ABSTRACT
The conceptualization of an absolute music emerged during the Romanticism of the nineteenth century and was first articulated in the writings of philosophers such as Herder and critics such as E.T.A. Hoffmann (see criticism). Paradoxically, however, it was given musical and philosophical representation in the writings of Richard Wagner, who coined the term in the context of a programme note for his own performance of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony in 1846. In this text, absolute music is defined as that which Beethoven leaves behind through the introduction of voice and word in the final movement of the symphony:
With the beginning of this finale Beethoven’s music takes on a more distinctly speaking character: it leaves behind the character of pure instrumental music such as had been maintained throughout the first three movements, the realm of infinite and indistinct expression. The further progress of this musical poem strives toward a resolution, a resolution that can only be articulated by human speech. We must admire how the master has prepared the entrance of language and the human voice as something both anticipated and necessary by means of the shattering recitative of the double basses when, nearly transgressing the boundaries of absolute music, this recitative engages the other instruments with its powerfully emotional discourse, pressing for some resolution, and finally issuing in a lyrical theme.
(Grey 2009, 486; see also Dahlhaus 1989a, 18)