[Smt-talk] Metamorphosis

[Arndt, Matthew]

Dear Michael,

Gary W. Don wrote a dissertation on the topic: “Music and Goethe’s Theories of Growth” (Ph.D. diss., University of Washington, 1991). A few pieces by John Covach touch on the broader reception of Goethe's scientific ideas at the turn of the twentieth century, notably “The Sources of Schoenberg’s ‘Aesthetic Theology,’” 19th-Century Music 19/3 (1996): 252–262. And there have been several pieces about Goethe's influence on Schenker and Schoenberg in particular, the most notable of which is Severine Neff, “Schenker, Schoenberg, and Goethe: Visions of the Organic Artwork,” in Schenker-Traditionen, ed. Martin Eybl and Evelyn Fink-Mennel (Vienna: Böhlau, 2006), 29–50.

Matthew Arndt
Assistant Professor
The University of Iowa School of Music
2700 University Capitol Center
Iowa City, IA 52242
319-353-2181
matthew-arndt at uiowa.edu<mailto:matthew-arndt at uiowa.edu>


On May 16, 2013, at 9:25 PM, Gregory Karl wrote:

Hi Michael,

If I remember correctly, this article uses the Urpflanze as its prime example of bad science. It may cite some useful sources:

David L. Montgomery , "The Myth of Organicism: From Bad Science to Great Art," The Musical Quarterly, 75 (1991)

Ruth Solie's "The Living Work: Organicism and Musical Analysis," (19th-Century Music 4 (1980)) might have some good leads. It's been a while; I just don't remember.

Bye now,
Greg Karl
Jay NY




On May 16, 2013, at 10:31 AM, Michael Morse wrote:

Dear Folks,

  I've been at least tangentially intrigued by the influence of Goethe on musicians and music theory for quite a while. Anton Webern's letter to his friends Josef Humplik and Hildegard Jone about the conception of his  Variations for Orchestra explicitly ties that work to Goethe's Urpflanze notion. And I recently read a critical but very respectful study by Helmholtz of the contemporary status, ca. 1860, of Goethe's scientific ideas. It made me wonder; has anyone tried to synthesize the scattered but clearly considerable influence of Goethe's scientific ideas on music theory and practice? Are there studies you can recommend about particular musicians or theorists? Finally, has anyone here ever been involved with this set of issues?

Thx,

Michael Morse
Trent University
Peterborough, Oshawa

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