Composing Consciousness: Psychological Design in the Late Dramatic Works of Robert Schumann
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
COMPOSING CONSCIOUSNESS: PSYCHOLOGICAL DESIGN IN THE LATE DRAMATIC WORKS OF ROBERT SCHUMANN by Christopher Thomas Ruth B.F.A, Carnegie Mellon University, 2004 M.A., University of Pittsburgh, 2007 Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of the Kenneth P. Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy University of Pittsburgh 2012 UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH KENNETH P. DIETRICH SCHOOL OF ARTS AND SCIENCES This dissertation was presented by Christopher T. Ruth It was defended on November 27, 2012 and approved by Eric Moe, PhD, Professor of Music Clark Muenzer, PhD, Associate Professor of German Anna Nisnevich, PhD, Assistant Professor of Music Dissertation Advisor: James P. Cassaro, MLS, M.A., Assistant Professor of Music ii Copyright © by Christopher T. Ruth 2012 iii COMPOSING CONSCIOUSNESS: PSYCHOLOGICAL DESIGN IN THE LATE DRAMATIC WORKS OF ROBERT SCHUMANN Christopher T. Ruth, PhD University of Pittsburgh, 2012 Until fairly recently, scholarship dealing with German literary and cultural traditions in the early-nineteenth century has largely avoided the idea of psychological impact, in part due to the assessment that psychology as a fully empirical discipline had its birth in the Freudian fin de siècle. Recent studies, however, have suggested that early psychological theory in Germany was far more developed than in other European countries, and its impact on literature and culture is only now being measured in any significant way. The intersection of philosophy, psychology, and literature was very prominent in Early Romantic Germany, insofar as many writers such as Goethe, Schiller, and Büchner contributed to psychological theory in their works. This connection must naturally be extended to musical works, which in nineteenth-century Germany were often considered just as literary as poetry or novels. Robert Schumann in particular saw his dramatic works as such—and as I demonstrate in this dissertation—they were influenced by and contributed to psychological theory in a significant way. When Robert Schumann moved to Dresden following a colossal mental breakdown in 1844, he began a relationship as both medical patient and close friend with one of the early-nineteenth century’s preeminent writers on psychology, Carl Gustav Carus. Despite the recent increase in scholarly attention being paid to Robert Schumann’s late output, no scholar has probed this connection between Schumann’s access to the latest psychological theories and his own late music, which reveals many connections that shed light on misunderstood aspects of some of Schumann’s most carefully constructed pieces. A close examination of three of Schumann’s major dramatic works forms iv the basis of this dissertation: Genoveva (1850), Der Rose Pilgerfahrt (1851), and Szenen aus Goethes ‘Faust’ (1853). v TABLE OF CONTENTS PREFACE AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ......................................................................... XV 1.0 INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................ 1 1.1 THE ‘PROBLEM’ OF SCHUMANN’S LATE MUSIC .................................. 3 1.1.1 Schumann’s Literary Appetite ....................................................................... 4 1.1.2 Schumann’s preoccupation with mental health .......................................... 13 1.2 CARL GUSTAV CARUS.................................................................................. 17 1.2.1 Carus’s Psychological Roots ......................................................................... 20 1.2.2 Carus’s Psychological Legacy....................................................................... 23 1.2.3 Psyche: Zur Entwicklungsgeschichte der Seele ............................................ 25 1.2.4 Carus and Schumann .................................................................................... 33 1.3 SCHUMANN’S DRAMATIC MUSIC ............................................................ 35 1.3.1 Genoveva ......................................................................................................... 36 1.3.2 Der Rose Pilgerfahrt ....................................................................................... 36 1.3.3 Szenen aus Goethes ‘Faust’ ........................................................................... 37 2.0 GENOVEVA AND THE UNCONSCIOUS MIND .................................................. 39 2.1 SCHUMANN’S SEARCH FOR A GERMAN OPERA ................................. 41 2.1.1 The Libretto ................................................................................................... 43 2.1.1.1 Ludwig Tieck’s Version ...................................................................... 46 vi 2.1.1.2 Friedrich Hebbel’s Version ................................................................ 50 2.1.1.3 Schumann’s Version of the Libretto ................................................. 53 2.2 SCHUMANN’S MUSIC AS THE UNCONSCIOUS MIND .......................... 58 2.2.1 Thematic relationships in Genoveva ............................................................ 61 2.2.2 Unconscious Voices ........................................................................................ 72 2.3 GERMAN UNITY AND PSYCHOLOGICAL UNITY ............................... 102 3.0 REDEFINING THE ORATORIO: DER ROSE PILGERFAHRT ...................... 108 3.1 THE ORATORIO AND THE ROMANTIC SPIRIT................................... 115 3.1.1 From Dresden to Düsseldorf ....................................................................... 115 3.1.2 Schumann and the Oratorio ....................................................................... 119 3.1.2.1 Stylistic Design in Das Paradies und die Peri .................................. 121 3.1.2.2 Generic Intentions for Der Rose Pilgerfahrt ................................... 126 3.1.3 The German Forest ..................................................................................... 129 3.2 AS “ENTWICKLUNGSGESCHICHTE DER SEELE” ............................. 130 3.2.1 The Large Structure of Der Rose Pilgerfahrt ............................................ 131 3.2.2 The Unconscious .......................................................................................... 135 3.2.3 World-consciousness ................................................................................... 153 3.2.4 Self-consciousness ........................................................................................ 163 3.2.5 God-consciousness ....................................................................................... 169 3.3 FEMINISM IN DER ROSE PILGERFAHRT ............................................... 173 4.0 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF SCHUMANN’S FAUST ............................................. 178 4.1 THE PROBLEM OF “THE THEME” .......................................................... 179 4.2 CARUS AND FAUST ...................................................................................... 183 vii 4.2.1 Briefe über Goethes Faust ........................................................................... 185 4.3 SCHUMANN AND FAUST ............................................................................ 192 4.4 PSYCHOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENT IN THE FAUST SCENES .......... 197 5.0 CONCLUSION ......................................................................................................... 212 BIBLIOGRAPHY ..................................................................................................................... 221 viii LIST OF TABLES Table 1. Large Structure of Der Rose Pilgerfahrt ...................................................................... 133 Table 2. Tableaux Scenes in Der Rose Pilgerfahrt ..................................................................... 146 Table 3. Narrative Scenes in Der Rose Pilgerfahrt ................................................................... 165 Table 4. Structural organization of Schumann's Szenen aus Goethes Faust ............................. 196 ix LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1. Carl Gustav Carus, Wanderer auf Bergeshöh, 1818 ..................................................... 19 Figure 2. Caspar David Friedrich, Wanderer über dem Nebelmeer, 1818 ................................... 19 Figure 3. Carus's Monad Theory ................................................................................................... 29 Figure 4. Carus's Levels of the Unconscious ................................................................................ 31 Figure 5. Carus's Levels of Consciousness ................................................................................... 32 Figure 6. An angel appears to Genoveva in Richter's "Genoveva in the Wilderness" ................. 44 Figure 7. Map of Carus's Levels of Consciousness .................................................................... 109 Figure 8. Carus's Progression of the Mind, Spiral ...................................................................... 111 x LIST OF MUSICAL EXAMPLES Example 1. Genoveva, No. 1 Chor Und Recitativ, Opening Chorale ........................................... 62 Example 2. Opening of Chorale Melody "Ermuntre dich, mein schwacher Geist"...................... 63 Example 3. Opening of Chorale Melody from Genoveva ............................................................ 64 Example 4. Genoveva, Overture, mm. 3–5 (Version I) ................................................................ 64 Example 5. Genoveva, Overture, mm. 348–55 (Version