Music, Medicine, and Psychiatry in Vienna (c. 1780 - c. 1850)

The aim of the project is to provide the hitherto missing historical description, contextualization, and analysis of the use of music in medicine and in psychiatric institutions of the late 18th and the first half of the 19th century in Vienna. Embedded in the broader international context (above all psychiatric reforms in France, Germany, and England) and the national context (psychiatric institutions of the Habsburg Empire/Austrian Empire) the study focuses on two Viennese institutions in particular (k. k. Irren-Antstalt, Privat-Heilanstalt für Gemüthskranke Dr. Goergen), which to date have not been investigated from a music-historical perspective. (In addition to primary literature, the underlying body of historical source material of this project will be enhanced by archival research, such as in the Wiener Stadt- und Landesarchiv and the Josephinum.) The project will offer a synopsis of the cultural, socio-political, medical, and psychiatric conditions in Viennese history which influenced therapeutic ideas on the use of music at that time (c. 1780 c. 1850): The ideals of neohumanism (e.g. humanity, moral education, Bildung in the sense of studia humanitatis) and of Enlightenment (e.g. respect for the individual, freedom, and equality), reforms of Joseph II, the emergence of modern psychiatry, theories on mental illness (somatic/brain anatomical as well as psychic concepts of mental illness), theories of musics effects on the body/nerves and on the soul/Gemüth, reflected both in the medical and music-aesthetic discourse, etc. In this context, the 18th and 19th century physical and musical concepts of Resonanz, meaning both acoustic resonance and response (inner movement), Stimmung, meaning both tune and mood, and Sympathie, meaning both resonance and affection, will be examined in detail. Additionally, the project which is especially obliged to the discipline of Historical Musicology will consider the musical aesthetics discourse of this period. The project will fill both a historical and a trans-disiplinary gap in scholarship and can be seen as the first part of the history of Viennese Music Therapy (c. 1780 c. 1850) before its modern beginnings in 1958. A follow-on project concerning the second half of the 19th century to 1938 is planned. Hence, this project will form the foundation for future historical research. Furthermore, the study is also relevant to 18th and 19th century Austrian studies and its intellectual history including the history of musicology, psychiatry and medicine. The expected results, which will be published in articles and in the form of a book, will be essential for any further historical investigation on Viennese Music Therapy in particular, and the history of Western music therapy in general. In an exchange with international and national cooperation partners the project intends to initiate a dialog between the disciplines of Historical Musicology, history of medicine and psychiatry, and music therapy.

The goal of the project Music, Medicine, and Psychiatry in Vienna (c. 17801850) was to provide the missing historical description and contextualization as well as analysis of the use of music in medicine and in Viennese psychiatric institutions of the late 18th and the first half of the 19th century. For that purpose I have conducted extensive research in Viennese archives (clinical records, clinic reports, site plans, land register maps, pictures, etc.) and evaluated more than 700 primary sources (contemporary books, articles in journals, newspaper reports, etc.) as well as secondary literature written on the topic. In my project I focused on three Viennese psychiatric institutions in particular, the k. k. Irren- Anstalt (Imperial and Royal Lunatic Asylum), the Privat-Heilanstalt für Gemüthskranke (Private Sanatorium in Vienna for Those With Gemüth Illness), and the k. k. Irrenanstalt am Bründlfeld (Imperial and Royal Lunatic Asylum at Bründlfeld), where music was integrated into clinical practice. In this context I highlighted the groundbreaking work of Bruno Goergen (17771842), who deliberately incorporated music into Viennese psychiatric institutions based on his dedication to the ideals of moral treatment and no-restraint psychiatry. With the establishment of (private) institutions specifically designated for the mentally ill, the power of music was tested in the emerging field of clinical psychiatric practice. These newly created mental institutions provided suitable conditions for the clinical observation of a larger group of patients. My investigation has shown that in Viennese psychiatry of the first half of the 19th century, music as a therapeutic aid was not seen as a form of self-expression of the patients emotions, but was primarily considered as a means of occupation, distraction (e.g. from fixed ideas), or of education (in the form of music lessons) and entertainment (by means of asylum concerts and chamber music), especially for patients suffering from a disorder known as Gemüthskrankheit, or illness of the Gemüth. Basically, the empirical evidence gained through daily psychiatry dispelled the myth of a universal healing music. Unlike previous fundamental beliefs in musics compelling (affective or mechanical) impact on the human body and soul, the historical source material revealed that 19th-century clinical insights began to further an increasing awareness by the physician of the patients individual perception of music based on their actual mood and disposition, musical preferences, listening habits, etc. These new insights were also reflected in early Viennese medical dissertations on music of the 19th century, which already give recommendations and instructions for the application of music therapy. Essentially, a paradigm shift from passive listening to actively playing music is recognizable during the first half of the 19th century, a tendency reinforced by the fact that patients who could afford a private clinic (such as the Privat-Heilanstalt für Gemüthskranke) were generally well educated in music. Overall, the results of this project have already been presented within 13 international conferences and guest lectures and 5 peer reviewed articles. Furthermore, I co-organized an international conference on Music, medicine, and emotions and prepared a monograph on the project.