Page 38 - Weiss, Jernej, ur./ed. 2024. Glasbena kritika – nekoč in danes ▪︎ Music Criticism – Yesterday and Today. Koper/Ljubljana: Založba Univerze na Primorskem in Festival Ljubljana. Studia musicologica Labacensia, 7
P. 38
glasbena kritika – nekoč in danes | music criticism – yesterday and today
Art thus functions as a bridge between the merely banal, daily world
and the fantastic world. When doing so the music transcends so called
tonal painting which is imitation of nature only and effects imagination
directly.7
As the last passage of the quotation shows, for Hoffmann it is neces-
sary that the artist is a good craftsman and knows his métier well. As a con-
sequence, for Hoffmann it is also important to demonstrate the quality of
the works he has considered successful through analytic remarks describ-
ing dimensions of the musical texture such as harmony, melody, the use
of instruments etc. The poetic effect is based on the rational but poetically
inspired use of musical means. Hoffmann is convinced that the effect of a
well-made music would not only be felt by himself, but by everybody who is
in general capable of letting himself be touched by music:
Without at least knowing the composer’s intention beforehand, every
listener whom the music is at all only capable of seizing will be trans-
ported by the overture into the joyful tumult of merry hunters: this Rez.
boldly dares to assert.8
A vivid description of the scenery painted in music follows. It is at the
same time a poetic description of the effect of the music on Hoffmann, of
Hofmann’s personal musical experience:
The royal stag leaps out of a deep thicket, pursued, attacked by the
hounds raging with hunting lust; the hunters rush after it on snorting
horses; all at once the animal has disappeared, the hounds have lost the
scent; they creep around searching and sniffing, the hunters keep still;
then the hounds strike again, the animal sets over stone and bush, the
horns sound, the hunters catch up with it, and merry fanfares announce
the victory. All of this comes out in the most vivid colors - a proof of
Méhul. Chez Breitkopf et Härtel à Leipsic,” in Die Schriften über Musik, in Dichtun-
gen und Schriften.Gesamtausgabe in 15 Bänden, 12. Band, ed. Walther Harich (Wei-
mar, Lichtenstein, 1924), 209.
7 For Hoffmann on Méhul see amongst others: Anja Pohsner, “‘Wenn ich von mir
selbst abhinge, würd’ ich Componist …’ Die Umwege des Musikers E. T. A. Hoff-
mann. Wechselwirkungen innerhalb seines musikalischen und literarischen Wer-
kes” (Univ. Diss., Heidelberg, 1999), 85–6.
8 “Ohne im mindestens die Absicht des Komponisten vorher zu wissen, wird jeder Zuhö-
rer, den die Musik überhaupt nur zu ergreifen vermag, durch die Ouvertüre in das fro-
he Getümmel lustiger Jäger versetzt werden: dieses getraut sich Rez. keck zu behaup-
ten.” Hoffmann, “Ouverture à grande Orchestre,” 210.
38
Art thus functions as a bridge between the merely banal, daily world
and the fantastic world. When doing so the music transcends so called
tonal painting which is imitation of nature only and effects imagination
directly.7
As the last passage of the quotation shows, for Hoffmann it is neces-
sary that the artist is a good craftsman and knows his métier well. As a con-
sequence, for Hoffmann it is also important to demonstrate the quality of
the works he has considered successful through analytic remarks describ-
ing dimensions of the musical texture such as harmony, melody, the use
of instruments etc. The poetic effect is based on the rational but poetically
inspired use of musical means. Hoffmann is convinced that the effect of a
well-made music would not only be felt by himself, but by everybody who is
in general capable of letting himself be touched by music:
Without at least knowing the composer’s intention beforehand, every
listener whom the music is at all only capable of seizing will be trans-
ported by the overture into the joyful tumult of merry hunters: this Rez.
boldly dares to assert.8
A vivid description of the scenery painted in music follows. It is at the
same time a poetic description of the effect of the music on Hoffmann, of
Hofmann’s personal musical experience:
The royal stag leaps out of a deep thicket, pursued, attacked by the
hounds raging with hunting lust; the hunters rush after it on snorting
horses; all at once the animal has disappeared, the hounds have lost the
scent; they creep around searching and sniffing, the hunters keep still;
then the hounds strike again, the animal sets over stone and bush, the
horns sound, the hunters catch up with it, and merry fanfares announce
the victory. All of this comes out in the most vivid colors - a proof of
Méhul. Chez Breitkopf et Härtel à Leipsic,” in Die Schriften über Musik, in Dichtun-
gen und Schriften.Gesamtausgabe in 15 Bänden, 12. Band, ed. Walther Harich (Wei-
mar, Lichtenstein, 1924), 209.
7 For Hoffmann on Méhul see amongst others: Anja Pohsner, “‘Wenn ich von mir
selbst abhinge, würd’ ich Componist …’ Die Umwege des Musikers E. T. A. Hoff-
mann. Wechselwirkungen innerhalb seines musikalischen und literarischen Wer-
kes” (Univ. Diss., Heidelberg, 1999), 85–6.
8 “Ohne im mindestens die Absicht des Komponisten vorher zu wissen, wird jeder Zuhö-
rer, den die Musik überhaupt nur zu ergreifen vermag, durch die Ouvertüre in das fro-
he Getümmel lustiger Jäger versetzt werden: dieses getraut sich Rez. keck zu behaup-
ten.” Hoffmann, “Ouverture à grande Orchestre,” 210.
38
