During 1845–1846 Schumann and Wagner developed more contrapuntal approaches to composition. The extent to which their compositional styles changed in a common direction—toward a style that was both more contrapuntal, more densely motivic, and engaged in processes of motivic/thematic transformation—has largely gone unexamined. My aim is to show that the stylistic advances that Schumann and Wagner both made in Dresden in 1845–1846 stemmed from a deepened understanding of Beethoven’s contrapuntal techniques and strategies in the Ninth Symphony. Whether the original insights were Schumann’s or Wag ... More

During 1845–1846 Schumann and Wagner developed more contrapuntal approaches to composition. The extent to which their compositional styles changed in a common direction—toward a style that was both more contrapuntal, more densely motivic, and engaged in processes of motivic/thematic transformation—has largely gone unexamined. My aim is to show that the stylistic advances that Schumann and Wagner both made in Dresden in 1845–1846 stemmed from a deepened understanding of Beethoven’s contrapuntal techniques and strategies in the Ninth Symphony. Whether the original insights were Schumann’s or Wagner’s, the evidence provided by their compositions from this pivotal year and the surrounding years suggests that they discussed Beethoven’s Ninth with each other in the months preceding the performance of this work that Wagner conducted on Palm Sunday 1846. What appears to have interested them both was (1) Beethoven’s use of counterpoint that involved contrary motion, and (2) the way in which the “Ode to Joy” melody was developed gradually in the preceding movements, so that the appearance of the theme in the finale was dramatically and musically motivated.