SPIRITUAL MUSIC BY E. T. A. HOFFMANN: DIALECTICS OF CANONICAL ASCETICISM AND ROMANTIC PERCEPTION

Abstract

The article is devoted to E. T. A. Hoffmann, an outstanding music critic and composer of the early Romantic period. It examines the origins of Hoffmann’s musical education, which he received in Konigsberg. The development of musical art in Konigsberg was influenced by its history as the center of the Teutonic Order’s state. In this story, the participation of European knights who arrived in Konigsberg by sea played a significant role in the events of the Baltic region, as well as the unique religious life and the rapid conversion of all its inhabitants from Catholicism to Lutheranism. The article draws attention to the Cathedral’s special role as the center of the city’s musical life. Hoffmann’s education at the Castle School and his musical training, including at the Cathedral and the University of Konigsberg, which owned the cathedral, played a crucial role in shaping his religious beliefs and his understanding of the essence of church music, as well as the relationship between the text of a piece of music and the musical expressive means used. The article analyzes Hoffmann’s aesthetic position on church music, as expressed in his essay “Church Music, Old and New” (Alte und neue Kirchenmusik, 1814) and other literary and artistic works, and examines its implementation in his own musical compositions of sacred genres. The article substantiates the claim that E. T. A. Hoffmann’s “Miserere in B-flat minor for soloists, choir, and orchestra” is an important chapter in the history of European church music. The article also presents a story about Hoffmann’s activities in Poznan, which has been passed down orally from generation to generation.