OVER THE YEARS GOETHE'S MUSICALITY has been called into question. Ernest Walker calls him “the greatest of the few exceptions” of “unmusical poets”; Moritz Bauer describes Goethe as a “man of very limited musical understanding”; Elisabeth Schumann writes about his “indifference to music”; Calvin Brown speaks about his “rather severe musical limitations”; and Lorraine Gorrell portrays a “musically opinionated, but conservative poet.” Even where Goethe's musicality has been recognized, it is always qualified. McClain argues that Goethe “was not a person who instinctively understood music as a language or who used it as a means of expression”; Claus Canisius attributes the poet's lack of musical competence to his late introduction to the art, and though Kenneth Whitton argues for Goethe's musicality, he concludes that “Goethe was musical in a different sense.”

In examining this traditional portrait of Goethe, we find that the term “musical” presents a certain ambiguity in itself. To criticize a person as being “unmusical” implies that he or she is neither fond of nor skilled in music. However, searching through Goethe's work, it is easy to trace an apparent love of music in his activities, thoughts, and writings. As one can show in detail, Goethe's autobiographical writing records a lifelong interest and involvement in music. Throughout his life, Goethe surrounded himself with musicians, and, contrary to the traditional perception, his openness to modern music is revealed in his willingness to be taught by most artists with whom he had personal contact.