On Friday, December 10 the Department of Music at NYU sponsored a colloquium, Music, Language, Thought. The first presentation of the afternoon interested me the most. Myles Jackson, a professor in NYU's Department of History, talked on the topic "The Role of Physicists Measuring and Defining Nineteenth-Century Aesthetics."
In a period seemingly defined by subjectivity in composition and performance I was interested to hear how science, with its emphasis on objectivity and quantifiability, had an impact on 19th-century music. At the outset, Prof. Jackson noted that he would be considering three broad ideas in his presentation: The role of physicists in the mechanics of musical instrument design, the role of physicists in quantifying and standardizing musical pitch, and the role of physicists in the scientific assessment of virtuosity in performance. These are all topics explored great depth in his book Harmonious Triads
According to Jackson, the interest of scientists (and physicians) in music was prompted in part by a political agenda. While France and Great Britain were large, unified countries, Germany was not a country but a collection of independent duchies and principalities. Music, especially singing, came to be viewed as a powerful force for unifying the hearts and minds of Germans, which would then lead to better communication, economic development and scientific advance. Jackson cited an oft-used phrase: "Germans that sing together stay together." Scientists and physicians were actually very prominent in singing groups and singing became an important element in many of their meetings. Such gatherings encouraged them to take a scientific interest in music and not to view it as merely a pleasant social activity. Jackson also used these introductory remarks to introduce some major players such as Alexander von Helmholtz and Felix Mendelssohn, whose Festkantata was commissioned for an important scientific meeting.
Jackson then moved on to a discussion of the fascinating topic of musical automatons. These could range from such instruments as musical clocks (for which Haydn and Mozart composed music) to automatic performers who could replicate with precision musical works. He mentioned a work composed by Carl Maria von Weber that features both a "real" trumpeter and a robot trumpeter. I often mentioned to my classes that during the nineteenth century composers became increasingly insistent on marking interpretive aspects of their scores in great detail. This tendency began with Beethoven (and I used portions of Beethoven's early and late piano sonatas to illustrate the point). This factor points both to the greater subjectivity of the music and to a desire on the part of the composer to have his/her musical intent followed precisely and not left to the performer's discretion. The most important creator of such mechanical instruments and performers was Friedrich Kaufmann of Dresden. One might recall that Dresden was the home of "Dresden doll" making. Jackson also briefly contrasted the views on automatic musical performance of Goethe and E.T.A. Hoffmann, whose writings Der Sandmann and Die Automate featured automata. There was great interest in recreating not only the mechanical side of performance but the interpretive side as well, with intuitive aspects of performance considered from a scientific and quantifiable perspective.
Jackson's discussion then moved on to the subject of pitch and the determination of concert pitch. Most musicians know that A440 is usually considered concert pitch even if they don't know exactly what that number refers to. The standardization of pitch did and DOES cause lots of rancor among musicians. In the nineteenth century, instrumentalists often desired to raise the standard pitch. Expanding orchestras and expanding concert halls benefited from higher, more brilliant pitches. Singers, however, decried the upward-moving pitch standard as it made singing in upper registers much more taxing. Nationalism played a role as the Germans tended to prefer the higher pitch standard whereas the French preferred a lower standard. Jackson cited numerous scientists, instrument makers and musicians who entered the fray. There was even debate concerning the shape and material makeup of tuning forks.
Some physicists took an interest in discovering the secrets to musical tone production. It was deemed easier to explore this topic with pianos than with stringed instruments such as violins. Jackson cited a number of different experiments designed to quantify tone production.
A discussion of tone production naturally led to a discussion of performers. In the short amount of time he had left for his talk, he briefly discussed Liszt and Paganini. He said little about Liszt but did comment that Paganini welcomed the challenge of the automata in playing faster, cleaner and more accurately. He liked the competition as there was apparently no one for him to compete with (or against!).
Thus, in an era noted for its subjectivity, emphasis on emotion, and personal expression, science weighed in heavily, not only with regard to the mechanical and material side of music, but also to the less tangible and aesthetic side as well. Myles Jackson's talk inspired me to get a copy of his book and to explore this area myself.
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