Excerpts from the book “Dreams of Art”

Artists have always been fascinated with dreams. Just like dreams, their paintings often show events simultaneously happening in the past, present and future. At times, their art depicts everyday objects in a new way and turns them into symbols. In this context, dreaming is understood as a more perceptive kind of seeing. Dreams mostly consist of pictures. William Shakespeare’s play “A Midsummernight’s Dream” bears witness to the fact that the great playwright also delved into the world of dreams – dreams, too, tend to lack clarity and order.

In this spirit, at the occasion of Sigmund Freud’s 170th birthday, 64 artists from 25 countries have come together to honor his dream theory with their open-minded imagination. The editor of this book has divided the artworks from around the world into chapters and added verses from Shakespeare’s play, quotes, art related slogans, and illustrations. In addition, several “megahits” from the world of classical music (by Franz Liszt, Robert Schumann, Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy, and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart) will be introduced. The result is a multifaceted homage from the animated perspective of modern artists.

In memory of the 170th birthday of Sigmund Freud

The text and the poems in this post are excerpts from the book “Dreams of Art – Träume der Kunst”. Or please click on the cover image to browse through the book!

Youtube playlist: Sigmund Freud, Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy, Franz Liszt, Robert Schumann, W. A. Mozart and William Shakespeare (Click at the red link!)

Sigmund Freund coined the short and appropriate term of “id” to name the driving force of the unconscious, in a sense, suggesting an incompetent nature. In his theory of psychoanalysis, its opposing pole is called the “superego” in charge of keeping “id” in check through rules (and bans). As a result of a person’s upbringing and environment, the “ego” comes between these two opposing forces, trying to mediate between them so the difficult connection with reality can be maintained. While Freud’s theories have mostly been debunked today, the significance of his research for modern psychology cannot be overstated. Interpreting the dream symbols of our sex life became an important part of the new field of psychoanalysis, about which he penned 24 volumes. His “Interpretation of Dreams” was first published in November 1899. His experiments convinced Freud that the unconscious controlled a major part of our actions, and that external stimuli and internal excitations influenced each other. No philosophy has had as vast an impact on the art and literature of the 20th century as Freud’s. Following his ideas, the avant-garde radically broke with historic styles. Especially the surrealists strove to give shape to the unconscious, depict scenes from dreams and hallucinations, and put the irrational nature of the unconscious above order and reason. One of the most significant sister movements of surrealism is German romanticism. This, too, was a reaction to the demystification of the world, which is why the contemporary artworks in this book also make reference to exquisite works of music from the romantic era.

Memories and Wishes Inaccessible to the Wakeful Mind

Especially Salvador Dali emulated Freud’s ideas, seeking to document images of the unconscious with scientific accuracy, and intentionally feigning madness or paranoia to extract images from his unconscious. Brimming with spontaneous associations, his paintings nonetheless appear as real as day. Henri Rousseau whisks observers away to exotic dreamscapes far from his Paris studio, drawing inspiration from botanical and zoological gardens. The trance-like atmosphere in his painting “The Sleeping Gypsy” also displays references to music and clairvoyance. As far back as Ancient Egypt and Ancient Greece, people thought deeply about dreams and their hypnotic therapeutic powers.

Marc Chagall’s lyrical visions brought together worldly and fantastic elements. Just like the surrealists’ obscure fantasies, they questioned the definition of reality. Many of his paintings depict memories of his childhood village in the manner of faint breaths of air. The erotic encounter in his painting “Le Songe d’une nuit d’été”, on the other hand, is not simply a depiction of transcendental ecstasy, but also an interpretation of the silent longing between Titania and Bottom from Shakespeare’s “Midsummernight’s Dream”. The painting is dominated by a cryptic atmosphere, its figures seem to be sleepwalking, surrounded by strange creatures, fairies, and elves in a quiet, barren landscape teeming with archetypical dream symbols.

Shakespeare’s comedy is dominated by a dream-like chaos that allows for multiple interpretations. This led to the idea to underscore this book with excerpts from his comedy. With profound ingenuity, he portrays the dream as a significant mediator between sleeping and waking. In the fairy tale world of confusion and chaotic love affairs he creates, magic potions are administered, as the difference between obsessive and true love is revealed. In a manner that seems as relevant today as it was back then, the playwright depicts erratic emotions, irrationality, and the jinxed occasions when the mind detaches from the soul. Suddenly, Titania finds herself feeling attracted to a man with a donkey head (see Chagall painting above). While being an altogether fantastic play, we can still make sense of it in terms of the reality we know: Eventually, the chaos is resolved in a happy ending according to what people considered harmonious during Shakespeare’s day and age.

“A Midsummernight’s Dream” is also the title of the music Felix Mendelssohn’s wrote based on Shakespeare’s play, and that of its overture. Especially the “Wedding March” from this work has attained worldwide fame. The composition shows that our dreams are mainly dominated by what we most desire. The famous “Clowns’ Dance” and the “Elves’ Dance” leave no doubt as to the setting in a magic forest located outside ancient Athens. This was also the time painters of German romanticism like Caspar David Friedrich and Carl Gustav Carus began to create moonlight paintings showing the night in a new light. The notturno Mendelssohn used in his stage music was born from the same romantic spirit.

A romantic mood also comes across in Franz Liszt’s three “Liebesträume” (Dreams of Love) with their quiet, nocturno-like atmosphere. In the style of Petrarca’s sonnets, Liszt wrote music to three German love poems in 1850, to be performed either as lieder with vocals, or as piano pieces. His stay at the “gardener’s house” (located near Goethe’s former residence in a park on the river Ilm near Weimar) drove the master of sensitivity to new depths of lyrical internalization. Assigning a different aspect of love to each piece, he assigned a different opening poem to each of his piano nocturnes. The character pieces are a musical expression of feelings and longing, as well as the poetic dream state between need, fulfillment, and reality. In “Liebestraum No.3”, the most famous one in the cycle, the mesmerizing cadences of harps seem to perform a graceful dance around the melody. Charged with emotion, this music strikingly suggest impressions gleaned from dreams.

One of the sources dreams regularly tap into for material to reproduce is childhood: Long forgotten memories that have lost any sense of importance. A uniquely poetic bouquet also emanates from Robert Schumann’s “Kinderszenen” (Scenes from Childhood). Rather than being composed for children, these piano miniatures depict a remote childhood paradise where all experiences are romanticized by a dreamy sense of rapture. The 13-part cycle is a recollection of the serenity experienced in childhood. Among them, “Träumerei” (Dreaming) has turned out to be a worldwide evergreen of classical music. Schumann composed “little thing” in February 1838: Robert Schumann and young Clara Wieck had been a couple for three years. Clara’s father opposed their love, and the two were separated.

After her return from Dresden, without having seen him again, Clara, out of love, decided to play four of the symphonic studies Robert had dedicated to her at what was then the Leipzig Gewandhaus, while Robert was sitting in the audience. It was during this time that the composer wrote to Clara Wieck: “Composed this little thing ‘Dreaming’…” As humble as this may sound, the piece is everything but simple. With its harmonically ascending triads, it strongly borrows from the lyrical, melodious vocal music of Schumann’s lieder. Clara usually played it more slowly than Robert – amplified for dreaming. The “Kinderszenen” stand in stark contrast to Schumann’s “Nachtstücke” (Night Pieces) dealing with the darker forces inhabiting our dreams, while bringing together literature and music.

Another shining example of the dream theme’s timelessness is Mozart’s catchy and lighthearted “Kleine Nachtmusik” (Little Night Music). Serenades were composed as nighttime pieces. Well suited to making music in small groups, the hurriedly scribbled manuscript suggests that it was composed for a specific occasion – which makes the result all the more impressive. Although everything seems to be tailored to simplicity and audience appeal, the brilliant four movements are composed with indescribable grace.

Charmingly light, the festive music seems to waft and skip along. At the time, Mozart was living in a green suburbia far removed from the center of Vienna. Flanked by an allegro and a menuetto and trio, the center piece is an elysian romance of passionate longing. As Mozart’s father had recently died, nostalgic childhood memories may also have found their way into the composition. The dreamy nighttime serenade was first performed in 1895 and has continued to conquer people’s hearts across the world from the era of late Romanticism to this day.

”A Midsummer Night’s Dream”

A comedic play by William Shakespeare

Act 1, Scene 1 (excerpt)

HIPPOLYTA:
Four days will quickly steep themselves in night;
Four nights will quickly dream away the time;
And then the moon, like to a silver bow
New-bent in heaven, shall behold the night
Of our solemnities.

Memorial Sites and Museums of Sigmund Freud, Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy, Franz Liszt, Robert Schumann, W. A. Mozart and William Shakespeare

Sigmund Freud Museum in Wien
freud-museum.at/de/

Freud lived and worked in this house from 1891 to 1938. The museum consists of his former private office and apartment. Due to his Jewish heritage, Freud was forced to emigrate to London under the Nazi dictatorship.

Freud Museum London
freud.org.uk/

The centerpiece of the house is Sigmund Freud‘s study with his famous psychoanalytic couch. This is where Freud spent the final year of his life. The house kept within the Freud family until the death of his daughter Anna.

Rodný dům Sigmunda Freuda in Příbor
freudmuseum.cz

Guided by the fictional voice of Sigmund Freud, visitors can experience a tour of his birthplace.

The Shakespeare Centre in Stratford-upon-Avon
shakespeare.org.uk/

Shakespeare‘s 16th-century birthplace and a garden landscaped in the style of his time, as well as the adjacent information center, transport visitors back in time.

Mendelssohn-Haus Leipzig
mendelssohn-stiftung.de/de/museum

Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy‘s only surviving apartment has been faithfully reconstructed. The highlight is the “Effektorium” on the ground floor, where visitors can conduct a virtual orchestra playing the composer‘s music. Mendelssohn was conductor of the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra.

Liszt Ferenc Memorial Museum in Budapest
lisztmuseum.hu/en/liszt/

The museum comprehensively documents the life and work of Franz Liszt, not forgetting to honor the composer as a promoter of talented young musicians in Budapest.

Liszt Museum in Raiding
lisztmuseum.at/

Franz Liszt visited the house in what is now the Austrian state of Burgenland to mark his 70th birthday. The exhibition explores his family origins (then Kingdom of Hungary) and his emotional connection to his birthplace.

Franz-Liszt-Museum Bayreuth
bayreuth-tourismus.de/sehenswertes/museen/franz-liszt-museum/
frankentourismus.de/poi/franz-liszt-museum-5638/

Franz Liszt died 1886 in Bayreuth. The museum is located in the vicinity of Haus Wahnfried, where his son-in-law, Richard Wagner, lived. In addition to the documentation of his life and work, its collection includes the composer’s life and death mask.

Liszt-Haus in Weimar
klassik-stiftung.de/liszt-haus/

The former court gardener’s house at the edge of the Park on the Ilm River was Franz Liszt’s home from 1869 until his death in 1886, where he composed the majority of his works and taught numerous talented young pianists from Austria and abroad. Charles Alexander, Grand Duke of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach turned the composer‘s former residence into a memorial site as early as 1887. The music salon and study have been preserved in their original state, including the Bechstein grand piano.

Robert-Schumann-Haus in Zwickau
schumann-zwickau.de/

Robert Schumann was born on June 8, 1810, in Zwickau. Here at his birthplace, visitors can follow in his footsteps and experience his music in concerts and other events.

Schumann-Haus in Düsseldorf
schumann-haus-duesseldorf.de/das-schumann-haus-duesseldorf/

As the city’s Municipal Music Director, Robert Schumann premiered 23 of his works in Düsseldorf. Nearly one third of his compositional output originated in this city. His residence is the only Schumann family home that has been preserved in its original state.

Schumann-Verein Leipzig e. V.
schumannhaus.de/

Built in 1838 in the neoclassical style, Clara and Robert Schumann spent the first and happiest four years of their marriage in this house located in Leipzig‘s old booksellers‘ quarter where, among other works, Schumann wrote the “Spring Symphony”. Famous figures like Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy, Franz Liszt, and Hector Berlioz were frequent visitors.

Mozarts Geburtshaus und Mozart-Wohnhaus in Salzburg
mozarteum.at/

Exhibitions of the Mozarteum Foundation. The Magic Flute House can also be seen there..

Mozarthaus Vienna
mozarthausvienna.at/

Not far from St. Stephen‘s Cathedral in Vienna‘s city center, the Mozarthaus Vienna features three exhibition levels: Mozart‘s Vienna, Mozart‘s Music, and Mozart‘s Apartment. The latter is the only one of Mozart’s apartments in Vienna that has been preserved until this day. Being the most expensive place he ever rented, from 1784 to 1787 it became the site of his most productive years as a composer.

Sources: Please see the authors, poet and bibliography in the above link to the online book (imprint at the end of the book)!