"... so merkt man ihr allerdings den achtzehnjährigen, unbeholfenen Komponisten an..."

In the course of the aesthetic controversy of the 19th century over programme music, which was particularly intense in Vienna, 'conservative' as well as 'progressive' ciritcs, who wrote for the daily press, endeavoured to appropriate Hector Berlioz for their personal aesthetic convictions. Even for reviews written in the 1860s and 1870s, when Berlioz's large-scale works were first performed by leading Viennese orchestras, Robert Schumann's review of the Symphonie fantastique (1835) played a significant role. Schumann's appreciative assessment of the symphony, which was strongly influenced by his misconception that Berlioz was only eighteen years old at the time of composition of the Symphony fantastique, had a decisive influence on the journalistic discourse on Berlioz in Vienna far beyond the first half of the century, for example on Hugo Wolf and Edmund Schelle. Other critics, such as August Wilhelm Ambros and Eduard Hanslick, took Schumann's ambiguity as their starting point to validate their less positive judgements.

„... mehr Stimmungsmache als Stimmung”

Die künstlerische Auseinandersetzung des Lied-Komponisten Hans Pfitzner mit dem Lied-Komponisten Hugo Wolf spiegelt sich nicht nur in einigen späten Briefen Pfitzners, sondern vor allem in der unterschiedlichen Art, wie Pfitzner und Wolf dieselben oder ähnliche Gedichte vertonen. Der Vergleich der Mörike-Lieder <Das verlassene Mägdlein> und <Denk ́es, oh Seele> zeigt ein unterschiedliches Textverständnis. Pfitzner nimmt eine absichtsvolle Gegenposition zu Wolf ein, die freilich vom Text der Gedichte gedeckt ist. Zugleich steht hinter dieser Auseinandersetzung auch eine mit Richard Wagner.

An Encounter with Hugo Wolf in his Jubilee Year

This reappraisal of “Begegnung,” a seldom discussed Hugo Wolf setting of the eponymous poem by Eduard Mörike, shows that despite its ostensible simplicity, the poem, typically for Mörike, harbours a wealth of ambivalent meanings, which are only further enriched in Wolf’s setting.

The Impact of Syphilis on Late Works of Classical Music Composers

Objectives Tertiary syphilis represents an advanced stage of infection with treponema pallidum and was an endemic problem in pre-penicillin society. The disease was easily contracted and transmitted in all walks of life and the small coterie of European classical music composers was no exception. We wished to identify those artists of the genre who suffered from Treponema pallidum infection and establish potential effects of the disease on their musical output and career. Methods We reviewed contemporary accounts and secondary source biographic information of known syphilitics who wrote and performed in the mid to late 19th century, the period normally referred to as that of ‘classic music. We correlated known medical features of Treponema pallidum infection, and its therapy, with their potential effects on composer creative output. Results We found that seven composers of the 19th century suffered from the physical stigmata of Treponema pallidum infection as well as familial and social stigmatization. Tertiary infection, and its neuro-psychiatric consequences, appears to have been directly related to premature death (e.g. Franz Schubert died at the age of 31); suicidal ideation and/or major depressive disorders (Robert Schumann, Hugo Wolf, Bedrich Smetana); persecutory manic bipolar disease (Gaetano Donizetti); blindness (Frederick Delius); and mercury-induced laryngoplegia (Niccolò Paganini). Conclusions Syphilis has been a fatal disease through ages and among its victims, authors and artists died with symptoms of mental deterioration due to neurosyphilis. The influence of the disease upon their last works can be traced especially in the case of composers, as hallucinations and horrors and psychological conflicts are reflected in their music.the need for a journal wholly dedicated to the history of urology.

RODERICK WILLIAMS (b. 1965)A Coat (2008)

This chapter highlights Roderick Williams’s A Coat (2008). Williams is a baritone of innate musicality and enviable technique, as consistent as he is versatile. Tailor-made for his own voice, the piece spans a wide range in pitch and dynamic and teems with subtle colours and detailed nuances which evoke comparison with Hugo Wolf, especially in the refinement of the word-setting. His ear for balance is particularly acute—he doubtless has experience of songs with over-heavy piano parts, where the singer must struggle to communicate a text. An intriguing, flexibly atonal idiom is eminently approachable. Williams does not shy away from rhythmic complexity, but embellishes vocal lines within a steady pulse, giving a feeling of natural musical flow and almost improvised freedom, yet the overall structure is disciplined and concise.

Rosa Luxemburg: uma carta da prisão a Sonia Lliebknecht

<p>Soniucha, você conhece o poema de Platen, “Verhängnisvolle Gabel” [Garfo fatal]? Você poderia enviá-lo ou trazê-lo? Karl mencionou uma vez que tinha lido em casa. Os poemas de George são bonitos; agora sei de onde vem o verso “e sob o murmúrio do trigo erubescente”. [Umd unterm Rauschen rötlichen Getreides…] que você sempre recitava quando íamos passear no campo. Você poderia copiar para mim, quando for possível, o novo “Amadis”? Gosto tanto desse poema – naturalmente graças ao lied de Hugo Wolf –, mas não o tenho aqui. Você continua lendo a Lenda de Lessing? Retomei a História do materialismo, de Lange, que sempre me estimula e restaura. Gostaria tanto que você a lesse um dia desse.</p>

Changes of Pace

Felix Mendelssohn’s lieder were subjected to severe criticism during the late nineteenth century, with his supposedly ‘sloppy declamation’ often criticized against an aesthetic ideal drawn from Hugo Wolf. Mendelssohn’s own song aesthetic was, however, quite different. This chapter investigates Mendelssohn’s text setting, examining the stress patterns of the poetry from which he constructs his vocal melodies. Covering both early and later songs, the chapter incorporates analyses of Mendelssohn’s song autographs, which reveal that declamation was the focus of a considerable amount of care by the composer. Distortions of the poetic rhythm (such as accelerations or decelerations) that occur in his mature songs can often be explained as deliberate expressive effects responding to the deeper meaning of the poem.