League of David
The Davidsbündler were a fictional group of living and deceased artists founded by Robert Schumann in 1833 . The living met regularly in the Leipzig pub Zum Arabischen Coffe Baum . In contrast to the Philistines , who in their eyes represented the philistines, they called themselves bundles of David . In the tradition of the secret societies , which were very popular at the time , all members had imaginary names. The model was certainly the Serapion brothers , the Berlin Circle of Friends of the writer E. T. A. Hoffmann .
The name Davidsbündler already appears in Schumann's first musical essay, Der Davidsbündler , which he published in December 1833 in Karl Herloßsohn's magazine Der Komet . The narrator fantasizes about a scrap of paper that was thrown out of the window by a "sharp, crooked-nosed Swede". On the back it says: “Finder! You are chosen for good and great things! You shall become a Bundestag judge, translate the mysteries of the covenant into the world, d. i. of the covenant that is supposed to kill the Philistines, musical and other! Here you know everything - act now! However, do not organize in a small town, but rather give it a little frizzy and crazy. Meister Raro, Florestan, Eusebius, Friedrich, Bg., St., Hf., Knif, Balkentreter an St. Georg. ”The continuation of these“ Davidsbündler ”fantasies can be found in the Neue Zeitschrift für Musik , published by Schumann in April 1834 founded.
Robert Schumann, the most important Davidsbündler, often called himself Jeanquirit or Julius . Schumann's fictional personifications Florestan and Eusebius played a major role .
The patron saint of the League of David was the biblical David , the crowned singer and victor of the gigantic Philistine Goliath . According to a fictional saying from Florestan, it was the job of the Bundestag members to “kill the Philistines, musical as well as others”. They pursued the goal of turning away from old, conservative standpoints and opening up new avenues for artistic forms of music and art.
Even people who never took part in the Davidsbündler events were included by Schumann and given imaginary names, for example
- Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy (= Meritis )
- Christel (= Charitas ), Schumann's lover from 1831 to 1837
- Ernestine von Fricken (= Estrella ), Schumann's fiancée in 1834/35
- Clara Wieck (= Zilia or Chiara or Chiarina ), Schumann's fiancée and later wife
- Friedrich Wieck (= Master Raro ), Clara's father
- Sophie Kaskel (= Sarah ), pianist
Schumann also counted important composers of the past among the Bundestag members, such as Ludwig van Beethoven and Franz Schubert. In 1836 he wrote in a letter to Heinrich Dorn :
"The Davidsbund is just a spiritual, romantic ... Mozart was just as great a bundler as Berlioz is now."
The Bund and its members have repeatedly played a role in Schumann's works, for example in the Davidsbündlertanzen op.6 , the Carnaval op.9 and the Piano Sonata in F sharp minor op.11.
literature
- F. Gustav Jansen : The Davidsbündler. From Robert Schumann's Sturm und Drang period. Leipzig 1883, in archive.org . Reproduction: Sendet, Vaduz 1992, ISBN 3-500-27410-2 .
- Wolfgang Weyrauch : The Davidsbündler. Rowohlt, Hamburg 1948.