Catechism of Musical Aesthetics

One of the most important musicologists of his age, Hugo Riemann (1849–1919) influenced an entire generation in its thinking. He held several teaching posts before settling at the University of Leipzig in 1895. A prolific writer on music theory, publishing works on almost every aspect of the subject, he is best remembered for his celebrated Musik-Lexikon (1882). These three lectures, setting out his thinking on how we listen to music, were first published in 1888 as Wie hören wir Musik? and in 1895 in this English translation by Heinrich Bewerunge (1862–1923), plainchant scholar at St Patrick's College, Maynooth. Each lecture deals with a different aspect of the overarching question posed in the original title, revealing Riemann's thoughts on the transformation of hearing into feeling, the different psychological effects of dynamics, emotional responses to rhythm and harmony, and passive and active listening.