Goethe in Music Class: Design and Music Sharing an Important Individual

I think we know who this is.
Credit to Google Images

Goethe is known as the father of Romanticism.  He was also a philosopher, color theorist, natural scientist, art critic, author, and poet.
When we were listening to a piece in my Music class, someone asked who wrote the lyrics to the song.  Our TA told us, "His name is Goethe."  (With the correct pronunciation, of course.)  MY eyes just about bugged out of my eyes the second he finished his sentence.  "How in the world did Goethe end up becoming a lyricist after everything he's done in his lifetime?"


Credit to Google Images


Franz Schubert, a Classical/Romantic composer, wrote the music for an opera called "Winterreisse".  One of the songs in the opera "Gretchen am Spinnrade (Gretchen at the Spinning Wheel)" actually had the lyrics done by Goethe through one of his poems.  The song itself personifies the spinning wheel with the piano playing as though it were the spinning wheel, the right hand constantly going as the wheel is constantly turning while the left hand is the foot pump, coming in every once in a while.  The song is basically about a girl singing about a fantasy she is having about some other man.

But what does this have to do with design?  Does this mean music inspires design?

Credit to Google Images

It seems to do so.  But besides that, music has its influences and designers as well.  Composers and lyricists need to work together to form a coherent and (preferably) understandable piece of music so that the public appreciates what they're presenting.  In this song in particular, it has one of the fathers of an era as its lyricist.  With Goethe in the mix, design is involved in how his lyrics/words match the patterns/rhythm of Schubert's piece.  So much goes on in the process of composing and inspiration is key: it seems that design and music can inspire each other.  A composer may be walking along and discover the beauty in the design of something and be inspired while designers can listen to music to become inspired to design something beautiful.  It's quite a lovely cycle to be a part of: I'm just glad Goethe got a chance to be a part of this endless cycle of beautiful inspiration.