Poesie Der Musik: Zur Intermedialität in Robert Schumanns Frühen Schriften

Abstract

Poetry and music. On the intermediality in the early writings of Robert Schumann. Robert Schumann, son of a bookseller, showed an early interest in composing as well as literature. In his first poems ("Prolog"), diaries, autobiographical writings ("Meine Biographie…") and essays ("Juniusabende und Julytage", "Die Tonwelt", "Das Leben des Dichters") Schumann reflects on the role of literature and music and their influence on a creative human being. According to Schumann, literature and music are equivalents, expressed through different semantical systems. Thus, a perfect literary work or composition includes both elements: the abstract language of music and the visible handcraft of literature. This blending of a literary idea with its musical illustration may be clearly seen in Schumann's vocal music, especially in the song cycles (such as "Liederkreis", op. 24), presenting the relations between the singer and the piano, suggesting a 'split self' and the presence of the 'Other'. The coherent and organic whole, the fusion of poetry and music is Schumann's aesthetic ideal for his late essays and compositions.