Hermeneutics decodes the message of a work rather than describing its outward form. The general hermeneutics of Friedrich Schleiermacher (1768-1834) is highly suggestive for music, and hermeneutic prescriptions by Rochlitz (1798), Nägeli (1802), Brendel (1845), and Kretzschmar (1903-07) provide a framework for interpretive music analysis in the 19th c. Elucidatory analysis aims to reveal the content or substance of music. Newly translated analyses by Berlioz, Wagner, Lenz, Elterlein, Spitta, Wolzogen, and Kretzschmar exemplify the category. The operation of the hermeneutic circle shuttles between the whole and part, objective and subjective, to yield the music’s message. Analyses by Momigny, Hoffmann, Schumann, Basevi, Marx, and Helm are used.
Robert Schumann’s Aus meinen Tränen sprießen from Dichterliebe: Various Analytical Approaches
Source(s) of analysis: Score Musical work: Aus meinen Tränen sprieße / Dichterliebe Op. 48 Year of creation: 1840 Composer's name: Robert Schumann Methods of analysis: Computational analysis, Formal analysis, Rhetoric analysis, Schenkerian analysis, Semiotic analysis, Structural analysis
Target Group / Study LevelLevel of music analysis knowledge: Advanced
Study cycle: PhD and professional
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