HERMANN HESSE AND THE DIALECTICS OF TIME Salvatore C. P. ...

Mozart as its symbol (see Ziolkowski 1965,191). u Hints of this evolution can be
detected as early as Gertrud, more precisely, in one of the characters, the musician
Teiser. 13 His relationship with music, indeed, foreshadows the approach and views
on music of Pablo and Mozart in Der Steppenwolf. With his passion for traditional
yodellers from his native region (Ger, SW 2, 357), Teiser lives 'als ein Kind mit einer
Mozartmelodie auf den Lippen unbeschwert' (SW 2, 418), and his playful disposition
is in contrast to both the somewhat Romantic attitude of Kuhn and the tormented
approach to music of Muoth: '[Teiser] war mir zu heiter, zu sonnig, zu sehr
zufrieden, er schien keine Abgriinde zu kennen' (SW 2, 339).u
The last turn in Hesse's writing can be linked, on a personal level, to Hesse's
relationship with his third wife Ninon Dolbin. 15 Hesse and Ninon Dolbin had been
living together since 1927 and had married in 1931. Ninon contributed considerably
to Hesse's emotional stability, and Hesse, who was then in his mid-fifties, seemed
able to better harness the conflicting sides of his personality. The outer world, despite
the state of bewilderment and bitterness caused by the Second World War, intruded
less in his writing and was filtered through Hesse's new self-awareness. While Narzift
und Goldmund (1930) might be said to mark the end of the second phase, this period
is characterized by Hesse's growing interest in Bach and the counterpoint technique,
as reflected in Die Morgenlandfahrt and, particularly, Das Glassperlenspiel, where
'Hesse's worship of classical and preclassical music reaches its expressive climax'
(Boulby, 280). 16 This change is also accompanied by a shift in his poetics and style. 17
12 In Der Steppenwolf, the name of Chopin appears only once, at the end of a list of composers whose music is
not, in the narrator's opinion, on the same plane as Mozart's Don Giovanni: 'GewiB, es kam noch Schubert, es
kam noch Hugo Wolf, und auch den armen herrlichen Chopin darf ich nicht vergessen' (SW 4,192).
13 'In the finished novel [Gertrud] we may note the end of the reign of Chopin in Hesse's imagination perhaps
under the influence of his acquaintance with the young Swiss composer Othmar Schoeck and in general a new
understanding of the problem of form' (Boulby, 75). Taking his cue from Boulby, Field expresses the same idea
in 'The Artist Novels: Gertrud and Rosshalde' of his Hermann Hesse (Chapter 3, online).
14 See our previous reference to Teiser as a character who simultaneously contrasts with both Kuhn and Muoth
(Chapter 1, section 5).
15 In this final segment of Hesse's life and career, Gommen distinguishes between two periods, which she terms
'Phase der Komplexitat (1927-1944)' and 'Phase der reflektierten Einfachheit (1944-1962)' respectively.
16 In Chapter 2 (section 2), we noted that Hesse sought his nephew's help in refining his understanding of music
theory at the time of the composition of Das Glasperlenspiel. It is also worth noting that Bach's legacy has
played an important role in the last part of many composers' careers too. After Mozart deepened his interest in
Bach's compositions, counterpoint sections became much more prominent in his later works (e.g. Symphony
K550, K551). At the peak of his artistic maturity, Erik Satie brought himself to study counterpoint techniques, of
which Bach's music is a cornerstone, in order to refine his composition.
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