Shaping the Nation with Song

SHAPING THE NATION WITH SONG Mårten Nehrfors Hultén Shaping the nation with song Johann Friedrich Reichardt and the German cultural identity Mårten Nehrfors Hultén ©Mårten Nehrfors Hultén, Stockholm University 2018 ISBN print 978-91-7797-344-7 ISBN PDF 978-91-7797-345-4 ISSN 1103-6362 Cover illustration: Die Luft ist blau, das Thal ist grün, from Lieder für Kinder aus Campes Kinderbibliothek I. Courtesy of Stiftung Händel-Haus. Photograph Mårten Nehrfors Hultén. Printed in Sweden by Universitetsservice US-AB, Stockholm 2018 Distributor: Department of Culture and Aesthetics, Stockholm University To my grandfather Figure 1. Johann Friedrich Reichardt, portrait, after a painting by Franz Gareis. INTERFOTO / Alamy Stock Photo Contents AHQRYICBECPCQVU &QVTRBWAVGRQ 6FCRTa 19VGRQ9QBQ9VGRQ9IGUP &BCQVGVa 0CVFRB9QBP9VCTG9I 6FCBGUARWTUC9Q9IaUGU 6FCPWUGA9Q9IaUGU 6FCST9AVGAC9Q9IaUGU" 4CUC9TAFP9VCTG9I" !GUSRUGVGRQ"" )GVCT9VWTCTCXGCY" 19VGRQ9IGUP" 5RAGCVa" %CTBCT 4CGAF9TBV %GUVRTGA9I@9AHETRWQB 19VGRQ9IVCQBCQAGCU %CTBCTG9QQ9VGRQ9IGUP QC`STCUUGXCARPPWQGVa 'RF9QQ#TGCBTGAF4CGAF9TBV 0WUGADRTVFCARPPWQGVa 19VGRQ9IPWUGA9IUVaICU9QBQ9VGRQ9IAF9T9AVCTU 5RQEUDRTVFC$CTP9QARPPWQGVa 7RIHUVRQ 0WUGA9IST9AVGAC 4CGAF9TBViUURQEARIICAVGRQU "`S9QBGQEVFCQ9VGRQ9IAWIVWTCRDURQE )GCBCTECUCIIGECT#TCWBC"" )C6TRW@9BRWTGV9IGCQ5DT9Qc9GUCV9IICP9QB 5WPPGQEWS 0WUGADRTCBWA9VGRQ" 6FC@WTECRQGQEGQVCTCUVGQCBWA9VGRQ 4RWUUC9WhbPGICRWBCI9dBWA9VGRQ "BWA9VGRQ9QBVFC@RWTECRGUD9PGIa )C@CQ BCU @CTeFPVCQ 6RQHeQUVICTU %CGQTGAF 8GIFCIP $WIBCQ Q9AFFCT ECQ9QQV $WEIGCIPR"QTGAR#GRTGQR 8F9VGU9$CTP9QCBWA9VGRQ 0WUGA9U9QCBWA9VGRQ9IPC9QU 4CGAF9TBViUURQEUDRTAFGIBTCQ>CBWA9VGRQ 4CGAF9TBV? 9PSC )GCBCTDeT(GQBCT 8GCECQIGCBCTDeTEWVCBCWVUAFC0eVVCT 5WPPGQEWS RQAIWUGRQU 59PP9QD9VVQGQE" G@IGRET9SFa" 3TGP9TaURWTACU" 4CGAF9TBViUYRTHU" 2VFCTYRTHU" 5CARQB9TaURWTACU" 4CGAF9TBVUVWBGCU9QB@GRET9SFGCU" 2VFCTYRTHU"" A note on the citation of primary sources To the largest extent I have chosen to use the original sources, even when modern editions have been available. I have also chosen to retain the original spelling in all quotes. I have translated all quotes into English, and put the original in the footnote. Unless otherwise stated all translations are my own. All musical scores are my own transcriptions based on the original prints. Acknowledgements Over the many years it has taken to complete this study, a number of people have very graciously helped me improve it. For this I am most grateful. When I initiated the study at King’s College London, Matthew Head pointed me in the direction of Johann Friedrich Reichardt, and wisely would not let me settle for my first mediocre research questions; Michael Fend offered sage advice on the subject; at Stockholm University Owe Ander has always been supportive and seen the merits in the project, also his understanding of the historical political circumstances have been very helpful; Johanna Eth- nersson Pontara came onboard at just the right time and have contributed many resolute and practical suggestions; Hans-Günter Ottenberg took the time to see me and gave encouraging remarks and support. My colleagues at the De- partment of Culture and Aesthetics have always been positive and construc- tive in the ongoing discussions on my subject throughout the years; it has been particularly rewarding to share the doctoral situation with my fellow candi- dates Elif Balkir, Elin Hermansson, Berk Sirman, and last but not least Mad- eleine Modin, with whom I have been fortunate to share all that comes with this, from grading student papers to writing the dissertation. The Swedish-Finnish network for doctoral students in music research have been very valuable, giving much needed support on many occasions. A very special thank you to Tobias Lund who has read my work in its entirety, not once, but twice, giving very detailed and insightful advice, contributing immensly to the end result. Thanks also to Austin Glatthorn who has offered remarkable detatiled comments on the subject, as well as tried to help me improve my English. (I am afraid it still appears quite dated). For their kind financial support I would like to thank Helge Ax:son John- sons Stiftelse, Gertrud och Ivar Philipsons Stiftelse, Tobias Norlind-stiftelsen för musikforskning, and Kungl. Musikaliska akademien. I am most grateful to Stiftung Händel-Haus, and Jens Wehmann, for the kind permission to use their extensive Reichardt material. Last but not least I want to thank my family, who has had to endure so much during these years. Your support has been crucial; I could not have done this without you! Introduction Upheaval. No that is really taking it too far! Even the cantor leaves the organ, alas! and dabbles with the keys of the state. –Friedrich Schiller/Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, “Xenien”1 In 1796 Friedrich Schiller (1759–1805) and Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749–1832) set out on a literary campaign against critics and other objection- able persons. Their weapons of choice were Xenien: biting satirical elegiac distichs inspired by the ancient Roman poet Marcus Valerius Martialis. One of their main targets was the former Prussian court Kapellmeister Johann Frie- drich Reichardt (1752–1814), who had become an outspoken revolutionary political commentator. Of the 414 Xenien published by Schiller in his Musen- Almanach für das Jahr 1797, thirty-six were directed at Reichardt and his two journals Frankreich and Deutschland.2 The principal reason behind the attacks was Reichardt’s review of Schiller’s journal Die Horen.3 Reichardt had 1 ”Umwälzung. Nein das ist doch zu arg! Da läuft auch selbst noch der Cantor/Von der Orgel, und ach! pfuscht auf den Klaven des Staats.” Friedrich Schiller and Johann Wolfgang von Goe- the, “Xenien,” in Musen-Almanach für das Jahr 1797, ed. Friedrich Schiller (Tübingen: J.G. Cotta, 1796), 253. 2 See Frieder von Ammon, Ungastliche Gaben: Die »Xenien« Goethes und Schillers und ihre literarische Rezeption von 1796 bis in die Gegenwart (Berlin: Walter de Gruyter, 2005); Franz Schwarzbauer, Die Xenien (Stuttgart: Metzler, 1993); Eduard Boas, Schiller und Goethe im Xenienkampf (Stuttgart und Tübingen: Cotta, 1851–1854). For the relation to Reichardt specif- ically see Hans-Werner Engels “Es Begann in Neumühlen… Goethes Und Schillers Streitereien Mit Johann Friedrich Reichardt,“ in Frieden Für Das Welttheater, ed. Jörgen Bracker (Ham- burg: Museum für Hamburgesche Geschichte, 1982), 99–105; Volkmar Braunbehrens, Gab- riele Busch-Salmen, and Walter Salmen, J.F. Reichardt - J.W. Goethe Briefwechsel (Weimar: Böhlaus Nachfolger, 2002). See also: Samuel Paul Capen, Friedrich Schlegel’s Relations with Reichardt and His Contributions to ‘Deutschland’ (Philadelphia, 1903). 3 Johann Friedrich Reichardt, “Notiz von deutschen Journalen,“ Deutschland 1/4 (1796): 54– 88. infuriated Schiller, criticizing the journal’s dishonest declaration to remain distant from the ‘favourite subjects of the day’, when it nevertheless took an obvious stance against the French revolution. Schiller had little difficulty en- rolling Goethe in his attacks against the composer. Goethe’s willingness to join in the campain against Reichardt may, at first, seem a bit surprising. After all, Reichardt had been one of the earliest advo- cates of Goethe’s poetry, making it known to the public through his musical settings ever since the second volume of his Oden und Lieder (1780).4 More- over, the two had once enjoyed a fruitful working relationship. Corresponding since 1787, they began to work intensively together on Goethe’s Singspiele texts in 1789. This collaborative relationship deepened for a couple of years, but then cooled down markedly as a consequence of their political differences. Even if Reichardt may never have realised how deeply involved Goethe was in the attack against him, Goethe’s attitude towards Reichardt became strik- ingly reserved and reticent by the mid-1790.5 The epigraph above is an attack on Reichardt’s intellectual ambitions. No doubt, the step from Kapellmeister to revolutionary commentator is large, and it is in many ways a previously unheard-of ambition for the musician. That a musician would be suited for making political commentary seems like a pre- posterous idea according to the Xenia. Yet, what becomes clear when looking at Reichardt’s works is that the Weimar Dioscuri were grossly mistaken in their assumption that leaving the organ was betraying Reichardt’s intellectual arrogance. On the contrary, if anything his subversive ideas were projected in his music, more than in his writings. This was all the more significant, for his music took on a new role in society. Hence the Xenia’s implicit exhortation that Reichardt ought to return to the keyboard was basically misguided. Reich- ardt had the ambition to transform the musician’s role in society, in which the music they created was tantamount to a means to influence and alter the state, politically as well as culturally. Although deliberate attempts to raise the status of the musician can be found throughout the eighteenth century, the focus had been to improve the musician’s moral image.6 This strategy was consistent with the disreputable 4 Johann Friedrich Reichardt, Oden und Lieder von Göthe, Bürger, Sprickmann, Voß und Thomsen, mit Melodien beym Klavier zu singen (Berlin: Joachim Pauli, 1780). 5 Braunbehrens, Busch-Salmen, and Salmen. J.F. Reichardt - J.W. Goethe Briefwechsel. 6 In the hierarchy of professions listed by Hans Sachs and Jost Amman in the Ständebuch of 1568, musicians are ranked

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