MUS 353 Chapter Notes - Chapter 14: Symphonie Fantastique, Ludwig Tieck, Johann Nikolaus Forkel
Document Summary
The greatest changes in music during the early decades of the 19th century were not primarily in matters of style but rather in modes of perception. Composers and audiences alike began to conceive of music and heart it particularly instrumental music in a radically new manner. Before 1800, most critics had considered instrumental music inferior to vocal music b/c although it could express emotions and move the passions, it could not convey ideas or concepts. This consensus, however, began to erode rapidly in the mid-1790s with a new generation of poets and critics, including friedrich schlegel, ludwig tieck, and e. t. a. The abstract nature of music, they maintained, was an asset, not a liability. Instrumental music, because it was free from the confining structures of language, was capable of conveying ideas and emotions too profound for mere words. Composers both shaped and responded to this changing perception of music"s power.
