Nietzsche and Brahms: A Forgotten Relationship

Author(s): David S. Thatcher

Reviewed work(s):
Source: Music & Letters, Vol. 54, No. 3 (Jul., 1973), pp. 261-280
Published by: Oxford University Press
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A/US/Cand Letters
JULY
VOLUME

I973
No. 3

LIV

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NIETZSCHE AND BRAHMS:

A FORGOTTEN RELATIONSHIP
BY

DAVID

S.

THATCHER

IT WAS Nietzsche'sbeliefthatwithoutmusiclifewouldbe a mistake.

His whole existencewas inextricably
bound up with it, and his
philosophycannotbe fullyunderstoodunlessthisfactis takeninto
account. He associated,on variouslevelsof intimacy,with composers,conductors,
oftheseWagnerwas
pianistsand musicologists;
clearlythe mostimportantto him,forWagnerprovidedthe most
crucial experienceof his life; but his relationshipto Brahms,the
reluctantchampion of the anti-Wagnerians,has been unduly
reasonsfor this. At firstsightthe
neglected.There are different
lacksthecolourand dramaofNietzsche'sdealingswith
relationship
Wagner,or even Bizet. Referencesto Brahmsare discouragingly
scatteredand difficult
infrequent,
to assemble.Most of themwill
German sources by someone
be found only in out-of-the-way
obstinatelydeterminedto trackthemdown. Finally thereis the
thatNietzscheis onlyinterested
feeling,in parta misapprehension,
in Brahmsforthe lighthe sheds on his main preoccupation,the
phenomenonof Wagner.It is surelytimesome of theseobstacles
wereclearedaway.
and prepossessions

ThoughNietzsche(I844-I900)

and Brahms(I833-97) never

and theirlivespresent
met,theywerealmostexact contemporaries
somestriking
parallels.In each case theirearlyliveswereenriched
by intimate association with a leading composer, Wagner and

Schumannrespectively,
who were reveredas father-figures
as well
as musicians.Nietzschefellas deeplyin love withCosima Wagner

as Brahms with Clara Schumann, although only in the latter case

was theaffectionreciprocated.Bothremainedshy,withdrawn,reticent
26I

men, freiabereinsam,
spending their years in bachelor apartness,
Nietzsche as Einsiedler
and Brahmsas Abseiter-hermitand outsider.
Several times they totteredprecariouslyon the brinkof matrimony,
but both drew back at the last moment,only half-relievedat the
longings
narrownessoftheirescape, forboth experiencedintermittent
for a settled domesticlifewithwifeand children.They were nativebornGermanswho livedfairlycontentedlyin exile,Nietzschemostlyin
Switzerland and Italy and Brahms in Austria. They shared a
passion forItaly and a detestationofEngland, which neitherofthem
visited.Always theysoughtan environmentof natural beauty which
would nourish their creative imagination, for invariably their best
inspirationscame to them during long morningwalks. Disappointment and sufferingthey transformed,by dint of rigorous selfdiscipline, into the material of theirwork. Though they retained a
feelingforthe heroic grandeur of the Old Testament, theyrejected
Christian belief (Brahms with reluctance and Nietzsche with
impassioned militancy) and evolved in differentways a tragic view
of human existence.
As young men they read widely in the work of the German
Romantics, especially Heine, Tieck, Hoffmann, Eichendorffand
Holderlin. They fell deeply under the spell of Schumann's music,
and both claimed to understand Wagner better than the most
ardent Wagnerians, though they were led, instinctively,to oppose
what he stood for-Nietzsche most memorably in 'The Case of
Wagner', which he wrote in I888 as Germany's self-appointed
"physician of culture" and Brahms in the ill-advised manifestohe
drew up with Joachim, Grimm and Scholz in i86o (Wagner
branded them "Jews" fortheirpains, which only served to increase
theirhatredofanti-Semitism).Bizet'smusicappealed to themenormously: Nietzsche covered his copy of 'Carmen' (an opera he heard
over twentytimes) so thicklywith marginal glosses that a whole
book has been constitutedfromthem, and Brahms made a point of
acquiring as many Bizet scores as he could and studyingthem with
loving care.
Throughout hiis life Nietzsche was a dedicated concert-goer.
The Rhine Music Festival at Cologne in June I865 opened with a
performanceof Handel's 'Israel in Egypt'; Nietzsche, at that time
a studentat Bonn University,was one of the basses in the choir. He
found it exhilarating to participate in the festival: "One returns
with arrant irony to one's books, to textual criticism,and to other
things",' he commentedafterit was all over. This festivalprobably
marked his firstexposure to the music of Brahms, two of whose
'Magelone Romances' were sung by their dedicatee, Julius Stockhausen. In a list of "musikalische mignonnes" compiled afterhis
fourthsemester at Leipzig, works by Schumann, Beethoven and
1 'Selected Letters of FriedrichNietzsche', edited and translatedby Christopher
Middleton (Chicago, I969), p. Io.

262

Schubertbulk large; there are also references

to choral worksof
is
Bach and "ein paar" ofBrahms'sLieder.'A positivesignofinterest
shown in a letterhe wroteto FriedrichHegar (also a friendof
Brahms) at the beginningof April I874: "I'll be attendingyour
Zurich Music Festival; I especiallylook forwardto hearingthe
'Song of Triumph'-at last!"3 This jubilantworkwas designedby
Brahmsto commemoratethe Prussianvictoryover the Frenchin
audiencesthroughout
I871, and it playedto enthusiastic
Germany
in Vienna on 8 December
and Austria.A reviewof a performance
i872 called it a "trulysensational"work,and rankedit alongside
thefirstact ofthe'Valkyrie':
thegreatcontrapuntalist
Wagner,themighty
spiritoffire,Brahms,
ofour time,bothderiving
fromBeethoven
butdiverging
fromhim
in diametrically
a brilliant
opposeddirections,
each representing
is theindelibleimpression
peak of achievement-this
the'Songof
itforthefirst
time.4
Triumph'leaveson hearing
Nietzscheprobablyread thisreview(as did Wagner,who would
have relishedit less); it mayhave contributed
to his desireto hear
the work,whichwas played at severalcentresin i874, including
Munich, Leipzig, Cologne,Berlinand Basel. Afterthe Basel performanceon 9 JuneNietzschewroteto Rohde:
Recently
yourcountryman
Brahmswas here.I havehearda lotof
hismusic,in particular
the'SongofTriumph'whichhe himself
conducted.Comingto terms
withhimwas,forme,a mostdifficult
test
I nowhavemyownmodestlittleopinionof
ofastheticconscience;
thisman,butas yetit is stillrathervague.5
Despite hiisindecision,or perhapsbecause of it, Nietzscheundertook a specialjourneywithhis friendRomundtto hear the work
performed
again in Zurichthefollowing
month.In August,armed
withthe piano score,he wentto Bayreuth.Wagnerrecountedthe

famous scene it led to :6

When I enteredhisroomat thehotelI saw a suspicious-looking

little
red book, some songletof triumphor of destinyby Brahms,with
whichhe made readv to attackme. But I was not goingto have any
of it. TowardseveningtheProfessor
came to Wahnfriedand behold,
he had the accursedred book under his arm. He now had a mind
to put it on the piano desk and play it to me in all seriousness.He
thoughtthat I oughtto knowthisworkto appreciatethe composer
as he deserved.I declined; he would not cease to urge me. At last
2 Nietzsche, 'Werke: Historisch-kritische
Gesamtausgabe' (Munich, I934-40),
iii, p. 3i6. Possiblythese Liederwere fromthe recentlycomposed 'Liebesliederwalzer'
which Overbeck and his wifehad played to Nietzsche,who had listened"attentively",
in the summer of I870. Carl Albrecht Bernouilli, 'Franz Overbeck und Friedrich
Nietzsche:eineFreundschaft'
(Jena,I908), p. 234.
3 Nietzsche, 'Briefe: Historisch-kritische
Gesamtausgabe' (Munich, I938-42),
iV,
p.

62.

4Th. Helm, Musikalisches

iv (I873), p. io. The 'Song of Triumph' had
Wochenblatt,
receivedits premiereat Karlsruheon 5 June I872, underthe directionofHermann Levi.
5 'Briefe',
iv,p. 82.
6 Richard Specht, 'JohannesBrahms',translatedby Eric Blom (London, 1930),
p. 259.

263

I became violent . . . . I was rude and-Heaven knowshowNietzschewas kickedout.

Wagner's explosion of temper might have been predicted.
Though impressed by the 'Handel Variations' which Brahms had
played to him on their firstmeeting in I864, Wagner had soon
become jealous of Brahms'ssuccess and resentfulof the attacksmade
on his music by followersof the rival composer. In I865 a dispute
had arisen between the two men concerningthe rightfulownership
ofa sectionofthe 'Tannhauser' autographscore,and correspondence
on the subject grew ratherintemperate;Wagner foundfurthervent
forhis spleen in the essay 'On Conducting' of I869. He mighthave
discerned in some of Nietzsche's own compositions of the time,
especially the 'Hymn to Friendship',a number of featuresattributable to an absorption in Brahms's music7 and regarded this as
rebelliousand heretical.In any eventhe was horrifiedby Nietzsche's
action.
According to a lesser-knownversion of the episode Nietzsche
pointed excitedlyto the score exclaiming: "Look, that is absolute
music,yes,absolute music!" He managed to persuade Hans Richter,
an innocent bystander,to play the piece throughwith him. At first
Wagner was amused at this display of presumption; how could
anyone hope to do justice to Brahms? But when it dawned on him
that Nietzsche was adamant about playing the work through to
the bitter end he broke in impatientlywith: "Now, that's quite
enough of your absolute music!" He was stupefiedthat Nietzsche
should betraysuch bad taste in approving of a work which seemed
to him so cold, insipid and shapeless: "Handel, Mendelssohn and
Schumann bound in leather!" he snorted.When urged not to take
the issue so seriouslyNietzsche replied that he foundit verydistressing to findhimselfsupportingWagnerian opera and absolute music
at one and the same time.8
Wagnerian opera and absolute music: here is a distinctreminder
of the fierce controversywhich raged unabated in the nineteenth
century over the respective merits of Wagner and Brahms. The
dispute was waged with a torridmissionaryfervourwhich is hard
to understandnow that the fireshave died down and cooler heads
gratefullyacknowledge both men to have been giants in their
respectivespheres. The issue seemed clear-cut: was music to draw
on extra-musical sources and associations, such as poetry, myth,
politics or philosophy,for its inspirationand expressivepower, or
was it to continue on basically eighteenth-centurylines as an
7 The 'Hymn to Friendship'was composed beforeNietzschehad heard the 'Song
of Triumph' performed,so specificallyBrahmsianinfluenceoughtto be ruled out: "It
was rathera questionofparallelinterestdisplayedby Nietzschein the conservativemusical elementsof periodic melody,clear tonality,and old-fashionedcounterpointin his
own compositionand in the workof one of Wagner'senemies".FrederickLove, 'Young
Nietzscheand the WagnerianExperience' (Chapel Hill, I963), pp. 78-9.
8 See Leopold Zahn, 'Friedrich Nietzsche: eine Lebenschronik' (Dusseldorf
1950), pp. I53-4.

264

autonomous formal art, depending for its effect on its inherent

musical structure?Programme music, or absolute music? Music of
or music of the past? Wagner or Brahms?
the future(Zukunftsmusik)
It was the civil war of music, an internecinestrugglein which one
was forcedto take sides. Any catholicityof taste which presumed to
offer hospitality to both Wagner and Brahms, accepting them
equally on their own merits,was considered suspect if not downrighttreasonable. Prominentconductorslike Hans von Biilow, Hans
Richter and Hermann Levi sufferedagonies of indecision in this
disconcertingsituation,fallingoffthe fencefirston one side and then
on the other. It was indecorous, but proper balance was virtually
impossible to maintain. A seasoned and zealous polemicist,Wagner
was the leading fighterin his own cause; Eduard Hanslick (pilloried
as the pedantic, bumbling reactionaryBeckmesserin 'The Mastersingers') became the spokesman forBrahms, who hated controversy
of any kind, even when his own artisticprincipleswere at stake.
In a centurywhich was passionatelydevoted to the unlimited
expansion of the possibilitiesof musical representationand in
of the abstract
which increasinglyfancifulliteraryinterpretations
musicof theVienneseclassicistswere the orderof the day, Hanslick
achievedprominenceas one ofthefewarticulatevoicesofreasonand
9
moderation.
A "well-marked copy" of the I865 edition of Hanslick's 'The
Beautiful in Music', essentiallya defence of the Brahmsian point of
view, was found in Nietzsche's librarywhen it was catalogued, and
"in Nietzsche's notes of' the same year there is a clear parallel to
Hanslick's view of the natural limitationsof music as an expressive
medium'. I 0

It might be thought odd that Nietzsche should describe the

'Song of Triumph', which afterall is set to a Biblical text and has a
specific, extra-musical purpose, as "absolute music". But he had
always classifiedthe oratorio as absolute music in contradistinction
to opera and programmemusic generally.",Choral workshad been
his favouriteformof music as a youth: the Passions and Masses of
Bach, the oratorios of Handel, Haydn's 'Creation' and Mozart's
'Requiem' filled him with awe. In an astonishinglyprecocious
essay, 'On Music', he maintained that music was given by God to
raise our thoughtto higher things; he regrettedthat much modern
of Berlioz and Liszt)
choral music (he had in mind the Zukunftsmusik
should lack the power of the old-it was entertainmentmerely,not
Love, 'Young Nietzsche',p.

32.

10 Ibid., p. 32. Love omitsto mentionthat some of Nietzsche'sannotationswere far

fromcomplimentary,e.g. "stupid" and "shallow syllogism".'Die Briefedes Freiherrn

Carl von Gersdorffan FriedrichNietzsche', ed. Karl Schlechta (Weimar, 1934), ii,
p. IOI. Brahmsread Hanslick's book (firsted. I854) long beforeNietzschedid. He had
glanced throughthe volume and found"so many stupiditiesin it that he did not read
on". Later he revisedhis opinionand told Hanslick how greatlythe book had stimulated
and calmed him. The interveningupsurge of Wagnerism probably occasioned this
change offront.See Specht, 'Brahms',pp. 6o-6i, 174-5.
See theJanuary i86i letterto Krug and Pindar, 'Briefe',i, p. 125.

265

a sacred thingwhich conferredblessingon life. In churchone

AscensionDay he was temptedtojoin in thesingingofthe 'Hallelujah' chorusfromHandel's 'Messiah'. It seemed to him like a
choirofangelsbearingChristup toheavenon thewingsofjubilation.
He feltan irresistible
urge to composesimilarmusichimselfand
tooka "childish"delightin themodestsuccessofhisefforts
(he was
only nine years old). As a schoolboyhe set about composinga
of which,datingfrom
ChristmasOratorio,sketchesand fragments
i 86o-6i, are stillin existence.
Duringthewinterof I864-5 he heard
'JudasMaccabxeus'at Bonn,at leastthesecondtimehe had heard
of
this work,and, as alreadynoted,took part in a performance
'Israel in Egypt'in I865. In Handel he found"theJewish-heroic
trait that gave the Reformationa touch of greatness-theOld
Testamentbecomemusic,notthe New'".2 Small wonderthat the
'Song of Triumph',consciouslymodelledon Handel's 'Dettingen
Te Deum' and thoroughly
Handelian in character,should have
movedhim so deeply;he acclaimedthe workas "a rebirthof the
spiritoftheHandelianchorus',l3
justas he had acclaimedWagnerian
opera as a rebirthofthespiritofGreektragedy.
It was indeed "a mostdifficult
testof astheticconscience"to
findhimselfadmiringa musicianso cordiallydetestedby his idol.
It imposedon him,as on others,the strainof dividedloyalties-a
unableto bear. His health,neververy
strainhe was constitutionally
as a result,and thoughhe did notseverhisweakenstrong,suffered
foranothertwoyears,thebreachwas already
inglinkswithBayreuth
in the making.Wagner claimed, rather inaccurately,that his
hostilityto Brahmsresultedfromthe 'Song of Triumph'episode,
for
Nietzsche'ssympathy
as he feltthatthroughit he had forfeited
and
ever; it rankledhimto thinkthathe had lostsucha promising
serviceabledisciple.As forNietzsche,the incidentbroughtsome
insightinto Wagner'spsypositivegain, forit gave him further
his lustforpower,whichhe later developed
chology,particularly
morefullyin his philosophicalspeculationsabout humanmotivatraceableto Nietzsche's
tion:the"will to power"conceptis directly
close watch of Wagner'sbehaviour.Afterthe incidentNietzsche
wrotein a privatenotebook:"The tyrantadmitsno individuality
The danger
otherthanhisownand thatofhismostintimatefriends.
is great for Wagner when he is unwillingto grantanythingto
Brahmsor to theJews".'4(He laterascribedtheviolenceofWagner's
he recalled
reactionto professional
jealousy.Withsomeamusement
himby theKing
medaloffered
Wagner'srefusalofa much-coveted
of Bavaria; eventuallyCosima and friendsprevailedupon him to
12

'The Portable Nietzsche', selected and translatedby Walter Kaufmann (New

York,I954),
13 See

(1902),

p.

668.

ArthurEgidi, 'Gesprache mit Nietzsche im ParsifaljahrI882', Die Musik,i

p. I896.

14Elisabeth F6rster-Nietzsche,
'The Nietzsche-WagnerCorrespondence',translated
byC. V. Kerr(London,I922), p. 223.
266

accept it, and shortlyafterit was conferred

he discoveredto his
horrorthatthesamehonourhad alreadybeenaccordedtoBrahms.)'
Apartfromhisgeneralanimosity
to Brahmstherewere,perhaps,
two specificreasonswhyWagnerdislikedthe 'Song of Triumph'.
First,it resembledan oratorio,a formhe abominated: to him
oratorioswere"unnaturalabortions",inferior
to opera as a "sexless
embryo"is to thefully-mature
sexualorganism.Secondly,although
he had, unlikeBrahms,no speciallove forthe Reichof the Hohenhe had composeda 'Kaisermarsch'in I870, hoping
zollerndynasty,
bythistokenofhomagetowootheKaiserand hischancellorBismarck
into providingfundsforhis Bayreuthventure.Unfortunately
the
'Kaisermarsch'did not achieve the immediatepopularityof the
'Song of Triumph',whichwas one severeblow, and the Bayreuth
exchequerremainedas emptyas before,whichwas another."To
Wagner's'Kaisermarsch'noteven theyoungGermanKaiser could
march",l6was Nietzsche'sacerbicquip at the timeofWilhelmII's
accessionin i888.
In the firstflushof thisintensebut short-lived
enthusiasmfor
the musicof Brahms,Nietzscheacquiredduringhis yearsat Basel
not onlythe scoreof the 'Song ofTriumph'(Op. 55), but also the
'Magelone Romances' (Op. 33), 'Eight Songs forsolo voice and
piano accompaniment'(Op. 57), anotherset of 'EightSongs' (Op.
59) and 'Abendregen'(Op. 70, no. 4). Accordingto thewifeofhis
university
colleague,Miaskowski,Nietzschewould amuse a social
gathering
byplaying'Tristan',singinga BrahmsLiedor simplyimprovising.
17At thistimeNietzsche,
possiblyalone amonghiscontementente
to spearheada revival
poraries,envisageda Wagner-Brahms
in Germanmusic.The 'Song ofTriumph'incidentwas not an idle
act ofprovocationon Nietzsche'spart,thoughthat
and mischievous
has been the commoninterpretation;
ratherit was a genuineif
fumblingand radicallymisconceived
attemptto put the feasibility
of such an entente
to an initialtest.'The Birthof Tragedy'of I872
had alreadyproclaimedWagneras the championof a new Dionysian music; Brahms's'Song of Triumph'suggestedhe was capable
of providingthe complementary
Apollonianelement;if only the
two greatestcomposersof the age could settletheirdifferences
and
unitetheirgiftsin a commonartisticaim Germanmusicmightbe on
thethreshold
ofemulatingtherichand lastingachievement
ofGreek
tragedy.The problemwas that neithercomposerwas ready to
admitthe geniusof the other,and the wholesituationwas exacer-

15Egidi, 'Gesprache mit Nietzsche', p. I896. The medal in question was the
Maximilian Order forScience and Art,firstofferedto Wagneron Io October I864. He
declined acceptance. On 8 December I873 it was offeredagain; this time Wagner
deigned to accept it, but discoveredthat Brahmshad been a recipientearlierthat year.
See Richard du Moulin Eckart, 'Cosima Wagner' (Berlin, 1929), pp. 677-8. This work
also mentionsthe 'Song of Triumph' episode, pp. 705.-6
16 'The Portable Nietzsche', p. 664.
17 Nietzsche,'LettresA Peter Gast', edited by A. Schaeffner
(Paris, I959), i, p. I15.
By virtueof its excellenteditorial apparatus this two-volumeworkis indispensablefor
anyone researchinginto the musical aspects of Nietzsche'scareer.

267

bated by the pettysquabblingsof the rivalfactions:"In Wagner,

as in Brahms,thereis a blinddenial of the good, in his followers
8 Hope mingled
uneasilywith
thisdenialis deliberateandconscious".,
doubt: "The most wholesomephenomenonis Brahms,in whose
musicthereis moreGermanblood thanin thatofWagner's.With
but by no
these words I would say somethingcomplimentary,
means wholly so".19

It is nottoo difficult
to see whatNietzscheis gettingat here.As
a ferventGermanpatriotand admirerof Bismarck,Brahmswas
War: he
passionately
involvedin the eventsofthe Franco-Prussian
victory
was
But
by
this
time
even thoughtof enlistingas a soldier.
assuredand he divertedhis martialenergiesinto a musicalcelebration,nominallydedicated to the Kaiser but actuallywritten
in honour of his hero Bismarck,whose portrait,decoratively
wreathedin laurel,hungon a wall ofhisVienneseapartment.For
a timeBrahmswas honorarypresidentof a societyof Bismarck's
admirersin Vienna; his librarycontainedcopies of Bismarck's
materialdealingwith
speechesand lettersas well as miscellaneous
the war. As a youngman Nietzsche,too, had admiredBismarck
forhis politicalacumen,opportunism,
courageand audacity;his
speeches,he said, wentto his head likestrongwine.The prevailing
overcamehis betterjudgment,and
patrioticeuphoriatemporarily
War of
he actuallyvolunteeredforservicein the Austro-Prussian
I866 (he servedas a medical orderly)and to the end regarded
Bismarckas a strongGerman type. But he was saddened that
Bismarckfailedto seize the momentof victoryoverthe Frenchto
forthe regeneration
founda trulyGermaneducationalinstitution
of the Germanspirit:Instead of advancingthe GermanGeist,he
felt,Bismarckwas onlyconcernedto extendthe imperialsway of
"the
the GermanReich,buildingup its armamentsand presenting
Bismarck
inclinations".20
symaspect of a hedgehogwith heroic
bolized a nationbrutalizedby the demonof powerand willingto
itselfin war. Nietzsche'slastwishbeforehiscollapse
riskdestroying
was thatBismarck,togetherwiththe Kaiser and all anti-Semites,
shouldbe done away with.
then,thatthe 'Song of Triumph'shouldhave
Is it surprising,
but also
testof conscience,not onlyaesthetic
posed him a difficult
moraland political?Only a year beforehearingthe workforthe
warningthe
firsttimeNietzschehad writtena pamphletexpressly
deliriousGermansof the dangersofsuccessand complacency.The
victory,he said in his polemicon David Strauss,was a triumphof
18 'The Case of Wagner', translatedby AnthonyM. Ludovici (London, I9I i),
p. I oo. It is probablywithBrahmsin mindthatNietzschewrites(in sectionI O of'Richard
Wagnerin Bayreuth'): "Many who wish,by hook or by crook,to maketheirmark,even
throwin theirlot withthe older
wrestlewithWagner'ssecretcharm,and unconsciously
to ascribe their'independence'to Schubertor Handel ratherthan
masters,preferring
to Wagner".
19 Ibid.,p. 99.
20 'Selected Letters',p. 284.

268

arms, not of culture: the culture of the defeated French was far
superior to that of the philistine and materialistic Prussians. The
'Song of Triumph' was a powerfulexpressionof this complacency
and gave furtherencouragementto indulge in it; though a splendid
work, full of Handelian majesty, it catered obsequiously to the
middle-class patrioticsentimentof 'Deutschland, Deutschland fiber
Alles' (a phrase which Nietzsche mocks whenever he uses it); as a
popular flag-waggingpiece the 'Song of Triumph' was on the level
of Wagner's frightful'Kaisermarsch'. Like Wagner, Brahms had
condescended to the Germans; he had become a German ImperialNietzsche had
ist. It was unforgivable;this was not the ideal entente
envisioned.
By 1884, after his momentous discovery of Bizet in i88i,
Nietzsche had abandoned his hope in Brahms. He takes not the
slightestinterestin the growing literatureon Brahms, nor does he
ever again referspecificallyto any of his individual compositions:
his commentsare broad and generalized. There is a marked change
of attitude. Brahms is an 'epigone', an imitator of borrowed forms,
and the German mentality is never happy with borrowed forms
which it "confuses, compromises, confounds and moralizes".s'
Brahms is no longer seen as a fructifyingantithesis to Wagner,
simply a link in the chain of developmentsthat led up to him. He
is neither "a major event" nor "an exception"; though he respects
the work of many differentcomposers he is essentiallythe North
His music appeals stronglyto the
German composer par excellence.
average middle-classGerman who findshis own mediocrityreflected
in it.22 This was the same audience which refusedto read Nietzsche's
books and to surrender to the music of Peter Gast, his friend,
amanuensis and musical protege. Concerning Gast, Nietzsche wrote
in I 884:
The main oppositionhe faces lies in German obscurantismand
in neo-romanticism
whetherconsciousor unconscious,
sentimentality,
of the kind Brahms dishes out, in sum in the mediocrityof the
German middle-classmind which is highlysensitiveto anything
'southern',which it regards suspiciouslyas smackingof frivolity.
My philosophymeetswith the same opposition;like Gast's music,
it is hatedforitsclear sky.2"
In the seventeenthand eighteenthcenturies,Nietzsche maintains,
Germany had brought the art at which she excels to the height of
perfection; German music of the nineteenth century was only a
brilliant,many-sidedand eruditeformofdecadence.24French music,
like that of Offenbach or Bizet, offered"real liberation from the
21 'The Will to Power', edited and translatedby Walter Kaufmann (New
York,
I968), pp. 66, 438.
22Nietzsche,Grossoktavausgabe'
(Leipzig,I901-3),
xiv, p. 141.
23 'Friedrich Nietzsches Briefwechselmit Franz Overbeck', edited by Richard
Oehler and Carl AlbrechtBernouilli(Leipzig, I9I6), p. 269.
24 'Grossoktavausgabe',xiv, pp. 139-40.

269

sentimental
and at bottomdegenerate
musiciansof Germanromanticism".25The "divine frivolity"
of Offenbach'smusicalbuffooneries was infinitelypreferable to the "ponderousness" of Wagner
and Brahms:

French music with the spirit of Voltaire, free,highOffenbach:

spirited,witha littlesardonicgrin,but bright,cleveralmostto the
point of banality (-he does not use make-up-) and withoutthe
mignardise
of morbidor blond-Viennesesensuality.26
[affectation]

Everytimehe listenedto 'Carmen' he feltmoreremotefrom"the

vapid idealismof Schumannand Brahms-aftera time I cannot
stand it, it has no backbone".27

The linkinghereofSchumannand Brahmsopensup a revealing

perspective.In his last years at school, and later at Bonn, Nietzsche

had studied Schumann scoreswith the same assiduityhe had earlier
applied to the classical masters.He thoughtthe 'Frauen-Liebe und
Leben' song cycle to be Schumann's best; he learntto love the 'Faust'
and 'Manfred' music, and was particularlyfond of 'Das Paradies
und die Peri'. In December of I864 he visited Hermann Deiters (a
futurebiographerofBrahms) who played a good deal ofSchumann to
him. As in the case of Handel earlier, Schumann lefthis mark on
Nietzsche's musical compositionsduring these years; the songs he
wrote between i862 and i865 are stronglyreminiscent,in melodic
and harmonic development, of Schumann. Set to texts by such
romantic poets as Ruickert,Groth, Chamisso, Petofi and Byron,
these songs run the gamut of conventionalromanticmoods: homesickness, longing (Sehnsucht),nostalgia and generally invertebrate
despair. Schumann (and we might add Brahms, though Nietzsche
does not) "has in himselfEichendorff,Uhland, Heine, Hoffmann,
Tieck".28 Schumann is "the eternal youth", but there are moments
"when his musicremindsone of the eternal'old maid' ".29 It is
surely with Schumann and Brahms in mind that Nietzsche objects
to what he calls "northernartificiality":

Everything
clouded withsilvermist,emotionswhichare artificially
induced-art up therein thenorthis a way ofescapingfromtheself.
0, such pallidjoys, all suffused
withOctoberlight!30
In June I887 Nietzsche fled froma Schumann concert exasperated
beyond measure by the "softeningof sensibility"in the music-it
was like "a sea of fizzylemonade'".31
By this time Nietzsche had overthrownSchumann, the consolation of his lonely adolescence, quite unambiguously:
25

'The Will to Power', p. 439.

439.
'FriedrichNietzschesGesammelteBriefe'(Leipzig, I908), iv, p. 144.
'The Will to Power', p. 67.
'Human, All-Too-Human',translatedby Paul V. Cohn (London, I909), Part i i,

26 Ibid.,p.
27

28
29

p. 272.

30
81

'Grossoktavausgabe',xiv, p.
'Selected Letters',p. xvi.

I4r.

270

Is it not considereda good fortuneamong us today, a relief,a

liberation,thatthisSchumannromanticism
has been overcome?...
His 'Manfred'musicis a mistakeand misunderstanding
to thepoint
of an injustice-Schumann with his taste which was basically a
smalltaste(namely,a dangerouspropensity,
doublydangerousamong
of feeling),constantly
Germans,for quiet lyricismand sottishness
walkingoffto withdrawshylyand retire,a noble tender-heart
who
wallowed in all sortsof anonymousbliss and woe, a kind of girl
fromthe start: this Schumann was already a
and noli me tangere
merelyGerman
eventin music,no longera European one, as Beethovenwas and, to a stillgreaterextent,Mozart. Withhim German
music was threatenedby its greatestdanger: losingthevoice
for the
2
soulofEuropeand descendingto merefatherlandishness.
"Quiet lyricismand sottishnessof feeling" might well describe, for
all their engaging charm, Nietzsche's own lyrico-elegiacLieder; the
whole passage foreshadowsthe criticismof Brahms in 'The Case of
Wagner', wherehisSchumannesque characteristics-his "melancholy
of impotence", his "yearning", his "impersonality", his restricted
Germanity, and his secret raptures and self-pity-are singled out
forcondemnation. Whereas Nietzsche found Wagner's music excessively voluptuous and sexual, the music of Schumann and Brahms
he thoughtprim and spinsterish:how differentboth were fromthe
tragic exultation of passion in 'Carmen'!
The crucial point is this: Schumann and Brahms presented,as
Wagner had presented, a problem in self-overcoming.They embodied aspects of Nietzsche's own personality(his romanticpessimism,his propensityto "pity" and "softness",his decadent Germanity)
which he knew he had to eradicate beforehis true selfcould blossom
in the full flowerof its own independence and freedom.Just as he
had to break withWagner and dissociatehimselffromBayreuth,the
symbol of virulent pan-Germanism and bourgeois vulgarity,so he
had to sever himselffromBrahms. In Nietzsche's view both Wagner
and Brahms were guilty of capitulating to the spirit of their age;
he felthe could not allow himselfsuch a luxury,for the true philosopher has to be the "bad conscience of his time":
What does a philospherdemand of himselffirstand last? To overcome his timein himself,to become 'timeless'.With what musthe
therefore
engagein the hardestcombat? Withwhatevermarkshim
as a childofhis time.Well, then!I am, no lessthanWagner,a child
of thistime; thatis, a decadent: but I comprehendedthis,I resisted
it. The philosopherin me resisted.33
Tearing himselfaway fromWagner was an anguished and protracted
affair: there were, afterall, those precious memoriesof the halcyon
Triebschen days which kept flooding back; but with Brahms, and
Schumann, the self-overcomingwas a relativelypainless process.
Dashed, then, were Nietzsche's hopes that Wagner and Brahms
32

pp.

'Beyond Good and Evil', translated by Walter Kaufmann (New York, I966),

I8I-2.
33

'The Case ofWagner',translatedby Walter Kaufmann (New York, I967), p.

27I

I55.

would amicably combine forcesin the world-historicaltask of overcoming the eighteenthcentury.Goethe had done it "by imagining
a European culture that would harvest the full inheritance of
attainedhumanity"; but German music (with the partial exception
of Mendelssohn) lacked "the full, redeeming and binding element
of Goethe".34Disillusioned that the eighteenthcenturycould not be
overcome, Nietzsche returned to it with "a nihilistic sigh" for
consolation, nourishing himselfonce again on Handel, Mozart,
Rossini, Chopin. While still at school he had writtenof Chopin:
I particularly
admiredin Chopinhis freeiing
ofmusicfromGerman
influences,
fromthe tendencyto the ugly,dull, pettilybourgeois,
clumsy and self-important.
Spiritual beauty and nobility,and,
above all, aristocratic
gaiety,freedomfromrestraint
and splendour
of soul, as well as southernwarmthand intensity
of feeling,were
expressedby him forthe firsttimein music.35
Chopin and Bizet: the two names representa continuityof musical
taste only temporarilyinterruptedby successive infatuationsfor
Schumann, Wagner and Brahms, whose music had contributedto
the ruin of his health. A sick, lonely and troubled man, he sought
music that would be "a school of convalescence", a stimulus to
creativity: "Bizet makes me fertile.Whatever is good makes me
fertile.I have no othergratitude,nor do I have any other prooffor
what is good".36 He no longer possessed the strengthor desire to
swim in a sea of "endless melody"; he wanted to dance to music of
stronglymarked rhythmsand stricttempi, to refreshhimselfin its
breezes, now warm and now cool. Gast's music, especiallyhis opera
'The Lion of Venice', was, he said, "balm" to his soul:
One growsold, one pinesforthings;alreadyI need musiclike that
King Saul-Heaven has luckilygiven me also a kind of David. A
triste,
cannot endure Wagnerianmusic
man like me, profondement
in the long run. We need thesouth,sunshine'at any price',bright,
harmless,innocentMozartianhappinessand delicacyoftones.37
Gast, the "new Mozart", wrote the kind of restorative music
Nietzsche wished it was in his own power to compose.
The voluminous correspondence between Nietzsche and Gast
reveals an almost conspiratorial coolness towards Brahms. In
February i882 Gast alluded to a concertgiven in Vienna at which
"only Brahmsian things"were played. He was amused to learn that
Brahms had sent a wreath to Bayreuth at Wagner's death in I883,
imagining how insulted Cosima would be (she was). In I884 he
34 'The Will to Power',p. 66. For elaborationofthispointsee sections48-50 of 'The
Twilightofthe Idols'.
35 Quoted by Gerald Abraham, 'Nietzsche'sAttitudeto Wagner', Music & Letters,
xiii (1932), p. 64-

I8

'The Case ofWagner',p.

158.

'Selected Letters',p. 251. But Nietzschewas rarelyDavid to Gast's Saul. "I can
barelystand thisterrible,drearymusic",he once wroteabout Nietzsche'spiano-playing
in Venice in I884, "it should be consigned to hell!" Erich Podach, 'Gestalten um
Nietzsche' (Weimar, 1932), p. 203.
87

272

reporteda visitto Munich:

Brahmsis verypopular there,but forthe lifeof me I cannotstand
his gloomy,muttering,
brooding,depressingmusic.JustrecentlyI
have lookedonce again at somevolumesofBrahmswhichthebooksellersentformyinspection.A greyskyis preferableto such music.38
In November of the same year he heard performancesof Brahms's
firstand third symphonies. In both he found moments of great
charm as well as power, but admitted that very little touched him
deeply; the "lightning and thunder" allegro movements,he said,
had a certain stiffnessabout them, and the players were often
unable to bring the score to life. In October i888 he heard von
Billow rehearsing the 'Haydn Variations' with the Berlin Philharmonic, and dismissed them as "academic icebox-music". In
March i888 Nietzsche told Gast, with obvious relish, that von
Seydlitz had compared the khamsin(a hot, dry, Saharan wind) to
a Brahms symphony, "brutal, sandy, dry, incomprehensible,
enervating,ten timesworse than the sirocco".59
Only through such second-hand reports was Nietzsche aware
thatBrahmswas stillalive and productive.Then fatetook a dramatic
hand in the matter. On 24 September i886 Nietzsche wrote to
Malwida von Meysenbug of his pleasure in reading a review of
'Beyond Good and Evil' headed 'Nietzsche's Dangerous Book'. It
flatteredhim to be reviewed at all, and even more to be called
"dynamite". The reviewerwas JosefViktorWidmann, editor of the
Swiss paper Der Bund. He recognized Nietzsche's importance, and,
although he became increasingly disenchanted with some of his
deas (particularlyconcerningBrahms), went on reviewinghis works
as they appeared. Widmann had been an intimatefriendof Brahms
since the two men firstmet in I874; Brahms used to spend weekends
at Widmann's house in Thun, near Berne, "carrying off,for his
own perusal, the latest books which the editor had received for
review, indulging in endless debates with his host, delighting in
pointingout littleinaccuracies in Widmann's editorials,eating large
slices of his favoriteplum cake, and taking a friendlyinterestin all
that concerned each memberof the household, includingthe dog".4G
From i888 on, Brahms made regular visitsto Italy with Widmann
as his companion.
Widmann's laudatory review led to correspondence with
Nietzsche, and thus an indirectlink with Brahms was unexpectedly
forged. In July I887 Nietzsche learnt fromWidmann that Brahms
was reading 'Beyond Good and Evil' "with great interest",and was
'Die BriefePeter Gasts an FriedrichNietzsche' (Munich, I923-4),
ii, p. 17.
'GesammelteBriefe',iv, p. 362. Cf. "May I say that the tone ofBizet's orchestrais
almost the only one I can still endure? . . . How harmfulfor me is this Wagnerian
orchestraltone! I call it sirocco. I break out into a disagreeablesweat". 'The Case of
WMagner',
p. 157.
40 Karl Geiringer,'Brahms: His Life and Work', translatedby H. B. Weiner and
Bernard Miall (New York, i 96 I), p. 150.
38

89

273

about to apply himselfto 'The Gay Science'. Nietzschewas ecstatic:

readers of his books were a rare commodity,and few of these were
as distinguishedas Brahms. Apart fromthe personal satisfactionthis
afforded,a connectionwith Brahms held the promise of furthering
Gast's musical career. Gast had been seeking an opportunityof
getting'The Lion of Venice' performed;perhaps throughBrahms's
good offices,Nietzsche wondered, thismightbe done. He instructed
his publisherto send Brahms a copy of 'The Genealogy of Morals',
and also presentedhim, among other notables, with what he called
a ''musical commentary"to 'The Gay Science': thiswas the 'Hymn
to Life', a workformixed chorus and orchestra.He asked Widmann
if he would pass on the score to Brahms: "You see I am really, as
Wagner said, an unsuccessfulmusician,just as he is an unsuccessful
philologist".41 Nietzsche set great score by this 'Hymn', which Gast
had helped him to orchestrate: it was the musical testamentby
which he wanted to be remembered:
This small link with music and almostwith composers,to which
this'Hymn' doestestify,
is somethingof inestimablevalue, considering the psychologicalproblemwhichI am; and now it will make
Also in itselfthe 'Hymn'has somepassionand seriouspeople think.
ness and it definesat least one centralemotionamongthe emotions
fromwhichmyphilosophyhas grown.Last ofall, it is something
for
a littlebridge,whichmightenableeventhisponderousrace
Germans,
to becomeinterested
in one ofitsstrangest
monstrosities.42
He was, understandably,anxious to see how his sole published compositionwould be received.A numberoffriends
(includingKrug and
it
Nietzsche
wrote:
Overbeck) praised warmly.
Nobody else has acknowledgedreceipt of the 'Hymn', except
Brahms (who wrote "Dr. JohannesBrahms takes the libertyof
thankingyou mostsincerely
forwhatyou have senthim-he regards
it as a signalhonour,and he is grateful
fortheconsiderablestimulus
. . .") .43
he has derivedfromit. Most respectfully,
In the followingyear Nietzsche expressedpleasure at receivingsigns
of "piety and deep recognitionfrom a number of artists,among
them Dr. Brahms".44
Nietzsche, it is clear, was well satisfiedwith Brahms's response.
41Elisabeth F6rster-Nietzsche,
'FriedrichNietzscheund die Kritik',Morgen(1907),
P. 490.
42 'Selected Letters', p. 273. In I887 Gast played the 'Hymn' for two Italians,
revealingnothingof the text. Afterwardsone exclaimed: "Magnifico!Chevigore!Questa
# la veramusica
When Gast showedhimthe texthe was incredulous,and said
ecclesiastica!"
he had seen images of Calvary and the Stations of the Cross floatbeforehis eyes. Gast
relayedthestoryto Nietszche,who refers
jokinglyto his 'hymnus
ecclesiasticus'
in November
I887. 'Selected Letters', p. 275. Gast, like Wagner, thought Nietzsche's music too
churchy;the 'Hymn', he told Nietzsche,soundedlike a "crusader'smarch",moresuited
to the philosophyof a knightof the Holy Grail. 'Die BriefePeter Gasts', i, pp. 263-6.
4" 'Gesammelte Briefe', iv, p. 343. The German text reads: "J.B. erlaubt sich
hierdurchseinenverbindlichsten
Dank fuirIhre Sendungzu sagen: furdie Auszeichnung,
als welcheer sie empfindet,
und die bedeutsamenAnregungen,
welcheer Ihnenverdankt.
In hoherAchtungergeben".
44 'Selected Letters',p. 282.

274

As forBrahms,the biographyby his friendMax Kalbeck shows that

he was acutely embarrassed by Nietzsche's gestureand uncertain as
to how he should acknowledge the 'Hymn' and the copy of 'The
Genealogy of Morals'. Kalbeck reports finding Brahms one day
"I've done it! I've extricatedmyself
chortlingwith self-satisfaction:
beautifully from this Nietzsche business. I simply sent him my
visitingcard and thanked him politelyforthe stimulushe had given
me. The amusing thing is that I quietly avoided mentioningthe
music at all!" Brahms's face fell when Kalbeck pointed out that
this well-intentionedcard was a double-barrelled insult, firstto a
well-establishedwriterand secondly to an ill-establishedmusician.
Brahms laughed again: "It'll do him good-he is such a conceited
fellow, always praising himself"." Indeed, Brahms's card is so
ambiguously worded that only Nietzsche's conceit or thirst for
praise could have led him to see in it an unmistakablesign of "piety
and deep recognition". Ironically, Brahms privatelydismissed the
'Hymn' as "much the same as any young student's effort"," but it
is unlikelythat this curtjudgment ever came to Nietzsche's ears.
Brahms never had much time for philosophy. In his early days
in Vienna he had listened unmoved to Karl Tausig's exposition of
Schopenhauer: only Schopenhauer's theoriesabout music held any
interest for him. His library contained few philosophical works,
though he did possess a four-volumeedition of Lichtenberg's miscellaneous writings,and Lichtenbergclosely resemblesNietzsche in
wit and stylisticverve. He read, probably at Widmann's suggestion,
some of Nietzsche's books, and discussed them with his friends.One
of the closestof these,Elisabeth von Herzogenberg,summarized her
impressionsof Nietzsche in a letterto Brahms in November i888:
I have alreadyabused Nietzschewithsome vigour,and am always
lamentingthatsuchan intellectshouldhave gone to thewrongman.
For I do thinkhim extremelyclever despite all his vagaries,his
paradoxes,and his boundlessexaggerations.
I have seldom been so
fascinatedby anybookas by his 'GenealogiederMoral', forinstance,
and I would ratherdisagreewithone of his calibrethan agree with
manyothers,who are moreorthodoxbut have less to say. . . . One
has to siftthewheatfromthechaffas one reads,and exercisemuch
toleration;but the remainderis worthit, and thereare certain
thingsno one but thisodd personis able to say.47
She reveals that she has heard that the 'Hymn to Life' is "beneath
criticism",and is appalled by Nietzsche's vanitywhich, she remnarks
with unconsciousforesight,"will bringhim to a lunatic asylumyet!"
(She mistakenlybelieved, as did Widmann and Richard Pohl, that
Max Kalbeck, 'JohannesBrahms' (Berlin,I 9 I), iv, pp. 157-8.
46JohannesBrahms,'The HerzogenbergCorrespondence',edited by Max Kalbeck
(New York, 1909), p. 373. A certainpiquancy is lentthisdismissivejudgmentby knowing
that several commentatorshave foundthe 'Hymn to Life', which,afterall, is based on
the chorale of the 'Hymn to Friendship',reminiscentof Brahms. Clearly this was not
Brahms's own opinion, though he had a habit of humorouslydenigratinghis own
compositions.
47 Ibid.,pp. 370-7I.
45

275

Nietzsche had himselfin mind when he stated, in 'The Case of

Wagner', that there was "only one musician capable today of
to
creatingan overturethat is ofonepiece"-in fact,he was referring
Gast.) Brahms replied that Nietzsche was reputed to be "a fitting
illustrationof his 'Jenseitsvon Gut und Bose' . . . Don't waste the
precious daylighttoo oftenby reading such things,and remember
the saying: 'The reversemay be true' ".48 Other remarksscattered
throughout the correspondence suggest that Brahms found
Nietzsche's work as lugubrious as Nietzsche found Brahms's music.
This, then,was the state of affairsas it existeduntil the publication of 'The Case of Wagner' of i888. Nietzsche was aware he had
reserved the "strongest passages" for the two postscriptsto this
work. As he told Gast:
I take the problem
A lot of pepperand salt; in thesecond
postscript
by the hornsin amplifiedform(I shan'teasilyfindanotheropportunityto speak of thesemattersagain; the formchosen this time
allowsme many"liberties").Amongotherthings,a judgmentofthe
dead also forBrahms.49
A declaration of war upon Wagner, Nietzsche insisted, did not
imply a celebrationof othermusicianswho, beside Wagner, were of
no account whatever. Wagner had the courage to explore musical
decadence to the verydepths: othermusicianshesitatedto take such
a step, withthe resultthat theirmusic is less decisivethan Wagner's:
What doesJohannesBrahmsmatternow?-His good fortunewas a
he was takenforWagner'santagonistGermanmisunderstanding:
an antagonistwas needed.-Thatdoes not make fornecessary
music,
thatmakes,above all, fortoo much music.-If one is not richone
The sympathy
Brahmsinspires
shouldhave prideenoughforpoverty.
undeniablyat certainpoints,quite aside fromthispartyinterest,
longseemedenigmaticto me-until finally
partymisunderstanding,
I discovered,almostby accident,that he affectsa certaintypeof
man. His is themelancholyofimpotence;he does notcreateout ofan
for abundance. If we discountwhat he
abundance, he languishes
stylesimitates,what he borrowsfromgreatold or exotic-modern
he is a master of imitation-what remainsas specificallyhis is
yearning.-Thisis feltby all who are fullof yearningand dissatisfactionof any kind. He is too littlea person,too littlea centre.
This is understoodby those who are 'impersonal',those on the
periphery-and they love him for that. In particular,he is the
women . . . . Brahmsis
musicianfora certaintypeof dissatisfied
touchingas longas he is secretlyenrapturedor mournsforhimselfin thishe is 'modern'; he becomescold and of no furtherconcern
to us as soon as he becomes the heirof the classical composers.People like to call Brahmsthe heir of Beethoven:I knowno more
cautiouseuphemism.50
48Ibid.,p. 373. "Vielleichtistauch das Gegenteilwahr". Ever sincehe had stumbled
on this saying in Beethoven,Brahms applied it almost habitually to contemporary
philosophershe thoughtsophisticalor equivocal.
49 'The Case of Wagner', pp. I94-5.
bO Ibid.,pp. I 87-8. Gast wroteto Nietzscheon i i AugustI888: "By 'exotic-modern
I take it, to the Hungarian Dances. They were not
styles'in Brahmsyou are referring,
writtenby him, but by composerssome of whom are still living.But Brahmsdid not
276

There is nothing particularly novel about this critique; the

remarkable thing about it is its correspondenceto the officialBayreuthparty line. Wagner, too, had objected to Brahms's mechanical
over-productivity;he, too, had seen Brahms as a backward-looking
eclectic and shamelessplagiarist,and was nauseated by von Biilow's
descriptionof the firstsymphonyas Beethoven's tenth:
I knowfamouscomposerswhomyou can meetat concertmasquerades, todayin a ballad singer'sdisguise. . . tomorrowin Handel's
Hallelujah wig, anothertime as a Jewishczardas player,and then
deckedout as a numberten.5'
again as genuinesymphonists
Folksong, Handelian pastiche (the 'Song of Triumph'), Hungarian
dances, symphony-Brahms was master of them all. But, Nietzsche
agreed, such masterycould not save him, forBrahms was unable to
furnishany justification for his use of traditional forms: he was
not "strong, proud, self-assured,healthyenough" to imitate them
well, and his imitationremained on the level of counterfeit:
Nothingcan cure musicin what counts,fromwhat counts,fromthe
fatalityof being an expressionof the physiologicalcontradictionthemostconscientious
training,
ofbeingmodern.
The bestinstruction,
intimacyon principle,even isolationin the company of the old
masters-all thisremainsmerelypalliative-to speakmoreprecisely,
illusory-forone no longerhas the presuppositionin one's body,
whetherthis be the strongrace of a Handel or whetherit be the
overflowing
animal vitalityof a Rossini.52
Wagner put it more crudely.Brahms was one of the "odd guardians
of musical chastity",he wrote in his essay 'On Conducting', which
one scholar describesas a ratherunsubtleattemptto equate Brahms's
classical virtuositywith"primness","woodenness", and, byinnuendo,
with the impotence of the castrated.53 In Bayreuth circles it was
rumoured in fairlyloud whispersthat Brahms was "the eunuch of
music". By coining the notoriousphrase "the melancholy of impotence" Nietzsche was perhaps atoning to Wagner's memoryforthe
hopes he mistakenlyplaced in Brahms and for the unpleasantness
of the 'Song of Triumph' episode and its repercussions.
'The Case of Wagner' caused some consternationin theBrahms
dovecote and the pigeons began to flutter.Yet Brahms refrainedfrom
replyingto Nietzsche's charges; such was his detestationof publicity
that he once declared he would not reply publicly even if a newspaper accused him of murdering his father.54He blandly ignored
mentionthem by name, so that everybodybelieved that he himselfhad writtenthem
for two pianos. Even the title gave that impression-not a prettystory! It was these
dances which made Brahms famous!" 'Die BriefePeter Gasts an FriedrichNietzsche',
ii, p. 148. In fact,Brahmswas provablyguiltlessofplagiarismor dishonesty(see Specht,
'Brahms',pp. 235-6); Gast and Nietzschehad become so unsympathetic
to Brahmsthat
they eagerlyaccepted at face-valuedisparagingrumoursthat were gristto theirmill.
51 Quoted by Robert W. Gutmann,'Richard Wagner: The Man, His Mind and His
Music' (New York, 1968), p. 397.
5" 'The Case of Wagner', p. I88.
I Gutmann,Op. cit., p. 38in.
5" Specht, 'Brahms',p. 59.
277

Nietzsche's personal insinuations,mildly protestingto his friends

that it was nonsenseto call him Wagner's antagonist,"for I am not
the man to be placed at the head of any party whatsoever.I must
go my way alone and in peace, and I never crossedthat ofothers".'6
Elisabeth von Herzogenberg tried to soothe his ruffledfeelings:
[Nietzsche's]descriptionofWagner'sstyleis excellent,betterthan
anythingelse I have read-don't you agree? But whenhe goeson to
discredittheworthand styleofanothercomposer,so preciousto us,
thesubjectwithcarelesslevity,I simplyignoreit as I do
dismissing
and many
depreciationof Christianity
his flippant,short-sighted
otherthings.56
Widmann rallied to Brahms'sdefencein theBund,calling Nietzsche's
portrait absurdly inaccurate. Allowance might be made, he conceded, for the possibilitythat the nomadic Nietzsche had not yet
had the opportunityof hearing any of Brahms's symphonies,yet
the scoreswere available had he wanted to peruse them.Moreover,it
was inconsistentof Nietzsche so presumptuouslyto belittle a man
whom a shortwhile beforehe had respectedenough to favourwith
a copy of the 'Hymn to Life'.57 In a later article he explained this
inconsistencyby suggestingthat Nietzsche had been offendedby
the manner in which Brahms had acknowledged the 'Hymn'; even
if Nietzsche had been pleased by the wording at first,he may later
have been insulted by the omission of any direct referenceto his
composition (Widmann claimed he knew frompersonal experience
how changeable Nietzsche's opinions were). Wounded vanity, he
concluded, was at the bottom of it all.5s
Gast indignantlyrepudiated this charge. The card, he insisted,
bore eloquent witnessto Brahms's magnanimity,exposed as he was
to many ill-informedand slanderousremarkson Nietzschecurrently
rife in Viennese circles. Nietzsche himselfwas delighted with the
card, but this was really beside the point: Nietzsche never allowed
personal factors to interferewith the objectivity of his zsthetic
judgments. The view of Brahms in 'The Case of Wagner', Gast
maintained, had been reached long beforethe 'Hymn' was sent. He
summarized thisview:
Without question Nietzsche respected Brahms; he particularly
hisausteremasculinemanner,
admiredhisNorthGermanseriousness,
of 'endlessmelody'[derplanlosen
his rejection,despiteitsfascination,
Of course
his sense of logic and construction.
Durcheinandermusik],
therewas a good deal in Brahms'smusic which he foundalien,
emotionallycold, lifeless,stiff.. . In Brahmshe missed the immediatelycaptivating,the delightful,the fanciful,the emotional
crescendo,theexuberanceofimagination,thesheermagicofsound.
5 Ibid., p. 262. Specht adds (Brahmswas then near death): "I did not at the time
dare to ask the sick master:What ofthe manifesto?"
p. 371.
56 'The HerzogenbergCorrespondence',
57 'Nietzsches Abfall von Wagner', Bund, No. 322 (Bern, 2I
November I888).
Widmann could not be expected to know of Nietzsche's inabilityto read orchestral
scores.
(Berlin),v (I897), pp. 326-8.
b8 'Brahmsund Nietzsche',Zunkuft

278

and ease of truegeniusand what

Above all he missedthesimplicity
springsfromthis-light,gaietyand joy, in short,all the thingshe
wantedin themusicof thefuture.,,
As a known deserterfrom the Wagnerian cause Nietzsche wanted
to guard against the possible misapprehensionthat Brahms represented his musical ideal: that is why,Gast argued, only the negative
side of his attitude to Brahms appears in 'The Case of Wagner'.
Gast's account is substantiallycorrect; he was, after all, in a
betterpositionthan anyone to know the factsof the case. Widmann,
however, persevered in his belief that Nietzsche was being vindictive-a view that certain of Brahms's biographers, including the
influentialKalbeck, have unfortunatelyperpetuated.6o Whatever
we think of Nietzsche's estimate it is wholly consistentwith his
earlier thinking. But Widmann remained unconvinced by Gast's
argument,and vowed that he would have nothingmore to do with
Nietzsche. As his later reviewsof 'The Antichrist'and 'The Will to
Power' show, he did not keep his promise. Furthermore,he conceived the idea of writingan anti-naturalisticplay to combat some
of Nietzsche's pernicious ideas. It bore the borrowed title 'Jenseits
von Gut und Bose' and received its firstperformancein the ducal
court of Meiningen on 29 January I893; Brahms,who had admired
the play fromthe beginning,was in the audience. Widmann told a
friendhow dlelightedhe was with the "deep impression" the play
had made:
What pleasesme mostof all is thefactthatBrahmswas so generous
in his praise-I have neverheard him praise anythingso ecstatically. He proposeda toastto the play while we were havingsupper
That is a quite unprecedented
in the castle afterthe performance.
thingforBrahmsto do!86
Later that year Brahms told Clara Schumann that she would need
to know something of Nietzsche's philosophy and its influence in
order to appreciate Widmann's "very fine" play. 62
Nietzsche, of course, knew nothingof these later developments.
just before his collapse in a Turin streetin January I889 he had
been gratifiedto learn that 'The Case of Wagner' had received
"veritable acts of homage" forits discerningexposure of decadence
(Berlin),v (I897), p. 268.
59'Nietzscheund Brahms',Zukunft
60 Cf. Kalbeck, 'Brahms', iv, p. I58; Walter & Paula Rehberg,'JohannesBrahms:
I947), p. 324. Specht ('Brahms',p. 260) is an honoursein Leben und scinWerk' (ZuOrich,
able exception;he also puts forwardan attractivespeculation: "If Nietzschehad known
the master'slast chamber worksand been able to receive them in the whole sanityof
dithyrambicnature,he would have revisedhis opinion of Brahms,who
his sun-thirsting,
never before made music that so bravely affirmedlife and so joyously enjoyed its
sensuouspleasure" ('Brahms', p. 322).
61 Elisabeth & Max Widmann, 'J. V. Widmann: ein Lebensbild' (Leipzig, 1922-4),
p. 208. In Novemberthe same year the play was presentedin Berlin,the strongholdof
a number of pro-Nietzsche
naturalism.Though acclaimed by the public, it infuiriated
critics,one of whom unkindlyremarkedthat Widmann had as much understandingof
Nietzscheas a cow has of a steam-engine.
62 Clara Schumann & JohannesBrahms,'Briefeaus der Jahren I 853-I 896', edited
by B. Litzmann (Leipzig, 1927), ii, pp. 528-9.

279

in modern music and musicians: "My remarkson Brahms are said

to be the last word in psychologicalsagacity".63 As a patient at the
Jena Clinic he spoke little,and only about music; fromtime to time
he would break out into boisteroussong. He still improvised,with
sadly decreasing skill, at the piano; it was a way of keeping him
occupied and calm. The death of Brahms on 3 April 1897 lefthim
unmoved, as did the death, a few weeks later, of his mother,who
had nursed him with such devotion forseven arduous years. Before
long Nietzsche was dead too. At the funeralceremonytwo friends
of his sistersang a duet, a song of lamentation-but it was not an
appropriatepiece by Bizet, or Gast or even Nietzschehimself.It was
the duet, Op. 66, no. 2, 'Wenn ein miider Leib begraben/Klingen
Glocken ihn zur Ruh', byJohannes Brahms.
[Researchforthisarticlewas made possibleby a travelgrantfrom
toacknowledge.]
theCanada Council,whoseassistanceI amimostgrateful
63

'Selected Letters',p. 323.

280