Das abgelehnte Genie‘ – Betrachtungen zur Kritik an der musikalischen Genieästhetik im 20. Jahrhundert

• Published in: International review of the aesthetics and sociology of music 2013-06, Vol.44 (1), p.79-99
• Main Author: Oh, Hee Sook
• Format: Article
• Language: eng ; ger
• Subjects: 18th century; Aesthetics; Critical Theory; Intelligence; Music Criticism; Research Papers - Izvorni znanstveni članci; Stereotypes
• ISSN: 0351-5796; 1848-6924

Der Begriff, Genie', der ein Gegenstand der Verehrung gewesen war, wurde im 20. Jh. zu einem Gegenstand der Kritik. Warum wurde das ‚Genie‘ in seiner Bedeutung abgeschwächt? Ausgehend von dieser Frage wird in diesem Beitrag versucht, den Grund dafür im Bereich der Musik herauszufinden, und zwar aus philosophischen, musikalischen, postmodern-ästhetischen und soziologischen Perspektiven. Dadurch sollen die musikalischen Genies in einem neuen Blickwinkel reflektiert werden und soll darüber hinaus über das musikalische Genie-Bild des heutigen Zeitalters nachgedacht werden. 'Artist as a genius' is a product of the post-Renaissance era and a concept that has emerged during the shift of the paradigm of thinking from 'Deus-centrism' to 'Humancentrism.' This notion has further brought about the reevaluation of the inner originality of the human being. The late 18th century was called the era of 'Sturm und Drang' or otherwise known as 'the era of genius'. During this time, the concept of a genius was widespread and the originality and great personal property of an artist was highly respected. As a genre in the arts, music was intimately related to the notion of 'genius'. After Mozart and Beethoven became widely accepted as the stereotype of a genius, the romanticism period of 19th century saw many composers and players being worshiped as a 'genius'. Eventually, this era became the axial age for the musical genius. However, the beginning of the 20th century brought about powerful and multi-dimensional criticism of the concept of 'musical genius', causing the subject to change from an object of worship to that of an object of criticism. Why did this kind of change happen? In this article, the reason for this criticism that emerged in the 20th century in relation to philosophical, post-modern aesthetic, inner-musical, and sociological factors will be expounded. According to Th. W. Adorno and H. Gadamer, the altered image of genius emerges from the historical and sociological views of society that denies the interpretation of art through individuality. The objective and rational methodology of scholarship criticized 'fiction' and 'exaggeration', and dispassionately studied the process of musical creation. Furthermore, modern music, far from Western traditional music, forces the extrication of itself from the romantic artistic sentiment that had originally brought the views of this postmodern era, questioning the concept of heavily valued 'originality'. All these process