Heidegger’s Fugue: Musicality and the Heraclitus Lectures

Abstract

ABSTRACT Martin Heidegger rarely explicitly dealt with the topic of music. The Heraclitus lectures, delivered in 1943 and 1944, offer a notable exception. Heidegger here speaks openly of the “Lied der Erde” (“Earth’s song”). Most intriguing, perhaps, though, is the use of Fügung in relation to ἁρμονία (harmonia), which he links to understanding φὑσις (physis; the “emerging” character of the world) and being. Translated by Assaiante and Ewegen as “jointure,” Fügung bears a connection with the German Fuge, which contains the double meaning of joint and fugue. Drawing on a close reading of the Heraclitus lectures, this paper will explore the dual nature of Fügung with an eye towards laying the groundwork for understanding a latent musicality within Heidegger’s larger corpus, centering around perceiving, fugue, and their implications for listening to the “Earth’s song,” which will be read in literal, environmental terms as the soundscape or, perhaps, musical manifold.