“Beethoven’s music sets in motion the machinery of awe, of fear, of terror, of pain, and awakens that infinite yearning which is the essence of romanticism.”
The romantic writer and composer E. T. A. Hoffmann dedicates a full entry on Beethoven and the latter’s instrumental compositions in the first part of Kriesleriana, a bi-partite cycle of musical writings that formed part of Hoffmann’s first published book, Fantasiestücke in Callot’s Manier (1814-15). This is not the first time Hoffmann writes about his respect for Beethoven’s art, as the former had published an extensive review on Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony in the time’s most respected journal for music, the Allgemeine musikalische Zeitung (AMZ) in 1810.
The way Hoffmann presents this essay in Kriesleriana is quite unlike the previous entries of the cycle. The structure is clear and its organization combines well-formed content, examples, and commentary, all these unusual characteristics in Hoffmann’s delivery. This essay exhibits a clean and clear writing style, where a reader like myself can readily digest the writer’s content with ease.
I find this essay by Hofmann a powerful piece. It not only goes into detail about worshipping Beethoven’s instrumental music and his mastery in the music craftsmanship of the 5th Symphony, Hofmann’s essay paints the canvas of Romanticism in art. The “expression of the infinite” as Hofmann called, is where “music discloses to man an unknown kingdom, a world having nothing in common with the external sensual world which surround him and in which he leaves behind him all definite feelings in order to abandon himself to an inexpressible longing.”
Having read this piece a number of times, every time I find myself immersed in Hofmann and Beethoven’s spirit in creating life into art. To bring life to music, poetic expression and intellectual understanding of music go hand-in-hand. Without one or the other, what more is left to the essence of music that breaks out into sound, melody, and a wide array of emotions?