Why German composers ignored Walt Whitman for nearly a century
In short: Despite a public fascination with Walt Whitman, German-speaking composers were remarkably slow to set his poetry to music. While writers embraced his work early on, the musical world remained silent for decades, only beginning to turn toward his verses in a predominantly political light after 1945.
The delay in musical adaptation is a historical anomaly. By the early 20th century, 'free verse' was already a significant force in both literature and music, and the German tradition of lied and Gesang remained unbroken. Even as music moved toward a 'prose' character—losing traditional structures like tonality—there was no inherent literary chauvinism preventing the use of foreign texts. High-quality translations of Whitman's 'Leaves of Grass' were already circulating in Viennese music circles. Arnold Schoenberg explored how verbal texts could prevent aesthetic disintegration in music lacking tonality. These compositions were intended to forge a completely new musical language. Composers also frequently set works by other foreign authors, such as those by Baudelaire.
The primary obstacle was not the quality of the translation or the poet's reputation. Instead, the musical community's engagement with Whitman remained sparse until the mid-1940s. Early exceptions existed, such as Franz Schreker's 1924 cycle 'Vom ewigen Leben' (Of Life Eternal), which treated Whitman's work through a universal, transcendentalist lens. However, these were outliers in a landscape where Whitman was largely overlooked by the mainstream musical establishment for decades. Schreker utilized specific poems like "Roots and Leaves Themselves Alone" for his cycle. His work stood in contrast to the broader neglect of the poet's verses. The Viennese music circles were already familiar with the translations provided by Johannes Schlaf.
Post-1945, the orientation of Whitman's musical settings shifted significantly toward the political. This transition suggests a specific cultural shift in how the poet was perceived. Rather than being viewed through the lens of transcendentalism, he became firmly established in the German-speaking consciousness as a poet of war and the profound grief associated with it. This shift highlights how the 'rhythm' of a poet's work can be recontextualized by the political anxieties of the era in which it is finally heard. The shift to political themes reflects a specific cultural understanding of the poet's legacy. This interpretation focuses on his role as a voice for those mourning conflict. It suggests a deep connection between the musical setting and the era's specific historical weight.
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Sources
- Summary by Intellect · source: Music in the Rhythm of War: Othmar Schoeck and the Beginning of Whitman-Music in the German-Speaking Countries
- Also: Rhythm of War
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