33rd Annual Student Research Conference
Transcendentalism in Beethoven’s Works from the Writings of J.S. Dwight
Karmin Mazzocchi♦
Dr. Jesse D. Krebs, Faculty Mentor
John Sullivan Dwight (1813-1893) was America’s first music critic whose writings had a monumental impact on musical culture of the current society. Dwight’s views and writings were crucial to bringing music to the forefront of art in America. Heavily influenced by his involvement in the Transcendentalist movement, his first mainstream critical review piece discussed in great depths the second and fifth symphonies of Beethoven that had been recently performed in Boston. Dwight used Beethoven’s symphonies to explore the ethical and moral analysis that could be found in great music, along with the genius behind the technical compositional aspects. My research aims to explore the parallels that Dwight found between Beethoven's music and the Transcendental movement's philosophies, leading its members to adopt Beethoven as their ideal musical representative.
Keywords: Beethoven, transcendental, John Sullivan Dwight, Romantic, music, philosophy
Topic(s):History
Music
Philosophy & Religion
Presentation Type: Oral Presentation
Session: TBA
Location: TBA
Time: TBA