Death and Resurrection Motifs in Narratives of Berlioz's and Liszt's Lives: D'Ortigue, Ramann, and Berlioz's Mémoires

Cormac, Joanne

Abstract

The ways in which biographers mythologize their subjects’ lives (and the way they mythologize their own lives) have long been a topic of research in life-writing. Even though several musicologists have identified mythologizing “motifs,” the mythologizing function of “death” and “resurrection” remains under-theorized in relation to musical biography. Such motifs appear in biographies of Berlioz and Liszt written during their lifetimes, beginning with the earliest biographies of the composers, which were written by a friend, the music critic Joseph d’Ortigue. The meanings of these episodes changed when they appeared in auto/biographies written towards the end of their lives: Berlioz’s Mémoires and Lina Ramann’s Franz Liszt als Künstler und Mensch (the first “official” biography of Liszt, written partly under his guidance). In both of d’Ortigue’s biographical sketches, “resurrection” is associated with the broader social regeneration taking place in Paris in the wake of the July 1830 Revolution, thereby magnifying the composers’ importance. The ability to understand and conquer death is also positioned as an integral part of the composers’ apprenticeships, further inflating and mythologizing their status as artists.

Citation

Cormac, J. (2019). Death and Resurrection Motifs in Narratives of Berlioz's and Liszt's Lives: D'Ortigue, Ramann, and Berlioz's Mémoires. Journal of Musicological Research, 38(3-4), 216-232. https://doi.org/10.1080/01411896.2019.1634474

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: May 31, 2019
• Online Publication Date: Jul 26, 2019
• Publication Date: Jul 26, 2019
• Deposit Date: Jul 9, 2019
• Publicly Available Date: Jan 27, 2021
• Journal: Journal of Musicological Research
• Print ISSN: 0141-1896
• Electronic ISSN: 1547-7304
• Publisher: Routledge
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 38
• Issue: 3-4
• Pages: 216-232
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/01411896.2019.1634474
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/2289358
• Publisher URL: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/01411896.2019.1634474
• Additional Information: This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in Journal of Musicological Research on 26.07.2019, available online: http://www.tandfonline.com/10.1080/01411896.2019.1634474
• Contract Date: Jul 9, 2019