9 - Constructing a Musical Nation: German-Language Criticism in the Nineteenth Century

Summary

In 1799 Friedrich Rochlitz, founding editor of the Leipzig-based Allgemeine musikalische Zeitung, wrote about the importance of music for the development of the German nation. It was a political statement at a time when German-speaking lands were not yet unified but a loose confederations of states. By aligning music with Germanness, and with history, Rochlitz and subsequent critics also elevated the art form from being considered mere entertainment to being treated as a meaningful discourse that could stand alongside literature and philosophy. Importantly, it was the way in which music was written about, as much as the exceptional achievements of individual musicians, which enabled the view that music was ‘the most German of the arts’.