Musical Offerings, Spring 2019

30 Dellaperute ⦁ Emanuel Bach Empfindsamkeit in Philosophy Georgia Cowart critically examines the usage of the word Empfindsamkeit (sentiment) by French, English, and German philosophers in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Cowart asserts that philosophies in music do not come about by something “mysteriously ‘in the air,’” but are rather deeply connected to the intellectual currents of that period. 2 She believes the word Empfindsamkeit is often “too narrowly associated with style” by today’s scholars, suggesting instead that the term was used more broadly back then to describe an “attitude and an aesthetic system,” rather than simply referring to a small group of German composers. 3 Through Cowart’s research, the reader will see that Empfindsamkeit is not just a pre- Romantic musical style, but also a pre-Romantic philosophy. The term Empfindsamkeit , as originally used by seventeenth-century French and English scholars, was devoid of emotional connotations and referred rather to sensory perceptions. The word was used frequently by the English philosophers John Locke and Thomas Hobbes, who taught that ideas in the mind were formed as a result of information obtained through the senses. This was contrary to the view that ideas existed innately in the mind, as was taught previously by Descartes and his followers. This shift in the philosophical view of the senses as a medium for developing ideas resulted in a subsequent shift in the philosophical view of the arts. Whereas previously the arts were considered irrelevant when it came to philosophy, now they were accepted as valid ways of communicating solid ideas. 4 Beginning in the late seventeenth century, French critics began to link Empfindsamkeit with good taste ( bon gout ). Prior to this, good taste was believed to be based on a set of objective universal standards. In Emanuel Bach’s time, good taste was now thought of as being derived from subjective personal experiences. 5 This distinction influenced French art during this period, especially in the debate concerning line and color. 2 Georgia Cowart, “Critical Language and Musical Thought in the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries,” College Music Symposium 27 (1987): 14, http://www.jstor.org/stable/40373840 . 3 Ibid. 4 Ibid., 19-20. 5 Ibid., 20.