Music Without Magic

by Miles Hoffman

We expect nothing less from music than that it give meaning to our lives. And for centuries, Western classical music did just that. But in the 20th century many composers turned in a new and less satisfying direction, and it’s unclear whether music will ever regain what was lost.

In 1817, Franz Schubert set these words of the poet Franz von Schober to music in his song “An die Musik”:

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