reichardt and J. A. Hiller; on musical theory and instruction, Fux, Albrechtsberger, Marpurg, Kirnberger, Sorge, Knecht, Quantz, Em. Bach and Leopold Mozart. During the present century the principal writers on the general subject of musical history have been Brendel, von Dommer, Reissmann, Naumann, Langhans and August Wilhelm Ambros (1816–76). For original research, profound learning, and remarkable critical insight the “Geschichte der Musik” by Ambros ranks first among all works on the subject.
R. G. Kiesewetter (1773–1850), the uncle of Ambros, shows equal thoroughness in treating the special subjects of musical history. His monographs on the Netherland masters, on secular song, on Arabian music, etc., are sources of important information. Carl von Winterfeld is the great authority on German church music. His “Der Evangelische Kirchengesang” is a work of great learning.
In the field of musical biography the list is a long one, and includes Marx, Schindler, Nohl, Nottebohm, Lenz, Bitter, Chrysander, Jahn and Spitta.
HANS von BÜLOW.
From a photograph from life by Bieber, of Hamburg.
Otto Jahn’s “Life of Mozart,” and Philipp Spitta’s “Life of Bach,” are masterly biographies, which are an honor to the authors and the nation that produced them. They are monuments of exhaustive research and profound critical analysis. Mention should be made of the biography of Beethoven by Alexander W. Thayer, which was published in Germany as the fruits of many years of patient and thorough investigation. The author is an American by birth and education, but has long been identified with German musical literature, and is considered as the authority in all that pertains to the life of the great composer.
Musical criticism has been well represented by Friedrich Rochlitz (1770–1808), the founder of the “Allgemeine Musikalische Zeitung” of Leipsic; Adolf Bernhard Marx (1799–1866), one of the most broadly educated musical writers of his time; Gottfried Weber (1779–1839), editor of the musical periodical, “Cæcilia”; Thibaut, whose “Purity in Musical Art” is a highly esteemed essay; Schumann, the composer, who gave a new and higher direction to musical criticism in his “Neue Zeitschrift für Musik.” Schumann’s gifted poetical nature is revealed in his critical reviews as well as in his music, and he set an example followed by others, though at a distance, among whom Eduard Hanslick, of Vienna, is perhaps the most worthy of mention; Wilhelm Tappert, the editor of the “Allgemeine Deutsche Zeitung,” is a zealous partisan of Wagner. His “Wagner Lexicon” is a curious compilation of all the slang and abuse that have been hurled at the composer and his friends.
Among the imaginative writers on musical subjects, the most remarkable was Ernst T. R. Hoffmann, whose romantic tales have given him a prominent place in German literature. He was composer, poet, singer, teacher, conductor and theatrical manager; he was especially gifted as an improvisator. Everything this eccentric genius did, he did well. Among his works are eleven operas and two symphonies. Schumann was much influenced by the fantastic tales of Hoffmann. His “Kreisleriana” was suggested by Hoffmann’s fragments of the imaginary “Kreisler the Kapellmeister.” Beethoven wrote a humorous canon addressed to Hoffmann, and Weber loved him.
