Creating “Progressive” Communities through Programmatic Chamber Music

Abstract

This chapter examines three programmatic works for strings, each with a different relationship to the cultural and political scene of its day: George Onslow's string quintet “The Bullet” deals with a hunting accident; Niels Gade's string quartet “Willkommen und Abschied” (Welcome and departure) interprets a Goethe poem; and Bedřich Smetana's string quartet “From My Life” provides a politically charged autobiography in tones. In all three cases, the composer has addressed a particular group of performers or listeners by using musical style and the written word to create a narrative that would resonate with a shared experience or identity. As such, these three works demonstrate the range of possibilities for programmaticism throughout the nineteenth century, as well as different points along the spectrum of depiction, from “characteristic” works that narrate a series of events with mimetic devices to more abstract works that attempt to translate a poetic ideal into musical sounds.