On the Beautiful in Music - Classic Text | Alexandria
On the Beautiful in Music (Vom Musikalisch-Schönen), published in 1854 by Eduard Hanslick (1825-1904), stands as one of the most influential and controversial treatises in musical aesthetics, marking a decisive shift from Romantic emotionalism toward musical formalism. This landmark text, which underwent eight editions during Hanslick's lifetime, fundamentally challenged the prevailing 19th-century notion that music's primary purpose was to express feelings.
The treatise emerged during a pivotal moment in musical history, as the battle between conservative and progressive forces in music reached its apex. Hanslick, a Viennese music critic and scholar, wrote his manifesto against the backdrop of Wagner's rising influence and the heated debates surrounding program music. The cultural landscape of 1850s Vienna, with its rich musical tradition and intellectual ferment, provided fertile ground for Hanslick's revolutionary ideas.
Central to Hanslick's thesis is the radical proposition that music's beauty resides purely in its "tonally moving forms" rather than in its emotional expression. This controversial stance not only sparked intense debate among his contemporaries but also laid the groundwork for 20th-century musical formalism and influenced modern musicology profoundly. The text's impact extended beyond music criticism, contributing to broader philosophical discussions about aesthetics and artistic meaning. Hanslick's sharp critique of Wagner's music-dramas and his support for Brahms' absolute music positioned him at the center of the period's most significant musical controversies.
The work's legacy continues to resonate in contemporary discussions about musical meaning and interpretation. Modern scholars frequently revisit Hanslick's arguments in light of recent developments in music cognition and aesthetic theory. His insistence on music's autonomous beauty, while controversial, anticipated many modernist attitudes toward art and continues to challenge assumptions about music's emotional content. The text remains a testament to how theoretical writings can fundamentally reshape artistic discourse, leaving questions about the nature of musical beauty that still provoke debate among musicians, philosophers, and critics today.