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In “Beethoven’s Instrumental Music,” Ernst Theodor Amadeus Hoffmann expressed his attitude to Beethoven’s instrumental pieces as the vivid examples of the absolute music, the concept of which was developed in the nineteenth century. The document is important to describe the perception of the instrumental music in contrast to the vocal music during the era of Romanticism.
Hoffmann’s main argument presented in the document is that Beethoven’s instrumental works illustrate the real essence of music. Hoffmann claimed that the composer’s approach “gives pure expression to music’s specific nature” (151). The author of the document also developed the argument that Beethoven’s works represent the new musical paradigm, according to which the focus is on its pure means and effects and not on words. Hoffmann noted that Beethoven’s instrumental music “opens up to us also the realm of the monstrous and the immeasurable” (152). From this point, the composer does not need any other tools in addition to sounds of instruments in order to demonstrate the emotions that are typically expressed with the help of words in the vocal music.
Pointing to the pure nature of Beethoven’s music, the author also focused on the harmony of music. Hoffmann stated that Beethoven “has truly mastered the secrets of harmony who knows how, by their means, to work upon the human soul” (155). Therefore, according to Hoffmann, a great composer appeals to the listener’s feelings through the power of the instrumental music and its clear sounds.
While focusing on the context of the document, it is important to state that the author analyzed Beethoven’s music through the lenses of Romanticism, and this fact is important to be noted. Hoffmann claimed that this music “sets in motion the lever of fear, of awe, of horror, of suffering, and wakens just that infinite longing which is the essence of romanticism” (153). Thus, he accentuated the direct link between the principles of Romanticism with its focus on absolute feelings and the aspects of Beethoven’s music.
The document is important to be preserved and consulted because it provides the insights regarding the privileged position of the instrumental music in the nineteenth century in contrast to the other forms of music. In addition, Hoffmann’s discussion introduced the idea of pure music in relation to the instrumental pieces that was developed as the concept of the absolute music later. The author accentuated the absolute music as free from the text impact.
Works Cited
Hoffmann, Ernst Theodor Amadeus. “Beethoven’s Instrumental Music (1813).”Source Readings in Music History, Volume 6: The Nineteenth Century. Ed. Leo Treitler. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 1998. 151-156. Print.
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