“Forward to Haydn!”: Schenker's Politics and the German Revival of Haydn

Abstract

Abstract While Heinrich Schenker consistently espoused the superiority of the German masterworks, his biases toward Haydn's works laid the groundwork for a reversal of nearly a century of neglect toward that composer's music in German-speaking lands. The circumstances of Schenker's personal life together with his reaction to the socioeconomic and political pressures created by the harsh terms imposed on Germany and Austria by the Treaties of Versailles and Saint-Germain led him to make the restoration of Haydn's stature as a compositional genius a crucial battle in his fight to reclaim German identity in the wake of the First World War. His mentorship of Anthony van Hoboken, who in turn underwrote Schenker's publications, created a partnership that redefined the cultural significance of Haydn's music and provided for the preservation of numerous Haydn autographs. Schenker's writings on Haydn refuted popular myths on the composer and replaced them with detailed arguments rooted in analysis in an effort to demonstrate the composer's musical significance to a nation in crisis specifically and the world at large.