Abstract
This article systematically traces the historical development and theoretical transformation of modern German music criticism, revealing the core contradictions of artistic modernity embedded within it. In the Enlightenment, music criticism acquired its public-sphere attributes, consolidating the conflict between the aesthetics of genius and rule-based poetics, as well as the initial tension between aesthetic and social references. In the Romantic era, criticism assumes a more productive character, transcending interpretive frameworks and transforming itself from instrumental analysis into a dynamic artistic mechanism. By the second half of the nineteenth century, it had begun to establish historical standards, and by the twentieth century, it entered a phase of systematic theoretical construction. Scholars pursued methodological self-awareness through hierarchical models but remained constrained by empirical limitations. From a historical-philosophical perspective, Adorno critiqued empiricism, arguing that criticism must unveil artistic truthfulness within dynamic historical processes. Dahlhaus, by contrast, stressed the equal importance of value and factual judgments, advocating the integration of subjective experience and objective cognition. Fundamentally, the history of German music criticism exemplifies the contradictions of modernist artistic culture, and its trajectory profoundly reflects the enduring tension between aesthetic autonomy and social heteronomy.
Keywords
modernity, German, music criticism, public sphere aesthetics, history
First Page
89
Last Page
96
Recommended Citation
Bi, Kun. 2025. "Between Autonomy and Heteronomy: The Historical Evolution of Modern German Music Criticism." Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art 45, (5): pp.89-96. https://tsla.researchcommons.org/journal/vol45/iss5/12
