HERMANN HESSE AND THE DIALECTICS OF TIME Salvatore C. P. ...
HERMANN HESSE AND THE DIALECTICS OF TIME Salvatore C. P. ... HERMANN HESSE AND THE DIALECTICS OF TIME Salvatore C. P. ...
form or substance itself and yet the source of everything that was, is, or shall be. 18 (Shaw, 205) 2.2 Writing as composition A combination of intellectualism and naivety is one of the elements that characterize Hesse's approach to and appreciation of music, which began at home in his early years. 19 While his mother would play pieces on the piano and sing with her children, young Hermann practised the violin and dreamt of becoming a virtuoso, the equivalent of a hero in his estimation then. 20 The musical education he received as a child, however, was too brief to allow him an in-depth understanding of music theory and, despite his personal acquaintance with people actively involved in music at various levels throughout his life, his knowledge was to remain confined to the sphere of the layman, especially if compared to the sharper competence of his colleague Mann.21 This gap in his background determined not only his appreciation but also his writing about music in two opposite directions. On the one hand, his reaction to the world of sounds is direct and instinctive, and music remains a primitively sensuous component in his works, even in the abstract and rarefied atmosphere of Das Glasperlenspiel (1943): Die Musik besteht nicht nur aus jenen rein geistigen Schwingungen und Figurationen, die wir aus ihr abstrahiert haben, sie bestand durch alle Jahrhunderte in erster Linie aus der Freude am Sinnlichen, am Ausstromen des Atems, am Schlagen des Taktes, an den Farbungen, Reibungen und Reizen, welche beim Mischen von Stimmen, beim Zusammenspiel von Instrumenten entstehen [...] Man macht Musik mit den Handen und Fingern, mit dem Munde, mit der Lunge, nicht mit dem Gehirn allein, und wer zwar Noten lesen, aber kein Instrument vollkommen spielen kann, der soil iiber Musik nicht mitreden. (SW 5, 77-78) 18 Music resonances in Der Steppenwolfare dealt with in the remainder of this chapter as well as in Chapter 3, while the ties of the novel with the idea of the transformation of time into space are analysed in Chapter 5 (section 4). 19 The same components, naivety and intellectualism, are also at play in Hesse's discourse on 'virtuosi' and in his reception of jazz (see Chapter 3, sections 3 and 4 respectively). 20 As noted by Schneider: 'Hesse had been given a violin when he was twelve and had dreamed of becoming a virtuoso' (374). 21 'Hesse [clearly] perceived the limits of his conceptions about music, especially in comparison with Thomas Mann' (Schneider, 389). 43
This conception of music, reflected in Hesse's distrust of musicologists who engage in lofty discussions on music without actually being able to play an instrument, accounts for the few detailed and technical references that appear in his work and correspondence, especially when compared to the multitude of metaphors and images he formulates through his writing. 22 Gertrud, for instance, is to a large degree a novel about music, though there is little direct reference to musical technicalities throughout the novel, except for the key of Kuhn's Trio, 'Es-dur' (SW 2, 342), and the general characteristics of its movements: 'wir stimmten mit breitem Strich das Andante an' (343). On the other hand, his views on music paradoxically betray a certain literary intellectualism, which originated in and is steeped in the German cultural debate of the nineteenth century, a period which regarded music, especially instrumental music, as idealised substance, as is reflected in the discourse on the ascendancy of music over literature (see 2.4.1). Account must also be taken of an evolution in Hesse's approach to music listening and his literary treatment of music over the years. In a letter of May 1898 to his nephew and professional musician, Karl Isenberg, he acknowledges the limitations of his musical aesthetics, yet he does not seem to seek a refinement his theoretical background: Da meine Kenntnis sich iiber verhalmismafiig nur sehr wenige Musiksachen erstreckt, suche ich diese moglichst innig zu fassen, im Geist auswendig zu lernen, um so von wenigen Mittelpunkten aus einen Standort und Ausgangspunkt meines Gefiihls zu haben. Eine bescheidene Asthetik - aber besser als keine oder eine fremde. (Musik, 128) The need to achieve a more comprehensive understanding surfaced in later years, especially at the time he worked on Das Glasperlenspiel, around 1934, when his nephew helped him to sharpen his knowledge of theoretical aspects: '[Karl] spielt 22 In the short piece 'Musik' (1915), which touches on vital aspects of his music aesthetics, Hesse also defends his approach against those 'music professionals' who dismiss as deficient any discourse on music based on intuitive listening: 'manche «fachmannische» Musiker erklaren es fur falsch und dilettantenhaft, wenn der Horer wahrend einer musikalischen Auffuhrung Bilder sieht [...] Mir, der ich so sehr Laie bin, daB ich auch nicht die Tonart eines Stiickes richtig erkennen kann, mir scheint das Bildersehen naturlich und gut' ('Musik' in Musik, *\ f\ 35). 44
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form or substance itself and yet the source of everything that was, is, or shall<br />
be. 18 (Shaw, 205)<br />
2.2 Writing as composition<br />
A combination of intellectualism and naivety is one of the elements that characterize<br />
Hesse's approach to and appreciation of music, which began at home in his early<br />
years. 19 While his mother would play pieces on the piano and sing with her children,<br />
young Hermann practised the violin and dreamt of becoming a virtuoso, the<br />
equivalent of a hero in his estimation then. 20 The musical education he received as a<br />
child, however, was too brief to allow him an in-depth understanding of music<br />
theory and, despite his personal acquaintance with people actively involved in music<br />
at various levels throughout his life, his knowledge was to remain confined to the<br />
sphere of the layman, especially if compared to the sharper competence of his<br />
colleague Mann.21 This gap in his background determined not only his appreciation<br />
but also his writing about music in two opposite directions. On the one hand, his<br />
reaction to the world of sounds is direct and instinctive, and music remains a<br />
primitively sensuous component in his works, even in the abstract and rarefied<br />
atmosphere of Das Glasperlenspiel (1943):<br />
Die Musik besteht nicht nur aus jenen rein geistigen Schwingungen und<br />
Figurationen, die wir aus ihr abstrahiert haben, sie bestand durch alle<br />
Jahrhunderte in erster Linie aus der Freude am Sinnlichen, am Ausstromen<br />
des Atems, am Schlagen des Taktes, an den Farbungen, Reibungen und<br />
Reizen, welche beim Mischen von Stimmen, beim Zusammenspiel von<br />
Instrumenten entstehen [...] Man macht Musik mit den Handen und Fingern,<br />
mit dem Munde, mit der Lunge, nicht mit dem Gehirn allein, und wer zwar<br />
Noten lesen, aber kein Instrument vollkommen spielen kann, der soil iiber<br />
Musik nicht mitreden. (SW 5, 77-78)<br />
18 Music resonances in Der Steppenwolfare dealt with in the remainder of this chapter as well as in Chapter 3,<br />
while the ties of the novel with the idea of the transformation of time into space are analysed in Chapter 5<br />
(section 4).<br />
19 The same components, naivety and intellectualism, are also at play in Hesse's discourse on 'virtuosi' and in<br />
his reception of jazz (see Chapter 3, sections 3 and 4 respectively).<br />
20 As noted by Schneider: 'Hesse had been given a violin when he was twelve and had dreamed of becoming a<br />
virtuoso' (374).<br />
21 'Hesse [clearly] perceived the limits of his conceptions about music, especially in comparison with Thomas<br />
Mann' (Schneider, 389).<br />
43