Hi there,

I am a PhD student, also a folk-singer/musician endeavoring to transform philosophy and esotericism into music. I have for you an alchemical poem by the great German Romantic poet-philosopher-mage Novalis that I have rendered into musical form; I also provide a commentary at the end of the video, illuminating the alchemical and magical references within it.

The effect that Novalis sought to achieve with his poem "Astralis" was nothing less than the completion of the alchemical work, the hieros gamos conjunctio, the unification of the realms of life and death, personal and transcendent, past and future. At the time that Novalis wrote it, he knew he was dying. His true love, Sophie Kuhn, had died a few years previously. While in outward life he had moved on, even becoming engaged to Julie Charpentier, in his inner life, he had not, composing extensive poetry about Sophie. To him, Sophie had been a personal instantiation of Sophia, and had become a mediatrix to the beyond. Privately, he confessed to friends in letters that whilst he felt with Julie more loved than ever before, he would prefer death, in the company of his true beloved. Not much later, his wish would be granted, death ushering him to an early grave.

In the "Astralis" poem, Astralis is the alchemical progeny born from the kiss of the characters of Heinrich and Matilde, who are literary representations of Novalis and Sophie. Like Sophie, in Heinrich von Ofterdingen, Matilde has also met an early death; the unfinished novel has Heinrich undertaking an Orphic and alchemical journey. She is his soul, also the soul of the world. A love that overcomes death, Astralis presents a creation myth of the new world engendered by love.

Featuring images from alchemical manuscripts animated by me and a slew of stop motion sequences created by yours truly, including of a collection of bones that I found in a lake.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=soaVmA-dh8k

I think this sub needs more Schinkel! Nothing screams German Romanticism like gothic cathedrals. What do you think…is the sun rising or setting?

I think the way Wordsworth describes the woman in this poem is so beautiful.

"A lovely apparition", a "spirit", something so ethereal and mysterious, yet he knows she's "A creature not too bright or good for human nature's daily food".

He sees her as human, fully human, and understands how much she is capable of.

I've had this poem stuck in my head since the first time I heard it on that Love Death And Robots episode, The Very Pulse of the Machine.

This poem really brightens my day, I wonder who he thought of as he wrote it.

Hello, I have been searching for modern day artists that paint using traditional romantic style of artists like Caspar David Friedrich, John Martin, Thomas Cole (those are just my favorites). Any info would help thanks

I'm a vocal student and for an exam I'm trying to find pieces to sing wherein I'm some kind of god. I've got an aria from Haydn's Schopfung where I'm an angel, a Bach cantata duet where I'm Jesus, a Handel opera/cantata aria where I'm Apollo, a Purcell aria where I'm some kind of pagan god. But I'm really looking for one or two more. I've considered doing Gounod's Faust as Mephistopheles, but the piece isn't quite right for my voice.

I'd be terribly grateful for any suggestions of pieces to sing. Best if they're a bit of a different style (maybe 18th century and later). Is there any romantic lied repertoire wherein an angel or god sings? I'm a bass/bass-baritone by the way, but suggestions for higher voices are also welcome if I can transpose them.

This is an original composition from 2008, revised and re-recorded in April 2024.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j5A-7AX0bxQ

I have a romantic project for a British literature class. I’m thinking of doing Charlotte turner Smith’s poetry but I have no idea what to do. I’m not a big artist. I need ideas!!

Hi there,

I am a PhD student, also a folk-singer/musician endeavoring to transform philosophy into music. Novalis’s unfinished masterwork Heinrich von Ofterdingen was originally envisioned by Novalis as a musical—so I had to turn it into music! The song I present to you is a folk-style rendition on a ukulele that draws from some of my favorite parts in the novel. It opens with Fable singing a celebration of the founding of the kingdom of eternity, Sophia as priestess of hearts. It also portrays Fable's encounter with the Sphinx in a scene that was inspired by Goethe's fairy tale The Green Snake and the Beautiful Lily. In the final section of the song, the son of the naturalist finds the mysterious red carbuncle of the Princess in the forest; it is sparkling red with mysterious ciphers on the converse side-- the stone of the heart. Novalis’s poetry is filled with alchemical, mythic and esoteric references to the trained eye; this song is a homage to Novalis's genius—in my own personal estimation, Heinrich von Ofterdingen is the greatest poetic work ever penned. You have to experience it to understand! Hope you enjoy!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FO2HSbK7BSE

Going through evolutionary dynamics, the problem of altruism and how it persists through evolution seemingly against its odds really came as an interesting subject (which essentially boils down to mathematical simulations and a lot of brain scans). In essence, the reason why altruism exists at all has little to do with an individual person, and a lot to do with how genetics influence our behavior so that our genetic kin, in the wider picture, thrive, thus placing primacy of genetic continuation above one's own life.

What is even more fascinating is the neurological aspect of it all - When deciding to save someone even at the cost of one's own life, the brain activates the reward system through VTA (crucial area of the brain which is utilized when a person experiences happiness), thus making this phenomenon closely linked with "Helper's High".

These systems don't work solely in life-threatening acts of self-sacrifice, but are linked with the general altruistic practice. Acts like protesting and seeking justice can also be seen not as acts of personal gratification, but society seeking better conditions and survival outcomes for its descendants.

What all of this instatly reminded me of were the Romantic views on similar topics. Paradigm shift which saw multiple objective realities coexisting, and the rational strength of argument being contrasted with the sincerity and passion with which one holds his views, and the lengths he is willing take. Kohlhaas' death, and indeed Kleist's whole philosophy of happiness, or suicidal decisions taken by characters in Les Miserables during the rebellion, all seem to fall nicely with this conception that such actions aren't carried out by one seeking happiness (as they might never experience it), but that these acts are sort of outward manifestations of happiness, at the face of personal sacrifice. Hugo might've sanctified Friends of ABC through his vision of unrelenting force of progress, but we can now attribute that Romantic martyrdom to "higher game" of genetics, which itself represents a sort of unrelenting force (a common theme not just in works by Hugo, but Romanticism and Nihilism in general). It is even more apparent in Kohlhaas - faced with his own death, he chooses defiance despite achieving gratification he sought throughout the whole novel, separating the two sharply at the end.

So I have a huge project for my studies and I am supposed to tell how seasons are represented in romanticism in any domain ( but as I will speak about music it is better to have the musical point of view, but a general answer is OK for me).

Hello, I am very curious about how the word romanticism have changed during the centuries. I know it was a movement of the past enlightenment. With the idea of individual and nature … Why do we today associate this word with love and everything from our modern society ? does the word got a new meaning or did it evolve?

Is it because Romantics have made the self and its passion a priority and so the ballads and feelings of love were developed ?? For me romanticism is linked with nature and storm .. it is not this ideal view of love we all have .

Lately there is also the word «  to romanticize » where does it comes from??

Please I really need your thoughts about it.

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