Music in Painting [antikvár]

Introduction Whenever we hear about the connection between music and painting, we immediately recall those intriguing musical instruments so often admired in the pictures of the old masters. As illustrations in works dealing with the history of music or the development of instruments, these pictures teli about the forgottén musical instruments and customs of the past, supplementing our knowledge based on written data or museum objects. Thus, art history is an important auxiliary science to the research of music history. There may be occasion, however, when the art histórián needs accurate information from the field of music history: for example, when the date of a certain picture can be determined by the objects, perhaps instruments, it depicts. Aside from such practical relationships, there are more meaningful ties between the two fields. It is well known that many great musical compositions have been inspired by a work of art. Hindemith's opera and symphony Mathis the Painter reflect the life and creativity of Mathis Grünewald. Another well-known example is Modest Mussorgsky's piano cycle Pictures at an Exhibition. Conversely, a number of paintings have been inspired by a piece of music or by the spirit of a composer, but we should not limit ourselves to these. Each of the arts, using its own specific métier and implements, wants to communicate something in a sensorially comprehensible manner; it seeks to arouse feelings and provoke thoughts. Just as each artistic creation has in common with other certain basic components such as structure, rhythm, proportion, harmony, etc., from time to time each form of art approaches the other in its method of realizing its artistic aims. There are, for example, "picturesque" style periods in the history of music. (In their works, the nineteenth-century Romantics, evoking pictures and picture cycles, occasionally employ the methods of fine arts.) On the other hand, modern painters tried to realize the creative principles of music in their works, proclaiming the principle of "pure painting", which is relieved of the burden of pictorial depiction. (Kandinsky held forth at length on the sound of coiours, and the artistic trend of Orphism aimed specifically at achieving an effect similar to the musical experience.) These theoretical connections are mentioned only in order to outline the aim of this book more accurately. Within these pages it would be impossible to analyse the multivarious problems in detail, whether from the point of view of music history, aesthetics, artistic theory or the philosophy of art. In this volume we will analyse from a specific viewpoint of art history approximately fifty European paintings containing musical objects. If we approach the interrelationship between music and painting through art history, one of our primary questions is: What were the motive and content of the painters who depicted in dif-