Schopenhauer Rossini and Musical Imitation of Concepts

Abstract

In Schopenhauer’s principal work, The World as Will and Representation, he names Gioachino Rossini as a composer whose music “speaks its own language”, because Rossini does not mold his music according to the lyrics and the events of the libretto. In this paper, I examine Schopenhauer’s criteria for genuine art music. I argue that not only do Schopenhauer and Rossini agree on music’s relation to lyrics, but they have a similar attitude toward imitative music. I will explain Schopenhauer’s thoughts on the unproductive concept in music and compare them with Rossini’s own thoughts. I analyze the thunderstorm movement from Rossini’s Il Barbiere Di Siviglia and argue that while it is imitative, it is not directly so and hence can be reconciled with Schopenhauer’s theory. I find that emotive content expressed through melody is critical for Schopenhauer’s account of the composition of genuine art music.