Bunzel, Anja and Kubeckova, Barbora (2014) Vaclav Jan Tomasek (1774-1850): A Versatile Lieder Composer? A Comparative Analysis of Selected Goethe Settings by Carl Friedrich Zeiter, Vaclav Jan Tomasek and Johanna Kinkel. Musicologica Olomucensia, 20. pp. 15-36. ISSN 1212-1193
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Abstract
Carl Friedrich Zeiter (1758-1832), Vaclav Jan Tom(!sek (1774-1850) and Johanna Kinkel
(1810-1858) share at least two commonalities: firstly, they produced a great deal of vocal
music, particularly Lieder, so that their compositions influenced the development of the
nineteenth-century Lied in one way or the other. Secondly, all three composers set to
music Goethe's poems although their (personal) relationships to Goethe differed from
each other. Zeiter, a very close friend of Goethe's, paid extraordinary attention to the
poet's work and its musical potential which is recognisable by means of both the great
number of Goethe-Lieder produced by Zeiter and the rich musical discussions included
in Goethe and Zeiter's correspondence. Unlike Zeiter, Tomasek met Goethe ouly a few
times and his bequeathed correspondence with Goethe is fairly small. Although Goethe
praised Tomasek's settiogs of his poems on several occasions, Tomasek's Goethe-Lieder
are rather unknown. Johanna Kinkel never met Goethe in person; yet Goethe's poetry
takes a significant place within her Lieder CEuvre. Especially her early Lieder compositions,
which were published in 1838 and 1839 and which include four Goethe settiugs,
were received with great enthusiasm by the contemporary musical print media.
By means of comparative analysis, this article aims to shed light on a selection of
Zeiter's, Tomasek's and Kinkel's Goethe settings. As a transitional musical character between
the Classical and the Romantic periods, Vaclav Jan Tomasek applied compositional
features originating from both eras and his compositions thereby serve as a link between
the rather Classically-oriented composer Zeiter and Kinkel whose compositional style
reflects typical Romantic features. Using as an analytical basis the two Goethe-Lieder
An den Mond and Nachgefiihl, this article depicts differences and similarities between all
three composers' compositional styles as well as between the two Lieder of each individual
composer. The aim of this article is to place Tomasek's compositional versatility within
its own context and, as a result, to suggest possible directions for future examinations of
Tomasek's (and other composers') (Goethe )-Lieder.
Item Type: | Article |
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Keywords: | Nineteenth Century; lied; J. W. Goethe; J. V. Tomasek; comparative analysis; |
Academic Unit: | Faculty of Arts,Celtic Studies and Philosophy > Music |
Item ID: | 9074 |
Depositing User: | Anja Bunzel |
Date Deposited: | 08 Dec 2017 12:29 |
Journal or Publication Title: | Musicologica Olomucensia |
Publisher: | Palacký University Olomouc |
Refereed: | Yes |
Related URLs: | |
URI: | https://mural.maynoothuniversity.ie/id/eprint/9074 |
Use Licence: | This item is available under a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial Share Alike Licence (CC BY-NC-SA). Details of this licence are available here |
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