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. ...
The narrator recounts how' Virtuosentum', which may endanger the integrity of the game by drawing too much attention to the individual player, was avoided by means of meditation in the early development stages of the game: Nun fiel allmahlich dieses Virtuosentum mehr und mehr unter strenges Verbot, und die Kontemplation wurde zu einem sehr wichtigen Bestandteil des Spieles. (SW 5, 33) For Hesse, ideal artists, as well as ideal performers, are those whose personality fades into the background of the artistic creation. Although Hesse gives concrete examples of virtuosi who met his taste (Fou Tsong, Fournier), his conflicting orientations on the subject of Virtuosity' seem to lead to a new formulation of Hesse's crucial paradox of the 'impersonal individual' discussed in Chapter 1, section 3. Hesse's ideal virtuoso appears as a contradiction in terms since exceptional performers, whose merits are by definition linked to their outstanding personal gifts, have to sacrifice their individuality if their performance has to attain artistic significance. 3.3 Wagner, Hesse, and Existentialism We explored Hesse's connections to music in 3.1 omitting his relationship with the theatre in general and staged music in particular. This aspect will now be examined in relation to Hesse's appreciation of Wagner, and the discussion will feed into an investigation of the similarities and differences between Hesse and Wagner, for the purpose of which we will also call on certain Existentialist orientations in Hesse's poetics. As stated in a letter of 1899 to his parents, Hesse felt instinctive reservations towards the theatre in the main: ich spiirte doch auch mein altes Aber gegen die Buhne und ihre Grobheiten wieder. Das Theater ist mir kein Bedurfnis und immer auch nur halber Genufi. Es ist Kunst zweiter Giite. (Musik, 133) This scarce interest explains in part his ambivalent feelings towards Wagner, 'bei letzterem werde ich immer als Laie zuhoren. Derm meine innerste Natur ist 81
undramatisch' (letter of 1898 to Helene Voigt-Diederichs, Musik, 131). 43 Despite a sceptical attitude towards the theatre in general and Wagner's music in particular, Hesse praised Die Meistersinger, especially in his youth, as noted in the same letter of 1899 to his parents: 'Die »Meistersinger« selber hab ich immer gern gehabt' (Musik, 133). In the fiction of Peter Camenzind (1904), the protagonist expresses a similarly favourable opinion on this work by Wagner, the music of which Richard (in nomine omen) plays on the piano: »Es ist Wagner«, rief er [Richard] zuriick, »aus den Meistersingern«, und spielte weiter. Es klang leicht und kraftig, sehnsiichtig und heiter, und umflofi mich wie ein laues, erregendes Bad. 44 (SW 2, 38) Despite Hesse's early appreciation of Die Meistersinger, he progressively distances himself from Wagner and his music. Gertrud (1910), Rofihalde (1914), and Klein und Wagner (1919) capture this transition. In the first novel, 'das ewige Begehren, die Sehnsucht und Ungeniige' (SW 2, 340) of Muoth, a 'Wagnersanger' (SW 2, 339), makes this character an incarnation of Wagner's music. Rofihalde indirectly questions the value of Wagner's music through a comparison of the musical taste of two generations. While Johann Veraguth, the protagoinist, and his friend Burkhardt, experienced the music of Tristan und Isolde as 'ein Rausch' (SW 3, 44) in their youth, Albert, Veraguth's son, holds neutral or even sceptical views on Wagner and, asked about his opinion on 'das Meistersingervorspiel' (ibid.), plainly expresses his lack of interest: 'Ich kann wirklich nicht dariiber urteilen. Es ist - wie soil ich sagen? - romantische Music, und fur die fehlt es mir an Interesse' (ibid.). In Klein und Wagner, conflicting associations accumulate around the character of Wagner, who is at the same time a murderer, Klein's polar opposite, and also the genial composer of Lohengrin: Derm Wagner war er selber - Wagner war der Morder und Gejagte in ihm, aber Wagner war auch der Komponist, der Kiinstler, das Genie, der Verfiihrer, 43 Mozart's staged music, on the contrary, appealed to him greatly: 'Die Opern von Mozart sind fur mich der Inbegriff von Theater [...] Ich habe mich fur das eigentliche Theater ja niemals interessieren kCnnen, das heifit fur die Schauspieler und die Dramen' (letter of 1929 to Emmy Ball-Hennings, Musik, 153). This difference in appreciation, or apparent contradiction, is also mirrored in Steppenwolf, where the music of Mozart and Wagner are presented as antithetical. 44 The radiance and brilliance of this opera, which contrasts with the languid atmosphere of most works by Wagner, must have been particularly appealing to Hesse's 'undramatisch' nature. 82
- Page 37 and 38: his way to enlightenment, is attune
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- Page 41 and 42: eal self is transferred onto pairs
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- Page 69 and 70: Drin eins das andre halt, Zeigen si
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- Page 79 and 80: Furthermore, the erotic element of
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- Page 97 and 98: in that the former's opera paves th
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- Page 107 and 108: Singen oder Summen oder auch nur da
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- Page 119 and 120: ich sah mich wahrend der ganzen Vor
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- Page 123 and 124: correlative' of childhood in Hesse.
- Page 125 and 126: equally pressing desire to release
- Page 127 and 128: mit Entsetzen erinnerte ich mich an
- Page 129 and 130: Hesse ascribes his fascination with
- Page 131 and 132: weigert sich, es will sich haufig a
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- Page 137 and 138: to India ('Erinnerung an Mwamba').
The narrator recounts how' Virtuosentum', which may endanger the integrity of the<br />
game by drawing too much attention to the individual player, was avoided by means<br />
of meditation in the early development stages of the game:<br />
Nun fiel allmahlich dieses Virtuosentum mehr und mehr unter strenges<br />
Verbot, und die Kontemplation wurde zu einem sehr wichtigen Bestandteil<br />
des Spieles. (SW 5, 33)<br />
For Hesse, ideal artists, as well as ideal performers, are those whose personality fades<br />
into the background of the artistic creation. Although Hesse gives concrete examples<br />
of virtuosi who met his taste (Fou Tsong, Fournier), his conflicting orientations on<br />
the subject of Virtuosity' seem to lead to a new formulation of Hesse's crucial<br />
paradox of the 'impersonal individual' discussed in Chapter 1, section 3. Hesse's<br />
ideal virtuoso appears as a contradiction in terms since exceptional performers,<br />
whose merits are by definition linked to their outstanding personal gifts, have to<br />
sacrifice their individuality if their performance has to attain artistic significance.<br />
3.3 Wagner, Hesse, and Existentialism<br />
We explored Hesse's connections to music in 3.1 omitting his relationship with the<br />
theatre in general and staged music in particular. This aspect will now be examined<br />
in relation to Hesse's appreciation of Wagner, and the discussion will feed into an<br />
investigation of the similarities and differences between Hesse and Wagner, for the<br />
purpose of which we will also call on certain Existentialist orientations in Hesse's<br />
poetics.<br />
As stated in a letter of 1899 to his parents, Hesse felt instinctive reservations<br />
towards the theatre in the main:<br />
ich spiirte doch auch mein altes Aber gegen die Buhne und ihre Grobheiten<br />
wieder. Das Theater ist mir kein Bedurfnis und immer auch nur halber Genufi.<br />
Es ist Kunst zweiter Giite. (Musik, 133)<br />
This scarce interest explains in part his ambivalent feelings towards Wagner, 'bei<br />
letzterem werde ich immer als Laie zuhoren. Derm meine innerste Natur ist<br />
81
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