Song Loves the Masses: Herder on Music and Nationalism

by Johann Gottfried Herder, Philip V. Bohlman, Philip V. Bohlman (Translator)

Overview

Distinguished ethnomusicologist Philip V. Bohlman compiles Johann Gottfried Herder’s writings on music and nationalism, from his early volumes of Volkslieder through sacred song to the essays on aesthetics late in his life, shaping them as the book on music that Herder would have written had he gathered the many strands of his musical thought into a single publication. Framed by analytical chapters and extensive introductions to each translation, this book interprets Herder’s musings on music to think through several major questions: What meaning did religion and religious thought have for Herder? Why do the nation and nationalism acquire musical dimensions at the confluence of aesthetics and religious thought? How did his aesthetic and musical thought come to transform the way Herder understood music and nationalism and their presence in global history? Bohlman uses the mode of translation to explore Herder’s own interpretive practice as a translator of languages and cultures, providing today’s readers with an elegantly narrated and exceptionally curated collection of essays on music by two major intellectuals.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780520234956
Publisher:	University of California Press
Publication date:	01/31/2017
Edition description:	First Edition
Pages:	336
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

Johann Gottfried Herder (1744–1803) was a theologian, philosopher, ethnographer, and historian of the late Enlightenment, whose writings on music have been widely influential during the two centuries since his death.

Philip V. Bohlman is Ludwig Rosenberger Distinguished Service Professor of Music and the Humanities at the University of Chicago, where he is also Artistic Director of the ensemble-in-residence, The New Budapest Orpheum Society.
 

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations ix

Acknowledgments xi

Note on the Text xiv

Note on Translation and Commentary xvii

Prologue: Again, Herder 1

Part I The Ontology Project 19

1 Folk Song at the Beginnings of National History: Essay on Alte Volkslieder (1774) 21

Translation from Alte Volkslieder / Ancient Folk Songs 26

2 The Folk Song Project at the Confluence of Music and Nationalism: Essay on Volkslieder (1778/79) and Stimmen der Völker in Liedern (1807) 44

Translation from Volkslieder and Stimmen der Völker in Liedern / Folk Songs and Voices of the People in Song 50

Appendix A Introduction to the Folk Song Texts 71

Appendix B Translation from the Folk Song Texts 74

3 Singing the Sacred Body: Essay on Lieder der Liebe (1778) 105

Translation from Lieder der Liebe: Die ältesten und schönsten aus Morgenlande / Songs of Love: The Oldest and Most Beautiful from the Orient 111

Part II The History Project 133

4 The Nation and Its Fragments: Essay on "Briefwechsel über Ossian und die Lieder alter Völker" (1773) 135

Translation from "Briefwechsel über Ossian und die Lieder alter Völker" / "Correspondence about Ossian and the Songs of Ancient Peoples" 140

5 Songs of the Enlightenment Bard: Essay on "Homer und Ossian" (1794) 168

Translation of "Homer und Ossian" / "Homer and Ossian" 172

6 Redemption through Sacred Song: Essay on Letter 46, Theologische Schriften (1780/81) 186

Translation of Letter 46, Theologische Schriften / Theological Writings 190

Part III The Nation Project 199

7 The Shores of Modernity: Essay on "Wirkung der Dichtkunst auf die Sitten neuerer Zeiten" (1777) 201

Translation from "Wirkung der Dichtkunst auf die Sitten neuerer Zeiten" / "The Influence of Poetry on the Customs of Modernity" 205

8 The Epic as Nation: Essay on Herder's Der Cid 221

Translation from Der Cid / The Cid 228

9 Music Transcendent and Sublime: Herder's "Von Music" (1800) 246

Translation of "Von Musik" / "On Music" 249

Epilogue: Herder's Journey 261

Notes 285

Bibliography 289

Index 307