Original scientific paper

Modernist Composers and the Concept of Genius

Anna G. Piotrowska orcid.org/0000-0003-1510-8682 ; Institute of Musicology, Jagiellonian University, Krakow, Poland

Abstract

It can be claimed that Modernist composers in some respects inherited the 19th century concept of an artist-creator whose ability to conceive a work of art was considered as an almost godlike power. The cultivation of the genius idea as viewed in this article will be understood as a concept that originated in the late 18th century, blossomed in the 19th century and had an enormous impact on how the role of the composer was perceived by composers of the age of Modernism, who - as already mentioned - partly inherited this way of thinking. I will argue that although early 20th century composers tried to distance themselves from the whole 19th century idea of composer-genius, they were unable to cut off completely the influence of the notion. What is more, the tradition of super individuals who did not subordinate themselves to the criteria of style - the musicological approach popularised by one of the founding fathers of the discipline, Guido Adler in his 1911 book Der Still in der Musik - stuck with most Modernist composers, who probably even unintentionally followed that track.

Keywords

Modernism; composers; concept of genius

Hrčak ID:

87716

URI

https://hrcak.srce.hr/87716

Publication date:

31.8.2007.

Article data in other languages: croatian

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