"Zukunftsmusik" (
GermanGerman is a West Germanic language, thus related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. It is one of the world's major languages and the most widely spoken first language in the European Union. Around the world, German is spoken by approximately 105 million native speakers and also by...
:
"Music of the Future" ) is the title of an essay by
Richard WagnerWilhelm Richard Wagner was a German composer, conductor, theatre director and essayist, primarily known for his operas...
, first published in
FrenchFrench is a Romance language globally spoken by about 65 million people as a first language , by 50 million as a second language, and by about another 200 million people as an acquired foreign language, with significant speakers in 57 countries. Most native speakers of the language live in France,...
translation in 1860 as
La musique de l'avenir and published in the original German in 1861. It was intended to introduce the
librettoA libretto is the text used in an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, sacred or secular oratorio and cantata, musical, and ballet. The term "libretto" is also sometimes used to refer to the text of major liturgical works, such as mass, requiem, and sacred cantata.Libretto ,...
s of Wagner's
operaOpera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score. Opera is part of the Western classical music tradition. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
s to a French audience at the time when he was hoping to launch in
ParisParis is the capital of France and the country's most populous city. It is situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
a production of
TannhäuserTannhäuser is an opera in three acts, music and text by Richard Wagner, based on the two Germanic legends of Tannhäuser and the song contest at Wartburg...
, and sets out a number of his desiderata for true opera, including the need for 'endless melody'. Wagner deliberately put the title in inverted commas to distance himself from the term;
Zukunftsmusik had already been adopted, both by Wagner's enemies, in the 1850s, often as a deliberate misunderstanding of the ideas set out in Wagner's 1849 essay,
The Artwork of the FutureDas Kunstwerk der Zukunft is a long essay written by Richard Wagner, first published in 1849 in Leipzig, in which he sets out some of his ideals on the topics of art in general and music drama in particular....
, and by his supporters, notably
Franz LisztFranz Liszt was a Hungarian composer, virtuoso pianist and teacher....
. Wagner's essay seeks to explain why the term is inadequate, or inappropriate, for his approach.
Early use of the term, and its anti-Wagnerian overtones
The earliest use of the term
Zukunftsmusik seems to date from 1854, when a
VienneseVienna is the capital of the Republic of Austria and also one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.7 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre. It is the 10th largest city by...
critic, L. A. Zellner, used it in respect of the music of both Wagner and
Robert SchumannRobert Schumann, sometimes given as Robert Alexander Schumann, was a German composer, aesthete and influential music critic...
; it was also used that year by the composer
Louis SpohrLouis Spohr was a German composer, violinist and conductor. Born Ludwig Spohr, he is usually known by the French form of his name outside Germany.-Life:...
. It began to be used in a specifically pejorative sense against Wagner by the editor Ludwig Bischoff, an associate of the conservative
Ferdinand HillerFerdinand Hiller was a German composer, conductor, writer and music-director.-Biography:Ferdinand Hiller was born to a wealthy Jewish family in Frankfurt am Main, where his father Justus was a merchant in English textiles – a business eventually continued by Ferdinand’s brother Joseph...
. The term "Musique de l'avenir" was also used in France as an anti-Wagnerian slogan. This is demonstrated by some French caricatures of 1860 and 1861. They appeared in connection with Wagner's concerts on January 25, February 1 and February 8, 1860, at the Parisian
Théâtre ItalienOver time, there have been several buildings and several theatrical companies named the "Théâtre-Italien" or the "Comédie-Italienne" in Paris. Following the times, the theatre has shown both plays and operas...
and performances of his
TannhäuserTannhäuser is an opera in three acts, music and text by Richard Wagner, based on the two Germanic legends of Tannhäuser and the song contest at Wartburg...
in March 1861 in Paris, which ended in a débâcle. In one of these caricatures an orchestra in front of a stage can be seen. The singers on the stage are two crying babies. The caption explains that the conductor Alphonse Royer had recruited "artistes de l'avenir" ("artists of the future") at an orphanage for a performance of
Tannhäuser. In another caricature a conductor asks one of his musicians, to play his part, to which the musician replies (as it is "musique de l'avenir"), he will play it next week. "Musique de l'avenir" thus carried a meaning of musical nonsense.
Interpretation of the term by the Weimar school
By Wagner's supporters the word "Zukunftsmusik" was used in a larger, and more positive, scope. Typically, this term was used in connection with the aesthetic aims of the circle of artists around
Franz LisztFranz Liszt was a Hungarian composer, virtuoso pianist and teacher....
in
WeimarWeimar is a city in Germany mostly known for its cultural heritage. It is located in the Bundesland of Thuringia , north of the Thüringer Wald, east of Erfurt, and southwest of Halle and Leipzig. Its current population is approximately 65,000. The oldest record of the city dates from the year 899...
, among them
Joachim RaffJoseph Joachim Raff was a Swiss composer, teacher and pianist.-Biography:Raff was born in Lachen in Switzerland. He was largely self-taught in music, studying the subject while working as a schoolmaster in Schmerikon, Schwyz and Rapperswil...
,
Hans von BülowHans Guido Freiherr von Bülow was a German conductor, virtuoso pianist, and composer of the Romantic era...
,
Peter CorneliusCarl August Peter Cornelius was a German composer, writer about music, poet and translator. He was born and died in Mainz where his grave in the Hauptfriedhof survives....
, Rudolph Viole,
Felix DraesekeFelix August Bernhard Draeseke was a composer of the "New German School" admiring Liszt and Richard Wagner. He wrote compositions in most forms including eight operas and stage works, four symphonies, and much vocal and chamber music.-Life:Felix Draeseke was born in the Franconian ducal town of...
,
Alexander RitterAlexander Sascha Ritter was a German composer and violinist.He was born in Narva, Estonia. He studied in Frankfurt am Main under Joachim Raff. In 1854 he married Wagner's niece Franziska...
and others. They regarded themselves as "Zukunftsmusiker" ("musicians of the future") with meaning of progressive artists. Since they were well known as propagandists in favour of Wagner's works, Wagner's style was considered as part of "Zukunftsmusik".
Much to Wagner's anger, however, Liszt did not concentrate solely on Wagner's works at Weimar. He also performed works by other contemporary composers, among them
Robert SchumannRobert Schumann, sometimes given as Robert Alexander Schumann, was a German composer, aesthete and influential music critic...
,
Ferdinand HillerFerdinand Hiller was a German composer, conductor, writer and music-director.-Biography:Ferdinand Hiller was born to a wealthy Jewish family in Frankfurt am Main, where his father Justus was a merchant in English textiles – a business eventually continued by Ferdinand’s brother Joseph...
,
Hector Berlioz Hector Berlioz was a French Romantic composer, best known for his compositions Symphonie fantastique and Grande Messe des morts . Berlioz made significant contributions to the modern orchestra with his Treatise on Instrumentation...
,
Giacomo MeyerbeerGiacomo Meyerbeer was a noted German-born opera composer, and the first great exponent of Grand Opera. At his peak in the 1830s and 1840s, he was the most famous and successful composer and producer of opera in Europe, yet is virtually unknown today.-Early years:Meyerbeer was born to a Jewish...
,
Anton RubinsteinAnton Grigorevich Rubinstein was a Russian pianist, composer and conductor. As a pianist he was regarded as a rival of Franz Liszt, and he ranks amongst the great keyboard virtuosos...
,
Eduard SobolewskiJohann Friedrich Eduard Sobolewski was a Polish-American violinist, composer, and conductor....
and
Giuseppe VerdiGiuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi was an Italian Romantic composer, mainly of opera. He was one of the most influential composers of the 19th century...
. The activities of the circle around Liszt were termed in France as "Ecole anarchique" ("Anarchic School") or "Ecole de Weimar" ("Weimarian School"). Occasionally, Schumann was regarded as a representative of that school, and there are even examples where Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy was called its originator.
Schumann himself would not have liked to be taken as representative of Wagner's or Liszt's kind of "Zukunftsmusik". In a letter to
Joseph JoachimJoseph Joachim was a Hungarian violinist, conductor, composer and teacher. He is widely regarded as a great and significantly influential violinist of the late 19th century.-Origins:...
of October 7, 1853, he addressed Liszt as "Judas Iscariot, who might quite well keep preaching at the Ilm"; and in a letter of February 6, 1854, to
Richard PohlRichard Pohl was a German music critic, writer, poet, and amateur composer. He figured prominently in the mid-century War of the Romantics, taking the side opposite Eduard Hanslick, and championing the "Music of the Future" .Pohl was born in Leipzig...
, he wrote:
- Those who in your view are "Zukunftsmusiker", in my view are "Gegenwartsmusiker"("musicians of the present"); and those who in your view are "Vergangenheitsmusiker" ("musicians of the past") (Bach, Handel
HANDEL was the code-name for the UK's National Attack Warning System in the Cold War. It consisted of a small console consisting of two microphones, lights and gauges. The reason behind this was to provide a back-up if anything failed....
, Beethoven), for me they seem to be the best "Zukunftsmusiker" ("musicians of (or for) the future"). I shall never be able to consider spiritual beauty in beautiful forms as an outmoded point of view. Does perhaps Wagner have them? And, after all, where are Liszt's ingenious achievements - where are they on display? Perhaps in his desk? does he perhaps want to wait for the future, since he fears he cannot be understood? right now?
Pohl was a member of Liszt's intimate circle at Weimar. Liszt therefore might have heard of Schumann's opinion, but despite this he shortly afterwards published his
Piano Sonata in B MinorThe Piano Sonata in B minor , S.178, is a musical composition for solo piano by Franz Liszt.- Background :The Sonata was composed in 1852-1853, and first performed on January 27, 1857 in Berlin by Liszt's pupil and son-in-law, Hans von Bülow...
with a dedication to Schumann.
Divergences between Wagner and Liszt
Liszt admired Wagner as composer of genius. But he did not share Wagner's ideas on the "Music of the Future". Liszt's leading idea was to unite poetry and music in works of instrumental music, in
Symphonic PoemA symphonic poem or tone poem is a piece of orchestral music in a single continuous section in which the content of a poem, a story or novel, a painting, a landscape or another source is illustrated or evoked. The term was first applied by Hungarian composer Franz Liszt to his 13 works in this vein...
s and other symphonic works with a "program", subjects of non-musical nature; quite the opposite of Wagner's ideal to unite all the arts in staged music drama. In some of Liszt's essays, for example in that about Berlioz and
Harold in ItalyHarold en Italie , Op. 16, is Hector Berlioz' second symphony, written in 1834.-Creation:Niccolò Paganini encouraged Berlioz to write Harold en Italie...
, he opposed some of Wagner's views. Wagner meanwhile had given luke-warm support to Liszt's ideas in his 1857 essay . On Franz Liszt's Symphonic Poems,
In the beginning of 1859 came a showdown between Liszt and Wagner, whose increasing success led him to feel more independent from his former mentor. Liszt had received in December 1858 the first act of Wagner's Tristan und IsoldeTristan und Isolde is an opera, or music drama, in three acts by Richard Wagner to a German libretto by the composer, based largely on the romance by Gottfried von Straßburg...
with a dedication to him himself. In a letter to Wagner he announced that he would send scores of his Dante SymphonyA Symphony to Dante's Divine Commedia, S.109, or simply the "Dante Symphony", is a program symphony composed by Franz Liszt. Written in the high romantic style, it is based on Dante Alighieri's journey through Hell and Purgatory, as depicted in The Divine Comedy...
, dedicated to Wagner, and his Grand Mass
. He received a letter from Wagner, written from VeniceVenice is a city in northern Italy, the capital of the region Veneto, a population of 271,367 . Together with Padua, the city is included in the Padua-Venice Metropolitan Area . The city historically was an independent nation...
on December 31, 1858, stating that the Weimarians with their idealistic talk about art should leave him alone. They should send money instead, since this was all he needed and wanted to get from them. As answer, Liszt, in a letter of January 4, 1859, wrote, he would return the Tristan
act. Besides, since the Dante Symphony
and the Grand Mass could not be taken as stocks and bonds, it was superfluous to send such worthless scrip to Venice.
From this point onwards, Liszt sought to establish his musical ideals through the
Allgemeine Deutsche MusikvereinAllgemeine Deutsche Musikverein was a German musical association founded in 1861 by Franz Liszt and Franz Brendel, to embody the musical ideals of the New German School of music.-Background:...
('All-German Union of Music') (q.v.), which he founded with the editor and critic
Franz BrendelNot to be confused with composer Franz Brendel .Karl Franz Brendel was a German music critic and historian....
.
Open letter to Berlioz
The origins of the essay may be traced to an open letter which Wagner wrote to Berlioz in February 1860, in response to a printed article by Berlioz. Berlioz had poked fun at 'la musique de l'avenir'. In his letter Wagner disclaimed the use of this formulaic term, attributing it to his enemies Hiller and Bischoff, and asserted the principles he had set out in his essay The Artwork of the Future
. He also took the opportunity in his letter to flatter Berlioz and to look forward to the premiere of his opera Les TroyensLes Troyens is a French opera in five acts by Hector Berlioz. The libretto was written by Berlioz himself, based on Virgil's epic poem The Aeneid...
.
The essay
"Zukunftsmusik"
Wagner's essay "Zukunftsmusik"
is dated September 1860 and is in the form of a letter to a French admirer, M. Villot. It was intended as a preface to a book of French translations of some of Wagner's libretti, including Tannhãuser
and Tristan und IsoldeTristan und Isolde is an opera, or music drama, in three acts by Richard Wagner to a German libretto by the composer, based largely on the romance by Gottfried von Straßburg...
.
Wagner's intention was doubtless to familiarise the Parisian public with his ideas on music and opera in advance of performances there which he hoped would secure his fame and fortune; 'a lucid exposition of my thoughts would dispel such prejudice and error'.
Contents of Wagner's essay
In the essay Wagner recaps the ideas he had developed ten years previously in the essays Art and RevolutionArt and Revolution is a long essay by the composer Richard Wagner, originally published in 1849...
, The Artwork of the Future
and Opera and DramaOper und Drama is a long essay written by Richard Wagner in 1851 setting out his ideas on the ideal characteristics of opera as an art form...
, placing them in the context of his own autobiographical experiences. He advances his opera libretti as practical examples of his theories. He condemns the artificiality of Italian opera, with its recitatives and repeated arias that break up dramatic flow; he continues his attack on
Grand OperaGrand Opera is a genre of 19th-century opera generally in four or five acts, characterised by large-scale casts and orchestras, and lavish and spectacular design and stage-effects, normally with plots based on or around dramatic historic events...
; he denounces German opera as without any style of its own, with a few exceptions (notably
Carl Maria von WeberCarl Maria Friedrich Ernst von Weber was a German composer, conductor, pianist, guitarist and critic, one of the first significant composers of the Romantic school....
. He takes Beethoven's symphonies as the furthest possible development of instrumental music.
Only Wagner's own vision of music drama, a fusion of poetry and music, can lead to a true devcelopment of art. 'Not a Programme can speak the meaning of the Symphony; no , nothing but a stage-performance of the Dramatic Action itself'.Obsession with florid operatic melody is trivial: 'The poet's greatness is mostly to be measured by what he leaves unsaid, letting us breeathe in silence tonourselves the thing unspeakable; the musician it is who brings this untold mystery to clarion tongue, and the impeccable form of his sounding silence is endless melody '.
Wagner concedes that 'even in the feebler works of frivolous composers [i.e. his former mentor Meyerbeer ], I have met with isolated effects that made me marvel at the incomparable might of Music.' But only Wagner's determination to ensure concentration of dramatic action and the subvention of music to this aim will produce dramatic art worthy of the name. 'In these [...] points you might find the most valid definition of my "innovations", but by no means in an absolute-musical caprice such as people have thought fit to foist upon me under the name of the "Music of the Future".'