Misslingendes Gelingen oder gelingendes Misslingen?: Randglossen zum Werkbegriff Albrecht Wellmers

By stating that »only the successful work can be called an art work«, Albrecht Wellmer constructs a very strong hypothesis. Such an integration of the idea of aesthetic success into an ontological discussion of the musical work-concept, however, cannot be successful without taking into account the historical context. Considering not only the demarcation between art and non-art but also the concept of the art work in general, this hypothesis therefore touches upon a pivotal aesthetic, philosophical, and musicological problem that becomes highly virulent once criteria of »failure« are concerned. Examining reflections by Carl Dahlhaus and Theodor W. Adorno, the present essay attempts to analyze how aesthetic success and failure as specific historical configurations can be integrated into a philosophical debate in the conceptual tension field between the musical art work, aesthetic discourse and aesthetic experience