MUSIC AND MORALITY: From the library of a composer: Marie Gjertz and music from moral and religious point of view
Journal Title: Miscellanea Anthropologica et Sociologica - Year 2015, Vol 16, Issue 3
Abstract
The Liszt collection at The Liszt Ferenc Memorial Museum and Research Centre containsa very interesting book by Marie Gjertz, La musique au point de vue moral et religieux (1859).Marie Gjertz (1819–1862) was a Norwegian-French pianist, composer, feminist, andwriter inspired by Fourier’s socialism and Catholic theology. In this paper, I examineGjertz’s ideas presented in her book where she offers a unique idea about instrumentalmusic, namely, that its principles must be based on Catholic moral rules. Gjertz providesa list of musical sins (e.g. pride in Beethoven’s piano sonatas) and connects them withmusical theories, especially with the François-Joseph Fétis’s theory of harmony (1844) andhis idea about ordre omnitonique.She finds an antidote to music in Catholic catechism: in contemplation and understandingof God’s love which is a source of beauty. The most important element in musicis rhythm in which one can see a really human sentiment as a source of internal movementof the soul.Marie Gjertz shows also the gravest of musical sins – l’art pour l’art, the abandonmentof Gregorian music, the revolt, the incorrect diagnosis of one’s own abilities (by Cramer,Kalkbrenner, Hummel), and the abandonment of the sentiment as a source of inspiration.François-Joseph Fétis responded to Marie Gjertz in a series of four texts published inRevue et Gazette Musicale. He concluded that Gjertz did not understand his books, butshe was an intelligent and unique author, and that her idea of moral value of music was aninteresting approach to instrumental music.
Authors and Affiliations
Małgorzata Gamrat
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