Music in the Aesthetic Lectures and other Writings of Friedrich Schleiermacher

Introduction

German scholars such as Gunter Scholtz have discussed interconnections among music, philosophy, and religion in Schleiermacher’s writings. However, Anglophone scholars have done little exploration of his engagement with music or his understanding of a profound connection between religion and music. Schleiermacher’s views on religion and music were in line with his understanding of religion as a feeling of absolute dependence on God, as well as a form of immediate self-awareness. Referring to Schleiermacher'sMusikphilosophie, Scholtz describes him as “a theorizer of emotions . . . [who saw] music as an art of emotions” (Gunter Scholtz [1981] 176). Schleiermacher also used the term “music of my religion” when discussing the nature of religion and religious feelings (Speeches 119 [1799]). Music, which Schleiermacher personally engaged with, played an important role in his Lectures on Aesthetics. It cannot be separated from his understanding of religion, nor his views on practical divinity.

Schleiermacher, who spent most of his adult life in Berlin, had a genuine personal interest in music that led him to attend many concerts and to participate in singing. Newly discovered information indicates that Schleiermacher attended more classical concerts and operas than previously thought. His letters and journals reveal his interest in Mozart and other classical composers (cf. Elisabeth Blumrich, 233). This interest, as well as his fascination with the connection between poetry and music, developed during his student years at Halle University, where he spent time engaging with intellectuals who shared that love of music. According to his biographer, music was considered by members of that community as exerting a binding and "magical” power (Wilhelm Dilthey, 105, 720). Poetry and music became essential elements of his social life in Berlin, when he spent time interacting with romanticist friends.

The motivation for the proposed paper is to contribute to our understanding of Schleiermacher’s philosophy of music based on the Lectures on Aesthetics [1] which he gave at the University of Berlin between 1819 and 1833. The paper will compare the content of those lectures with the Practical Theologylectures that he presented between 1812 and 1833, with the goal of showing how he applied his ideas on aesthetics to his views on practical divinity.

Outline

The proposed paper will consist of three parts, the first considering Schleiermacher's general notions of art as expressed in his aesthetic lectures in the context of his distinctive approach to Kunstreligion (“art-as-religion”). As other Schleiermacher scholars have noted, over time he moved away from the romantic ideal of a pure “art of religion” (Bernhard Schmidt 2013). His views on aesthetics deserve special attention due to their connections with both the arts and philosophy (Holden Kelm 2024).

His views on “music philosophy” must be analyzed in light of his ideas regarding all forms of art, as well as themes associated with nature—specifically, interconnections among the arts, nature, and the divine. In his aesthetic lectures he addresses the divine, describing art as an imitation of God. He then goes on to address his belief in organic relationships among the various arts. In these lectures he followed the lead of Johann Augustus Eberhard in categorizing the arts as “accompanying (mimicry and music), educational(painting, sculpture and architecture) and spoken (poetry).”[2]

The second part of the proposed paper will specifically focus on Schleiermacher’s understanding of music and music philosophy as discussed in his aesthetic lectures. It is important to note the early nineteenth-century context in which he presented these lectures, a period marked by Romanticism and the emergence of aesthetics as a new discipline that intellectuals energetically adopted and engaged with (cf. Andrew Bowie). Schleiermacher in particular was influenced by some of these factors when preparing his aesthetic lectures.

Part three will discuss Schleiermacher’s application of the ideas expressed in his aesthetic lectures to his lectures on practical theology. In the same way that he brought together art and nature in his aesthetic lectures, he integrated his views on art and music in his texts and lectures on practical divinity and church-related topics. One core concern in his lectures was finding and emphasizing a sense of unity between art and practical divinity. He argued that “every artwork has its existence in a certain unity, its existence and appearance in a multiplicity. One is not without the other” (Schleiermacher, PT, 92)

Contribution

The proposed paper will emphasize the connection between music and religion when describing how Schleiermacher expressed his music philosophy in the context of Romanticism, with implications for both religious studies and music history. Studies by Holden Kelm (2021), Ernst Müller (2015), and Rainer Volp (2011) will serve as starting points for analyzing connections between religion and art. The main contribution of my analysis will be clarifying the position of music in the connection between Schleiermacher’s lectures on aesthetics and practical divinity in terms of cultural and musical history. The analysis will extend Martin Clarke’s argument that music was not simply an adjunct to nineteenth century theological thought, but a central and illustrative feature with vital implications.

[1] Kelm, Holden. Band 14 Vorlesungen über die Ästhetik, Berlin: De Gruyter, 2021.

[2] J. A. Eberhard, Theorie der schönen Wissenschaften (1783), 6-7. For a full discussion on this influence see Holden Kelm, Band 14 Vorlesungen über die Ästhetik, Berlin: De Gruyter, 2021, xxii.