Tolstoy and Music

Abstract

usic had an enormous influence on Tolstoy. What he experienced was far more complex than mere enjoyment. Music penetrated the deepest recesses of his soul, it stirred his whole being, it released in him embryonic thoughts and emotions of which he himself was not cognizant. Waves of delight, joy, fear of losing these seconds of almost divine uplift, flooded him, suffocated him. He felt like crying and laughing at once and was filled with the strongest urge to create. I remember how sometimes, after listening to some of his favorite composers, Chopin, Mozart, Hayden, Bach, Schubert, played by his friends, who were great Russian musicians, he would leave his favorite grandfather's armchair (which we called the Voltaire armchair), and would go to his study. I do not doubt that he wrote down thoughts that were inspired by this music.