Opera as Musicanalytical Subject (ca. 1750 to 1861)

Discussions in recent years within operatic studies have revolved around the establishment of a methodological approach that puts the experience of the performance itself in the centre. How did this shift in thought occur which judges the opera not solely on its stage presence but rather only on the musical score? Which premises determine this analytical access to operatic music? In order to better understand the historical relationships of this constellation, one must look to the 18th century: with the emergence of journals in the course of a discourse, embossed by the enlightenment, critics received an outstanding forum. Initially concentrating on librettos, in the middle of the century the music came into view within German-speaking operatic discourse. This change reflects the movements of philosophic- aesthetic discourse. Moreover, the medial dissemination of the operatic repertoire transformed, because up to this time the mainly handwritten transmitted repertoire had also circulated as printed scores. The goal of this project is to examine the formation of a music-analytical debate about operatic repertoire from around 1750 to 1861 within German-written reviews and their importance within music-specialist journals. In spite of the central place of the score- orientated analytical approach to opera in music history, a historical localisation of the musical operatic analysis has not been undertaken yet. At the end of the project there is a database available, containing the German-written critics of the 18th and of the main journals of the 19th century up to 1861 for further operatic reception research. In addition, a monograph (Habilitation) entitled Between stage and score Operas as music-analytical objects investigates the formation of a music-analytical orientated operatic criticism. The discourse-analytical study explores the relationships between music, philosophy, literature and economy, playing a substantial role in the score- based approach to operas. In addition, the reviewers can be seen as coordinates within a network determining the public opinion about operatic music of the time.

From the middle of the 18th century, articles relating to individual operas appeared in German-speaking journals, in which music journalists addressed the musical aspect of an opera. They commented on operatic music - sometimes with reference to musical examples - also in music-analytical terms. This is remarkable because musicological research until then generally only paid attention to journal articles relating to individual works from the 19th century; in the history of music analysis, paradigmatic reference is often made to E.T.A Hoffmann's review of Beethoven's 5th Symphony or to Robert Schumann's writings. This raises the question of why something became visible in relation to opera in the German-speaking world of the 18th century which was previously practised orally, specifically talking about the musical structure. The habilitation thesis examines these dimensions, i.e. the subjects and ways of thinking of an analytically music-oriented opera discourse in German music journalism of the 18th century. In addition, the network-like connections that supported and shaped the discourse are an issue. The study documents the connections between the discursive topics and upheavals within the opera reviews on one hand and the tendencies and developments in the field of aesthetics on the other. Furthermore, the debates fought against the background of literary criticism concerning the media bases of opera reviews between manuscript and print, score and various forms of piano reduction are the focus of the investigation. It can be shown that the evaluation categories for operas, such as "melody", "harmony" and "character", are in turn linked to aesthetic discussions. The example of Mozart also makes it clear how the opera discourse visible in the journals penetrates oral and written spaces alike. In summary, it can be said that opera criticism in German music journals is closely connected to the emerging discipline of aesthetics and the institutionalized paradigms and general practices of criticism. These viewpoints in opera criticism are also significant in the 19th century. Beyond the outlined habilitation work, the validity of the principles and paradigms of opera criticism developed in the 18th century could be further elucidated in individual articles as well as by collecting reviews from selected 19th-century journals in a database.