Heroines in perversity: Marie Schmith, animal magnetism, and the Schubert circle

Nineteenth Century Music

Volumn 21, Issue 2, 1997, Pages 223-242

  Feurzeig, Lisa ^a  

^a NONE

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EID: 20444432623     PISSN: 01482076     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.2307/746899     Document Type: Article

References (61)

1. Dr. Havemann was working in the Schnorr Family Archive at the Sächsische Landesbibliothek, preparing summaries of Ludwig Schnorr's "Protokols," that is, the case histories of his magnetic treatments
2. Harry Goldschmidt, "Schubert und kein Ende," Beiträge zur Musikwissenschaft 25 (1983), 288-92
3. Bruchmann's role in linking Schubert to the poet Platen is discussed in Kristina Muxfeldt, "Schubert, Platen, and the Myth of Narcissus," Journal of the American Musicological Society 49 (1996), 502-06
4. "[D]aß ich während der ganzen Reise in einer vollkommenen Auflösung des Geistes, die von einem physischen Fieber begleitet war, mich befand; daß ich alle Realität und Wirklichkeit verloren hatte, und einer Somnambule mit Recht verglichen werden konnte, die in schrecklichem Durste nach der magischen Kraft des Magnetiseurs dem Augenblicke entgegenlechzt, wo sie in seine Nähe gebracht werden soll." Bruchmann was describing his strong need for authority during his 1821 journey to Erlangen to hear philosophical lectures by Friedrich Wilhelm Joseph Schelling. See Franz v. Bruchmann, der Freund J. Chr. Senns und des Grafen Aug. v. Platen: Eine Selbstbiographie aus dem Wiener Schubertkreise nebst Briefen, ed. Moriz Enzinger (Innsbruck, 1930), p. 204
5. The history of animal magnetism has been the subject of much research. Useful books include: Vincent Buranelli, The Wizard from Vienna (New York, 1975)
6. Henri F. Ellenberger, The Discovery of the Unconscious: The History and Evolution of Dynamic Psychiatry (New York, 1970)
7. Hans Peter Treichler, Die Magnetische Zeit: Alltag und Lebensgefühl im frühen 19. Jahrhunden (Zürich, 1988)
8. and Robert Darnton, Mesmerism and the End of the Enlightenment in France (Cambridge, Mass., 1968). Buranelli's biography provides a thorough introduction to Mesmer's life and work. Ellenberger's grand survey of the history of psychiatry treats Mesmer, Puységur, and many other magnetic healers with objectivity and respect; it includes many case histories and places magnetism in the context of other therapies. Treichler reviews the history of magnetism, devoting particular attention to Mesmer's last years, when he lived in Switzerland. Darnton discusses political and social forces allied with Mesmerism in pre-Revolutionary and Revolutionary France; while he claims to avoid medical matters, his contemptuous descriptions reveal his negative opinion of Mesmer's contribution to healing
9. Treichler, Die Magnetische Zeit, p. 38
10. See Ellenberger, The Discovery of the Unconscious, p. 77
11. Julius is still considered an important exponent of the German Romantic school of painting. His son Ludwig (1836-65) became one of the first Heldentenors and sang in the premiere performances of Wagner's Tristan und Isolde. See Karl-Heinz Mehnert, "Unternehmer und Künstler: Bemerkungen zur Familie Schnorr von Carolsfeld," pp. 45-52
12. and Dietulf Sander, "Biographie in Dokumenten und Selbstzeugnissen," pp. 13-44, in Julius Schnorr von Carolsfeld 1794-1872 (Ausstellung im Museum der bildenden Künste Leipzig, 26. März bis 23. Mai 1994), ed. Hedwig Guratzsch (Leipzig, 1994)
13. Schnorr, "Über Kunst," Archiv für Geographie, Historie, Staats-und Kriegskunst, 18 January 1819, pp. 29-32
14. In the same year in which this article appeared, Schnorr edited a series of extracts from the correspondence of his teacher Friedrich Heinrich Füger (1751-1818) with the poet Klopstock while Füger was executing a series of paintings based on Klopstock's Messiade poem. See "Bruchstücke aus Fügers Nachlasse," Archiv für Geographie, nos. 29, 30, 32, 34, 36, 42, and 62
15. On the Archiv für Geographie, see Joseph Freiherr von Hormayr und die vaterländische Romantik in Österreich, ed. Kurt Adel (Vienna, 1969)
16. "Wanderung durch die Ateliers der hiesigen Künstler," Archiv für Geographie, 1-3 April 1822, p. 213
17. Not discussed in this review is a painting whose subject, of some relevance to Schubert, was quite opposed to traditional moral values. Der Graf von Gleichen portrays the final scene of a remarkable legend: the joyful reunion of a returned crusader with his wife, a reunion shared by his recent bride, an Arab princess who has rescued him and then married him with a special dispensation from the Pope. The libretto of Schubert's last (and incomplete) opera, written by Eduard Bauernfeld, was based on this story. Although the date of this painting is unknown, it is possible that it was created while Schubert and Bauernfeld were working on the opera from 1826 to 1828
18. Ursula Behler, intro. to Friedrich Schlegel, Tagebuch [über die magnetische Behandlung der Gräfin Leśniowska 1820-1826], Kritische Friedrich Schlegel Ausgabe (henceforth KFSA) vol. XXXV (Paderborn, 1979), p. xxi (my trans.). Quoted passages in the citation are from letters in the Schnorr Family Archive
19. Schlegel rose to prominence in the 1790s through his critical writings and aesthetic theories. Together with his brother August Wilhelm, he edited the journal Athenäum, the leading journal of the Frühromantik. His reputation took on an edge of notoriety with the publication in 1799 of his novel Lucinde, which portrayed a free sexual relationship. Schlegel's later years were marked by a turn toward the conventional: in 1808 he converted to Catholicism and began his employment as a diplomat and editor in Metternich's government. In his later years, he sought to interpret history from a mystical-occult theological perspective and devoted his efforts to the causes of conservative politics and ultramontane Catholicism. For a discussion of links between Schubert's circle and the Vienna Romantics, see Ilija Dürhammer, "Schlegel, Schelling und Schubert: Romantische Beziehungen und Bezüge in Schuberts Freundeskreis," Schubert durch die Brille 16/17 (1996), 59-93
20. The Countess's birthdate is given as 1781 in KFSA, XXX, and 1782 in KFSA, XXXV
21. See Schlegel, Tagebuch, pp. xvi-xvii
22. Schnorr's conversion dismayed his family, who attributed that decision to the pernicious influence of his new friends. Julius Schnorr - then working in Rome as a Protestant Christian artist and actively resisting the attempts of the Nazarenes (a quasi-monastic German Catholic school of painting) to persuade him to convert to Catholicism - was particularly distressed. See Heinz Hoffmann, "Der Protestant Julius Schnorr von Carolsfeld: Anmerkungen zu seiner römischen Zeit," in Guratzsch, Schnorr von Carolsfeld 1794-1872, pp. 70-72
23. and Sander, "Biographie in Dokumenten," esp. pp. 20-24
24. The court doctor, Andreas Freiherr von Stifft, was a personal friend of Schnorr, who tacitly allowed him to practice magnetism. See Schlegel, Tagebuch, p. 278, n. 98
25. "Lieber Freund, rufe Dir noch nur ihre rührenden Bitten in das Gedächtniß zurück, daß wir drey in aller Verfolgung fast wie Eichen in treuer Liebe an einander festhalten sollen. Von der Zeit der Verfolgung fürchte ich wohl, daß sie für uns alle drey ganz nah bevorsteht" (letter no. 39, Pos. 2, Schnorr Family Archive, Sächsische Landesbibliothek). NB: None of these letters have been previously published. In 1979 and 1980, when the relevant volumes in the Friedrich Schlegel edition were published, Schlegel scholars had traced them only to an auction held in 1913 and believed them to be lost. They are actually in the Schnorr Family Archive in Dresden
26. This series of events can be followed through the Tagebuch. St. Cecilia is frequently mentioned throughout this protocol of the Countess's treatments and visions. Schlegel's summary of the visions of St. Cecilia is found on pp. 83-85 of the Tagebuch. Schlegel's essay "Die Heilige Cäcilia von Ludwig Schnorr," originally published in Archiv für Geschichte, Statistik, Literatur und Kunst, 28 March 1823, pp. 197-99
27. is rpt. in KFSA, IV, 263-67
28. Because of the Holy Alliance between Russia, Austria, and Prussia, many Catholics hoped that Alexander would bring Russia into the Catholic fold; thus the choice of the Czar as recipient of this painting carried political weight. See Schlegel, Tagebuch, p. 158; also n. 551 for an account of the miscarried attempt to get the painting to the Russian monarch
29. "Komm nur ja heute Abend; ist aber heute Dein Schober-u. Schuber-Dienstag, so komme nur lieber früher; laß mich aber in diesem Fall durch den Überbringer die Zeit wissen." According to Goldschmidt, this note implies that Schnorr took part in Schubert circle events every week; it could be argued, however, that it only implies that Schnorr was involved on some Tuesdays. The document is cited in Schubert: Die Dokumente seines Lebens, ed. Otto Erich Deutsch (Kassel, 1964), p. 177. As is often true of Deutsch's citations, this one is only part of a longer document; since its present whereabouts are unknown, we have no way of knowing the context of the remark cited
30. "Ich habe ein herzliches Verlangen, mein theurer Freund, Dich zu sehen und habe dir auch manches zu sagen, was mir am oder auf dem Herzen liegt. Da nun heute Abend wohl Schuber, Schober u Schieber bey Dir seyn und Musik machen werden: so wollte ich Dich bitten, ob Du nicht heute Nachmittag mir eine Viertelstunde schenken könntest" (letter no. 33, Pos. 2, Schnorr Family Archive, Sächsische Landesbibliothek)
31. Opus 37 is discussed below
32. Schnorr's protocol, vol. I, pp. 463-65, Schnorr Family Archive, Sächsische Landesbibliothek
33. I have been unable to uncover any information about Louise Mora beyond what is related in Schnorr's notes
34. "Patientin erkennt, daß ihr der Magnetismus nur helfen kann, wenn sie eine feste moralische Haltung bezieht und den Willen fasst, sich göttlich leiten und belehren zu lassen" (Havemann's summary of Mora case, vol. II, pp. 232-37, 243, 265; Schnorr Family Archive, Sächsische Landesbibliothek)
35. After his marriage to a wealthy Viennese widow, Mesmer had the means to become a patron of music, and it was in his house on the Landstrasse that the first performance of Mozart's Bastien et Bastienne took place. In his therapeutic work, Mesmer found the sound of the eerie glass harmonica particularly effective; his own skillful playing sometimes provoked crises in his patients. He hired musicians for his large treatment salons in Paris. Goldschmidt remarks that Schnorr's clairvoyants often spoke of music, and he even suggests that the protocols might be useful to present-day music therapists. Goldschmidt, "Schubert und kein Ende," p. 290
36. It has been suggested by Walther Dürr that Schubert may have met Friedrich Schlegel at this session. He wrote: "On 20 March. 1825, according to the protocol, the composer himself took part. This is the only evidence for a personal meeting with the poet" [Neue Schubert-Ausgabe, vol. IV/13 [Kassel, 1992], p. xxii). Dürr may have misunderstood Goldschmidt on this point. In my view it is unlikely that Schlegel was present, for in June 1825 the protocol mentions that Schnorr had obtained Mora's permission to bring a "Herr S...l" to the session. If this gentleman was Schlegel, that suggests that his presence was not customary
37. Goldschmidt speculated about whether Schubert played the "Wanderer" song or the fantasy and argued that it was probably the song paraphrase from the middle section of the fantasy, since the piece otherwise would have been too long and too violent for Mora to remain in magnetic sleep ("Schubert und kein Ende," pp. 291-92)
38. Her mother, Helene, was a foster-daughter of the Spauns' aunt, Maria Berndt. In 1800 the Berndt family visited the Spauns in Linz, where Helene met her future husband, Karl Mayrhofer. (I have not been able to determine whether he was related to the family of Schubert's friend Johann Mayrhofer, also from Linz.) Mayrhofer died of typhus soon after their marriage; Helene's second husband, Anton Schmith, was the physician who saved the life of Marie's half-brother, Karl Mayrhofer, when he was a baby. See Josef von Spaun, Memoirs (completed 1864), typescript copy, pp. 148-58. I would like to thank Rita Steblin for drawing my attention to these memoirs and making the typescript available; she also directed me to other important sources concerning those members of the Schubert circle involved in this project
39. "Deutsch, "Dr. Med. Anton Schmith - ein vergessener Freund Mozarts," Mozart Jahrbuch 11 (1960/61), 22-28
40. Josef von Spaun, "Aufzeichnungen über meinen Verkehr mit Franz Schubert" (1858), quoted in ibid., p. 24. (The passage goes on to mention that the minuets were lost.)
41. Josef von Spaun, as cited in Deutsch, "Dr. Med. Anton Schmith," pp. 24-25
42. Schnorr and Schlegel were scrupulous recordkeepers, and this case history typifies their practice of keeping ongoing notes about the events in magnetic treatment sessions. This document is Ludwig Ferdinand Schnorr von Carolsfeld, Tagebuch der Krisen von Marie Schmid (Mscr Dresd. w 79, 5, 5); (henceforth Marie Schmid). The Schnorr documents in Dresden include many such case histories, which have been summarized by Havemann. The unusual nature of Marie's case is suggested by the presence in Dresden of a second manuscript about her; evidently, Schnorr recopied parts of Marie's case history at a later date
43. "Wo sie übrigens sehr streng gehalten wurde, viel arbeiten mußte, und nur die nöthigste Nahrung und Ruhe genoß" (Schnorr, Marie Schmid, p. 1)
44. It is noteworthy that this protocol so matter-of-factly mentions menstruation; one might have expected a more prudish attitude in this time period, particularly from a man not trained as a doctor
45. "Sagte sie, man solle ihr die Fersen brennen, gerade dort, wo den Nerven nach den Vorderfuße liege, und die Hand über dem Querhandwurzelbauch, wo der Mediannerve liegt. Meh. brannte sie nun mit einer glühenden Kohle, wie sie es verlangte. Es fuhren hei jedesmaligen Brennen convuls. Stoße durch den ganzen Leib, aber sie konnte das gebrannte Glied bewegen. Zuerst die linke, dann die rechte Hand, denn den linken, und rechten Fuß. Nun verlangte sie, er solle sie auch auf den Rückgrath brennen, weil sie den Nerven noch nicht bewegen könne; was dann auch geschah. - Rührend war ihre Dankbarkeit gegen den Meh. . . . Sie sagte, daß . . . morgen Abends . . . man sie wieder brennen müsse; aber nicht zu jäh; doch so stark, daß es Blasen zöge, sodann würde sie befreit seyn" (Schnorr, Marie Schmid, p. 79)
46. See Schlegel, Tagebuch, p. 337, n. 448. Specifically, she had gotten the "Metallwuth" (literally, the "metal rage" - I have not found a definition for this term), thrown over a brass oven, and beaten and scratched a female friend
47. Sander Gilman informs me that "befriedigen" was a standard word for sexual fulfillment in the early nineteenth century, found in German translations of French pornography. It can also mean "satisfy" in a more general sense, so this remark of Marie's is ambiguous; perhaps she intended it that way
48. For a contemporary perspective on Hohenlohe, see John Badeley, M.D., "An Authentic Narrative of the Extraordinary Cure performed by Prince Alexander Hohenlohe on Miss Barbara O'Connor, a Nun, in the Convent of New Hall, near Chelmsford; with a Full Reflection of the Numerous False Reports and Misrepresentations," Pamphleteer 22 (1823), 225-34
49. "Marie war über den Tod des Kindes beynahe außer sich, wir mußten sie oft mit Gewalt aus den Zimmer ziehen in welches wir das Kind gelegt hatten; sie hatte selbst das Krusifix und zwey brennende Kerzen daneben gestellt. - Vor Schmerz setzte sie einigemahl in ihren ψ Zustand, woraus sie flehendlich bat geweckt zu werden, weil das Seelenleiden in seiner ganzen Klarheit vor ihr stand. "Meine Frau gewinnt Marien immer lieber; ihre Sorge um dieselbe, ist im höchsten Grade rührend; sich und ihre schrecklichen Kopfschmerzen vergessend - die sich jetzt nach und nach verloren haben - fliegt sie Tag und Nacht herum um ihre Winke zu befriedigen und überhaupt ihre Tage zu erleichtern. - 'Du siehst aus wie ein ä Engel' sagte der Carl neulich aufwachend zu Marien, als sie eben so thätig um meine Frau beschäftigt war; - ich fühlte es dem Kinde recht sehr nach, daß es in seiner Hinfalt recht hatte; gestraft stand das große Mißtrauen vor meiner Seele, welches ich in den letzten Tagen gegen ihr Licht gefaßt und sorgfältig vermieden hatte, es leuchten zu lassen eine stille Trauer, die, wenn auch unbewußt, sich in ihrem Wesen äußerte - scheint mir angedeutet zu haben: daß sie in der Tiefe ihrer Seele, recht gut fühlte, was in mir vorgangen war. Mariens Benehmen in diesen Schmerzens-Tagen hat uns sattsam über sie aufgeklärt -. - . . . meine Schwachgläubigkeit an Marien glaube ich in Schmerzen um mein liebes Kind zu büßen" (letter no. 5, Schnorr to Schlegel; Pos. 5, Schnorr Family Archive, Sächsische Landesbibliothek). Schnorr's account of his son's remark replicates the boy's childish language ("wie ein ä Engel"); in the interest of clarity, the translation does not reflect that aspect of the original
50. In his Familienchronik, the son, Carl Schnorr, claimed that the child had been stillborn, perhaps because of the shock to his mother when Marie was brought to the house late the previous night, afflicted with "Starrkrampf." (This word literally means "stiff cramp"; although translated now as "tetanus," it apparently had a more general meaning then.) While some elements of this later account do not correspond with details in Schnorr's letter, its mere existence suggests that Marie may have had some reason to feel guilty about the child's death. See Schlegel, Tagebuch, p. 355, n. 585
51. Transcribed from a later copy Schnorr made from his Marie Schmid, pp. 136-38
52. This letter, no. 37059, is revealing. Marie confessed to Lotte that she had lied by telling a story she had found in a book. She asked Lotte to forgive her and to tell others that the story was false
53. The word "Leüseste" might be Marie's spelling of "leiseste" (gentlest) or "lausigste" (most horrible)
54. See Deutsch, The Schubert Reader, trans. Eric Blom (rev. edn. New York, 1947), pp. 385-86 and 428
55. See Deutsch, Schubert: A Documentary Biography, trans. Eric Blom (London, 1946), p. 957
56. This town cannot be definitely identified; it is a common name in German-speaking areas
57. See Thomas A. Denny, "Directional Tonality in Schubert's Lieder," in Franz Schubert - Der Fortschrittliche? Analysen - Perspektiven - Fakten, ed. Erich Wolfgang Partsch (Tutzing, 1989), pp. 37-53
58. Der Pilgrim is discussed on pp. 47-48
59. In a somewhat different category fall the 1826 Mignon songs, Schubert's last of his numerous settings of these poems from Goethe's novel Wilhelm Meister. Mignon is a strange, otherworldly creature, strongly affected (like Marie Schmith) by a difficult family history. In "So laßt mich scheinen, bis ich werde," she begs to be allowed to wear angelic garb for the short while until her death. Her calm certainty of the link to another world, both poignant and disturbing, resembles that of many clairvoyants. In "Nur wer die Sehnsucht kennt," composed both as a duet and a solo song in the 1826 set, the sudden mood shift at the lines "Es schwindet mir, es brennt mein Eingeweide" (I feel faint, my intestines are burning) suggests a clairvoyant's potential for sudden physicality in the midst of her trance, which Schubert had witnessed in the case of Louise Mora. A comparative study of Schubert's Mignon settings would be necessary in order to gauge the possible influence of his encounters with magnetism on these songs
60. Schlegel contributed an introductory poem, the remarkable Hieroglyphenlied, to Craigher's collection of poetry. See [Craigher], Poetische Betrachtungen in freyen Stunden von Nicolaus (pseud.), accompanied by a foreword and an introductory poem by Friedrich von Schlegel (Vienna, 1828). Some notes from Schlegel to Schnorr include requests that Schnorr pass on various messages, such as dinner invitations, to Craigher. See letter nos. 24, 25, and 70 in the Dresden collection
61. Chézy and Schlegel's wife, Dorothea, did most or all of these translations, which Schlegel then published under his own name. The collection is rpt. in KFSA, XXXIII, with an excellent introduction and commentary by Liselotte Dieckmann. On the issue of unacknowledged female collaborators, see pp. viii-ix