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Addison Perkins
Romantic Period Music
Dr. Davis
10/01/2018

In Response To; The Remarkable Musical Life of the Musician Joseph Berglinger.

Wilhelm Heinrich Wackenroder has provided the modern musician with an intimate insight

to how music was viewed and discussed during the Romantic Period with his short story The

Remarkable Musical Life of the Musician Joseph Berglinger. In order to better understand this work, and it’s

significances to today’s musician, this paper will perform an in-depth analysis of the short story by

examining Wackenroder use of romantic irony and how a better understanding of his usage can

contribute to understanding the work as a whole. The irony that Joseph Berglinger spent his whole

life striving to move others with his compositions becomes apparent when the narrator suggests that

Berglinger was meant to be moved by music, rather than move others. Understanding this irony, and

how it shapes the tone and structure of the story, is crucial to any reader who wishes to understand

the work as a whole, thus gaining the insight to romantic thought that Wackenroder has provided.

The analysis will begin with an examination of the story’s protagonist and how he himself

demonstrates Romanticism as the typical, misunderstood Romantic hero, which will show

Wackenroder’s use of romantic irony by way of our protagonist misunderstanding himself. Next this

analysis will examine how music itself is discussed in the story. Here Wackenroder’s use of irony in

shown by the contrast of Berglinger’s interpretation of his reaction to music verses what his reaction

truly signifies. Finally this paper will discuss the story’s use of religion, what role it plays in

Berglinger’s life, and how that role becomes and ironic twist towards the end of the story. This

paper will not only demonstrate how Wackenroder’s use of romantic irony, but will also show his

efforts to enhance the works overall impact by weaving that irony into his treatment of the
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protagonist as a Romantic Hero, the portrayal of the music itself and the ironic role religion plays in

Berglinger’s life, to provide insight to the romantic thought that Wackenroder was provided in this

work. These observations will demonstrate the significances of this story to the modern musician

wishing to better understand this period in musical history.

Wackenroder has created a prime example of both the Romantic Hero and romantic irony

with his protagonist Joseph Berglinger. The archetypal Romantic Hero is, usually, an artist who

labors through some great struggle, inner torture or is misunderstood by those around them, yet still

places art above all else. See Beethoven battling the oncoming silence, now Mahler’s loss of his

young daughter. Berglinger fits into this mold because he is misunderstood and dismissed by his

abusive father, who wants him to become a doctor. Throughout the story Wackenroder mentions

several times that Berglingers father thought of him as foolish or lacking purpose, and that his life

would be better spent as doctor who can actually help people. This struggle continues as he tries to

accommodate his father’s wishes, all the while harboring his inner desire to create music. Berglinger,

as any Romantic Hero, ultimately stays his course and pursues a life in music, though his struggle

continues into his life as a Capellmeister.

When Berglinger was younger he assumed audience, performers and composers alike were as

moved by music as he was. He soon found this to be untrue and faced serious hardships in the wake

of this discovery. It is here we see him in the light of the tortured composer, misunderstood by his

audience, writing music he felt was machinal or heartless. One can almost see him, brow furrowed at

the piano, tortured by the music he must write and the music he longs to write-visions of Mahler

grieving the disapproval of his First Symphony. It was this obsession, Wackenroder writes, that

drove Berglinger to an early grave. His longing to create music that moved others as he was moved

as a child. “Alas, his lofty fantasy was what destroyed him. Shall I say that he was perhaps created
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rather to enjoy art than to practice it?” (Strunk p. 29). Here we find the ultimate irony in our

protagonist, the irony being his father was right, his life would have been better served as doctor.

Joseph Berglinger spent his entire life striving to move others with the beauty and power of music,

though it was not his calling to do so. He was created, as so many other, to be moved by the art he

so loved.

Wackenroder’s approach to music in this story is an interesting one. There is no mention of

specific notes and little mention of musical forms. In fact there is very little description of the music

at all, yet the reader can still almost hear the music that so moved Berglinger. Avoiding technical

musical terms allows the music to be vague in the readers mind so they may imagine the sounds for

themselves. It also means the description of the music relies heavily on the emotional reaction of

Berglinger, as he is the protagonist and the one whom the music is affecting. Berglinger’s

relationship to music is wholly romantic, from the way he listens to music, to the type of music he’s

drawn to and finally the ironic role of music in his life. Wackenrodetr paints a powerful image of

Berglinger listening to music as a child, head bowed, eyes closed taking in every note of every

instrument and voice, even on his knees at times. Shutting out as many distractions as possible was a

popular listening style in the Romantic period, to give yourself entirely to the music and remove

yourself from the outside world. Berglinger was drawn to instrumental and sacred music, so there

was no staging for him to miss by closing his eyes.

The lack of visual distractions was not the only reason these genres were popular in his time

period. Both subjects dealt with the eternal. Sacred music because of the idea that the Christian God

is eternal, as we will see below. Instrumental music was seen as eternal for a different, more vague

reason. During the Romantic period instrumental music gained popularity because, by its very

nature, it is ambiguous. When a vocalist sings an aria or art song, the audience is told exactly what is
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happening and what the emotional response is-this was seen as a limitation on vocal music.

Instrumental music was thought of as more eternal precisely because it’s vague and the subject was

not laid out neatly in text. The beauty is in the ambiguity, as Wackenroder states “a wondrous gift of

music, the art of which it may be said in general that the more dark and mysterious its language, the

greater its power to affect us” (Strunk, p. 22). Because Berglinger felt such a powerful emotional

reaction to music he felt it was his calling to become a composer, so that he might move other in the

same way. Though Berglinger misunderstood his reaction to that “dark and mysterious language”

and followed his path to a bitter end which, ironically, could have been avoided if he had spent his

life as an audience member rather than a composer. But like many musicians, Berglinger was swept

away by the instrumental and sacred music he heard as a child.

Wackenroder’s use of religion continues along the thread of romantic irony. As mentioned

before religion was highly respected by many of the romantic artists because it dealt with the idea of

the eternal, so it is no surprise that it plays are large part in the life of our protagonist Joseph

Berglinger. The Christian God represents the eternal constant-existing infinitely in the past, giving

life to all creation, and existing infinitely after time has run out. By following this line of thought

artists in the Romantic period thought of sacred music as eternal as well, because its subject matter

was the very embodiment of eternity. Many Romantics believed that music, and art at large, should

be edifying more so than entertaining, and to a devout Christian, what music could possible more

edifying than that which was written to praise the Great I Am? Wackenroder describes scene after

scene in which Berglinger is transported by the beauty of sacred music, again and again Berglinger

states that it is his purpose in life to compose this edifying music. It is this music that leads

Berglinger to his early grave as Capellmeister, trying to compose sacred music that would move his

audience the way he was moved by the same genre as a child. Ironically, the same music that gave

him life as a child, took it from him as an adult.

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Sacred music is not the only aspect of religion which Wackenroder uses to convey romantic

irony. The Easter holiday also plays a part in Berglingers ironic relationship with religion. Easter is

the time when Christians celebrate the resurrection of Jesus. It is also largely connected to the

beginning of Spring-a time of beginning and new life. Wackenroder uses this holiday as a subtle yet

undeniable source of romantic irony. In part one of the story Berglinger decides he must leave his

family in order to pursue his perceived destiny as a composer. The Easter holiday is nearing and he

decides to celebrate with his family one last time before setting out into the world, with no intention

of returning. In part two of the story, years later, Berglinger is writing Passion music for another

upcoming Easter while grieving the loss of his father. Through his grief he writes some of the

greatest music of his life. In this way Wackenroder uses the Easter holiday, a time of beginning and

new life, as a time of endings and death-the end of Berglingers time with family, the end of his

musical career and the death of his father.

By studying Wilhelm Heinrich Wackenroder’s short story The Remarkable Musical Life of the

Musician Joseph Berglinger the modern musician may gain an intimate insight to the mind of the

Romantic Period artist. Wackenroders use of romantic irony is weaved throughout the story and is

crucial for any reader wishing to understand the inner complexities of the work. This irony is found

in the Romantic Hero Joseph Berglinger, who believes himself misunderstood by his father and

tortured by his desire to write moving music, though his true calling was to appreciate music. It is

also found in how Wackenroder portrays music as the dark and mysterious, eternal art that

Berglinger feels he must contribute too, when in reality it is eternally out of his grasp. Finally

romantic irony may be found in Wackenroder’s use of religion in Berglinger’s drive to write edifying

sacred music and the theme of Easter being used as time of end and death rather than a time of

beginning and new life. Through this carefully controlled use of romantic irony Wackenroder has

provided the modern reader with a glimpse into how the Romantics viewed art, thus placing this
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work among some of the most important pieces of literature of the era and making it an important

source material for any musician seeking to understand the artistic minds of the Romantic Period.
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Bibliography

Strunk, W. Oliver, Leo Treitler, Thomas J. Mathiesen, James W. McKinnon, Gary Tomlinson,

Margaret Murata, Wye Jamison. Allanbrook, Ruth A. Solie, and Robert P. Morgan. Source Readings

in Music History. New York: Norton, 1998.