Table Of ContentSong Loves the Masses
Herder on Music and Nationalism
johann gottfried herder
and philip v. bohlman
University of California Press
Song Loves the Masses
The publisher gratefully acknowledges the John Daverio
Endowment of the American Musicological Society, funded in
part by the National Endowment for the Humanities and the
Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.
The publisher also gratefully acknowledges the generous
support of the Music in America Endowment Fund of the
University of California Press Foundation, which was
established by a major gift from Sukey and Gil Garcetti,
Michael P. Roth, and the Roth Family Foundation.
Song Loves the Masses
Herder on Music and Nationalism
johann gottfried herder
and philip v. bohlman
University of California Press
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University of California Press
Oakland, California
© 2017 by The Regents of the University of California
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Herder, Johann Gottfried, 1744-1803, author. | Bohlman, Philip
V ., 1952- editor, translator, writer of added commentary. | Container
of (expression): Herder, Johann Gottfried, 1744-1803. Alte Volkslieder.
English.
Title: Song loves the masses : Herder on music and nationalism / Johann
G ottfried Herder and Philip V. Bohlman.
Description: Oakland, California : University of California Press, [2017] |
I ncludes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: lccn 2016026829 (print) | lccn 2016032212 (ebook) |
isbn 9780520234949 (cloth : alk. paper) | isbn 0520234944 (cloth : alk.
paper) | isbn 9780520234956 (pbk. : alk. paper) | isbn 0520234952
(pbk. : alk. paper) | isbn 9780520966444 (ebook)
Subjects: lcsh: Folk songs—History and criticism. | Nationalism in
m usic. | National characteristics. | Herder, Johann Gottfried,
1744-1803—Criticism and interpretation.
Classification: lcc ml3545 .h47 2017 (print) | lcc ml3545 (ebook) |
ddc 781.5/99—dc23
lc record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2016026829
Manufactured in the United States of America
26 25 24 23 22 21 20 19 18 17
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
for Andrea and Ben
whose life journeys overflow with the
songs we together share
Gott, laß uns dein Heil schauen,
Auf nichts Vergänglichs trauen,
Nicht Eitelkeit uns freun!
Laß uns einfältig werden,
Und vor dir hier auf Erden
Wie Kinder fromm und frölich seyn.
—matthias claudius, “Abendlied”
Final folk song in Johann Gottfried
Herder, Volkslieder
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Contents
List of Illustrations ix
Acknowledgments xi
Note on the Text xiv
Note on Translation and Commentary xvii
Prologue: Again, Herder 1
part i. the ontology project 19
1. Folk Song at the Beginnings of National History:
Essay on Alte Volkslieder (1774) 21
Translation from Alte Volkslieder / Ancient Folk Songs 26
2. The Folk Song Project at the Confluence of Music and
Nationalism: Essay on Volkslieder (1778/79) and
Stimmen der Völker in Liedern (1807) 44
Translation from Volkslieder and Stimmen der Völker
in Liedern / Folk Songs and Voices of the People in Song 50
Appendix A: Introduction to the Folk Song Texts 71
Appendix B: Translation from the Folk Song Texts 74
3. Singing the Sacred Body: Essay on Lieder der
Liebe (1778) 105
Translation from Lieder der Liebe: Die ältesten und
schönsten aus Morgenlande / Songs of Love:
The Oldest and Most Beautiful from the Orient 111
part ii. the history project 133
4. The Nation and Its Fragments: Essay on “Briefwechsel
über Ossian und die Lieder alter Völker” (1773) 135
Translation from “Briefwechsel über Ossian und die
Lieder alter Völker” / “Correspondence about Ossian
and the Songs of Ancient Peoples” 140
5. Songs of the Enlightenment Bard: Essay on
“Homer und Ossian” (1794) 168
Translation of “Homer und Ossian” / “Homer and Ossian” 172
6. Redemption through Sacred Song: Essay on
Letter 46, Theologische Schriften (1780/81) 186
Translation of Letter 46, Theologische
Schriften / Theological Writings 190
p art iii. the nation project 199
7. The Shores of Modernity: Essay on “Wirkung der
Dichtkunst auf die Sitten neuerer Zeiten” (1777) 201
Translation from “Wirkung der Dichtkunst auf die
Sitten neuerer Zeiten” / “The Influence of Poetry
on the Customs of Modernity” 205
8. The Epic as Nation: Essay on Herder’s Der Cid 221
Translation from Der Cid / The Cid 228
9. Music Transcendent and Sublime: Herder’s
“Von Music” (1800) 246
Translation of “Von Musik” / “On Music” 249
Epilogue: Herder’s Journey 261
Notes 285
Bibliography 289
Index 307
L ist of Illustrations
1. Johann Gottfried Herder, portrait by Anton Graff, 1785 4
2. The theological field of Herder’s philosophy 6
3. “Tres Romances del Cid,” Sephardic ballad 9
4. Johann Gottfried Herder, Vom Geist der ebräischen Poesie, 1787 11
5. Title page of Moses Mendelssohn, Shir ha-shirim, 1788 14
6. Weimar circa 1830 35
7. Estonia and Latvia, mid-eighteenth century 63
8. “An die Jungfrau Maria” / “To the Virgin Mary,” from Johann 99
Gottfried Herder, “Stimmen der Völker in Liedern,” 1807
9. Map of the world, circa 1807 103
10. Title page of Johann Gottfried Herder, Lieder der Liebe, 1778 edition 109
11. Title page of Johann Gottfried Herder, Von deutscher 136
Art und Kunst, 1773
12. Nicolai Abraham Abildgaard, Ossian’s Swan Song, ca. 1782. 142
13. Johannes Brahms, “Ballade,” op. 10, no. 1 158
14. Title page of James Macpherson, Fingal, an Ancient Epic 170
Poem, 1765
15. Ximena and the Cid, woodcut from the 1869 edition of 222
Herder’s Der Cid
16. Canto 49, “The Cid in Valencia and in Death,” woodcut 237
from the 1869 edition of Herder’s Der Cid
17. Itinerary from Herder’s field notes of 1769, in his own hand 265
ix
