Nietzsche Wanted His Works Sung, Not Read

Friedrich Nietzsche, born in October 1844 in the Prussian Province of Saxony, aspired to be a composer but lacked musical talent. Despite this, he structured his philosophical texts like symphonies, urging readers to sing and dance to them. His first published work, The Birth of Tragedy (1872), was inspired by discussions with Richard Wagner. Nietzsche composed a piano piece for Cosima Wagner in 1871, which Wagner mocked. Hans von Bülow called Nietzsche's music 'the rape of Euterpe.' In his essay 'Music and Words' (1872), Nietzsche argued that sound conveys more meaning than written words. He believed ideas should be conceived while moving, not sitting. In Ecce Homo, he called Thus Spoke Zarathustra a symphony, and in a letter to Peter Gast, referred to The Case of Wagner as 'operetta music.' Scholar Michael Allen Gillespie (2017) argued that Twilight of the Idols is structured like a classical symphony. Nietzsche died in 1900 at age 55 after a decade of mental illness.