Hanslick´s "Vom Musikalisch-Schönen": Dynamic Features of the Text and Its Context

Our project Hanslicks Vom Musikalisch-Schönen: An Analysis of the Dynamic Features of the Text and Its Contexts investigates the historical genesis and subsequent development of Eduard Hanslicks aesthetic treatise Vom Musikalisch-Schönen (1854, VMS), which went through ten reworked editions in Hanslick`s lifetime. Even though Hanslicks treatise still forms and integral element of musicology and musical aesthetics in German-language and English-language discourse, the historical genesis of the text is not well understood. We want to remedy this situation on three levels. 1. We will carry out a textual analysis of the way in which specific arguments of Hanslicks journalistic articles prior to 1854 have been integrated into VMS, which general positions of his early thought shifted during these years, which aspects remained unchanged, and which notions carried over, but were reframed and were presented in notably different contexts. In this regard, three pre-published segments of Hanslicks book, printed by Oesterreichische Blätter für Literatur und Kunst in 18531854, which later became chapters 46 of the seven chapter treatise, are particularly important. 2. This textual re- search will allow for a plausible chronological reconstruction of the specific order in which these sev- en chapters were written, markedly differing from the published sequence of VMS. The supposed sequence 6, 4, 5, 1, 2, 3, 7 corresponds to the argumentative development of Hanslicks concepts and renders the logical structure of his book more transparent. Thus, we can demonstrate how certain cen- tral concepts of Hanslicks treatise, which have been heavily contested in scholarly literature, do not simply change their semantic meaning from edition to edition but also from chapter to chapter. 3. We will finally analyze the changes made in later editions of Hanslicks treatise, particularly the modified beginning of the first chapter and the deleted ending(s) of the last chapter. Thus, we will replace a static reading of Hanslicks aesthetics with a more dynamic conception of his ideas, thereby showing how the semantic meanings of central references, concepts, or notions constantly transform according to the currently prevalent perspective of Hanslicks outlook. This dynamic approach will also be ex- tended to relevant contexts that have shaped the initial genesis or the subsequent development of Hanslicks treatise: on the one hand textual influences on Hanslicks theories (philosophy, music theo- ry, science), on the other hand non-textual influences like Hanslicks academic career, the broader contexts of education, politics, and culture, or Hanslicks involvement with various official institu- tions, particularly Count Thuns ministry of education. This two-pronged dynamization of Hanslicks treatise will contribute to a more comprehensive understanding of his aesthetic classic. For even though Hanslicks theories are constantly reflected in modern musical literature, it is often missed how these dynamic aspects of text(s) and context decisively influence our reading of VMS.