towards reviving it. The critic who dares not attack what is bad, is but a half-hearted supporter of what is good.' The doings of 'the three archfoes of art—those who have no talent, those who have vulgar talent, and those who having real talent, write too much,' are not to be left in peace; 'their latest phase, the result of a mere cultivation of executive technique,' is to be combatted as inartistic. 'The older time,' on the other hand, 'and the works it produced, are to be recalled with insistance, since it is only at these pure sources that new beauties in art can be found.' Moreover the 'Zeitschrift' is to assist in bringing in a new 'poetic' period by its benevolent encouragement of the higher efforts of young artists, and to accelerate its advent. The editing was in the hands of Robert Schumann, Friedrich Wieck, Ludwig Schunke, and Julius Knorr.
Of all these Schunke alone was exclusively a musician. That gifted pianist, who belonged to a widely dispersed family of esteemed musicians, came to Leipzig in 1833, and became a great friend of Schumann's, but died at the end of the following year at the early age of 24. The three other editors were by education half musicians and half littérateurs, even Julius Knorr (born 1807) having studied philology in Leipzig. Schumann co-operated largely in Schunke's contributions (signed with the figure 3), for handling the pen was not easy to him. Hartmann of Leipzig was at first the publisher and proprietor of the Zeitschrift, but at the beginning of 1835 it passed into the hands of J. A. Barth of Leipzig, Schumann becoming at the same time proprietor and sole editor. He continued the undertaking under these conditions till the end of June 1844; so that his management of the paper extended over a period of above ten years. On Jan. 1, 1845, Franz Brendel became the editor, and after the summer of 1844 Schumann never again wrote for it, with the exception of a short article[1] on Johannes Brahms to be mentioned hereafter.
Schumann's own articles are sometimes signed with a number—either 2 or some combination with 2, such as 12, 22, etc. He also concealed his identity under a variety of names—Florestan, Eusebius, Raro, Jeanquirit. In his articles we meet with frequent mention of the Davidsbündler, a league or society of artists or friends of art who had views in common. This was purely imaginary, a half-humorous, half-poetical fiction of Schumann's, existing only in the brain of its founder, who thought it well fitted to give weight to the expression of various views of art, which were occasionally put forth as its utterances. The idea betrays some poetic talent, since in this way mere critical discussions gain the charm of dramatic life. The characters which most usually appear are Florestan and Eusebius, two personages in whom Schumann endeavoured to embody the two opposite sides of his nature. The vehement, stormy, rough element is represented by Florestan; the gentler and more poetic one by Eusebius. These two figures are obviously imitated from Vult and Walt in Jean Paul's 'Flegeljahre'; indeed Schumann's literary work throughout is strongly coloured with the manner of Jean Paul, and frequent reference is made to his writings. Now and then, as moderator between these antagonistic characters, who of course take opposite views in criticism, 'Master Raro' comes in. In him Schumann has conceived a character such as at one time he had himself dreamed of becoming. The explanation of the name 'Davidsbündler' is given at the beginning of a 'Shrove Tuesday discourse' by Florestan in the year 1835. 'The hosts of David are youths and men destined to slay all the Philistines, musical or other.' In the college-slang of Germany the 'Philistine' is the non-student, who is satisfied to live on in the ordinary routine of every-day life, or—which comes to the same thing in the student's mind—the man of narrow, sober, prosaic views, as contrasted with the high-flown poetry and enthusiasm of the social life of a German university. Thus, in the name of Idealism, the 'Davidsbündler' wage war against boorish mediocrity, and when Schumann regarded it as the function of his paper to aid in bringing in a new 'poetical phase' in music he meant just this. Though Schumann was himself the sole reality in the 'Davidsbündlerschaft,' he indulged his fancy by introducing personages of his acquaintance whose agreement with his views he was sure of. He quietly included all the principal co-operators in the Zeitschrift, and even artists such as Berlioz, whom he did not know, but in whom he felt an interest, and was thus justified in writing to A. von Zuccamaglio in 1836:—'By the Davidsbund is figured an intellectual brotherhood which ramifies widely, and I hope may bear golden fruit.' He brings in the brethren, who are not actually himself, from time to time in the critical discussions; and the way in which he contrives to make this motley troupe of romantic forms live and move before the eyes of the reader is really quite magical. He could say with justice:—'We are now living a romance the like of which has perhaps never been written in any book.' We meet with a Jonathan, who may perhaps stand for Schunke (on another occasion however Schumann designates himself by this name); a Fritz Friedrich, probably meant for Lyser[2] the painter, a lover of music; Serpentin is Carl Banck, a clever composer of songs, who at the outset was one of his most zealous and meritorious fellow-workers; Gottschalk Wedel is Anton von Zuccamaglio [App. p.791 "Zuccalmagio"], then living in Warsaw, who had made a name by his collection of German and foreign 'Volkslieder'; Chiara is of course Clara Wieck, and Zilia (apparently shortened from Cecilia) is probably the same. Felix Mendelssohn appears under the name of Felix Meritis, and the name Walt occurs once (in 1836, 'Aus den Büchern der Davidsbündler,' ii. Tanzlitteratur). It cannot be asserted that any particular person was meant, still his direct reference to Jean Paul's
- ↑ 'Neue Bahnen,' New Paths, Oct. 28. 1853.
- ↑ Author of the sketch of Beethoven engraved at p. 170 of vol. i of this Dictionary.
