“Art is not an end in itself, but a means of addressing humanity.”
Modest Mussorgsky
As philosopher Richard Wollheim says, art is “one of the most elusive of the traditional problems of human culture.” In its simplest manifestation, art is a form of communication that serves as a vehicle for the expression of emotions and ideas. As ideas and beliefs are culturally specific and constantly changing over time, there really is no generally agreed definition of what constitutes art. That being said, the classical branches of the visual arts are identified as painting, sculpture and architecture. Literature and poetry are considered part of the humanities or as one of the arts, while music, alongside theatre, film and dance belong to the performing arts. In this section you will discover not only specific explorations of individual art forms, but also a more detailed probing of the relationship between the visual arts and music, including painting and music, sculpture and music and architecture and music. Originally, poetry and music were treated as a unity, but gradually they have become more independent. Nevertheless, the two art forms have never forgotten their shared genetic makeup, and been intertwined for millennia. Art and music have engaged in a dynamic relationship that reveals a diverse range of human activity intended to be appreciated for their beauty.
While Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov’s (1844-1908) symphonic works remain extremely popular, his art songs, commonly termed “Romances,” are largely unknown and unfairly neglected. An integral part of Russian culture, the “Romance” indicated an intimate lyrical genre that was supposed to “touch the
Johann Paul Friedrich Richter (1763-1825), much better known under his penname “Jean Paul,” was one of the most prolific and prominent writers of his generation. Owing to the structural and linguistic idiosyncrasies of his writings, he was heavily criticized in
Alfons Karl Zwicker: Vom Klang der Bilder In his cycle for large orchestra and solo piano, Of the Sound of Pictures (Von Klang der Bilder), the Swiss composer, pianist, and painter Alfons Karl Zwicker (b. 1952) chose 5 modern artists:
Johannes Maria Staud: Sydenham Music Camille Pissarro (1830–1903) was a Danish-French Impressionist and Neo-Impressionist painter who was born on the island of Saint Thomas in the then Danish West Indies. He was sent for education in France at age 12,
The French composer André Jolivet (1905–1974) was the sole pupil in France of the composer Edgar Varèse (1883–1965). Jolivet was the son of an artist and pianist and from his parents, soon excelled in both fields. One of his music
Flor Alpaerts: James Ensor Suite The Belgian artist and printmaker James Baron Ensor (1860–1949) left school at age 15 to start his artistic training and two years later entered the Académie Royale des Beaux-Arts in Brussels. His early work was
Geoffrey Poole: Crossing Ohashi Bridge The travellers on the bridge hunch down under their small straw coverings – the rain is pouring down, catching them on the exposed walkway. Part of Hiroshige’s series One Hundred Famous Views of Edo, which
American poet Emily Dickinson’s three-stanza lyrical poem ‘”Hope” is the thing with feathers” gives us the idea of a mysterious singing being. Invisible to the eye, singing songs without words, the being can be heard through the most difficult times
