[Let's Talk About Music] | PAUL KLEE | EP1-4: "Ad Parnassum" - Klee Inspiring

This post contains a full transcript of the lecture video below. To accommodate the content of the video to the blog post format, some images of photos or artworks from the video have been left out, and I have separated sections of the text with headings that are not in the video. The text from the video, however, is unedited and in its entirety.

[Let's Talk About Music] | PAUL KLEE | EP1-4: "Ad Parnassum" - Klee Inspiring

Ad Parnassum. 1932. Oil on canvas.

Ad Parnassum. 1932.

An oil painting done on canvas, in shades of orange, blue and gold. Under an orange-red sun, a grand pyramid with a door-shaped entrance, outlined thickly in black, stretches across both sides of the canvas. The painting is “polyphonic” in the Klee sense: tiny mosaic-like squares in the pointillist style, overlapping rectangular shades of varying colors, and many perceived layers, all independent yet simultaneous.

Size comparison between Ad Parnassum (left) with Old Violinist, Fugue in Red and In the Style of Bach (right).

At a height of 100 cm and a width of 126 cm, Ad Parnassum is one of Paul Klee’s largest paintings. For comparison, on the right are Old Violinist (20.9cm × 29.7cm), Fugue in Red (24.3cm × 37.2cm) and In the Style of Bach (17.3cm × 28.5cm), scaled down in proportion to the image on the left.

The “pyramid” in the painting is based on Mount Parnassus, a mountain range in Greece and the legendary home to gods and goddesses of the arts, poetry and music. The concept of “Parnassus” has been referenced throughout European history in publications, monuments and artistic movements to celebrate the legacies of poets and musicians.

It is significant how one of Klee’s largest and most detailed works is that of the legendary pinnacle of artistic celebration.

As previously discussed, Klee connected with music from the past, and not so much the music and composers of his time. And yet - Klee has inspired many musicians around the globe, some of whom are still alive today. What do they have to say about Klee?

"The playful and the somber"

There are several musical compositions that are based on artworks by Klee. Ad Parnassum, in particular, has been set by composers including Jim McNeely, American composer and jazz pianist, and Peter Maxwell Davies, British composer.

In 2005, Iris Szeghy, a Slovak composer active in Switzerland, composed the multi-movement Ad Parnassum for string orchestra. Each movement is based on a painting by Klee, the final eighth movement being the titular Ad Parnassum.

In her own words:

“Klee's works offer an inexhaustible wealth of inspiration and artistic and technical means in their design. Klee's typical playfulness, poetry, and delicate structures on the one hand, and his clear, heavy lines and somberness on the other, fascinate me and continually stimulate my musical imagination.”

Iris Szeghy, “Text Zur Portrait-CD 2 - ‘Jeder Moment Erfüllt von Intensität.’”

Die Zwitscher-Maschine ("Twittering Machine"). 1922. Watercolor with gouache, pen-and-ink, and oil transfer on paper.

One of Klee’s works that is commonly set to music is Twittering Machine, an oil transfer and watercolor painting on paper on cardboard from 1922.

Depicting four singing birds attached to a crankshaft, this piece has sparked discussions on the relationship between nature and machinery. At least 10 composers from around the world have set music to Twittering Machine, for many different instrumentations.

In 1993, American composer Cindy McTee composed "The Twittering Machine" for chamber orchestra. McTee has had a “life-long fascination” with Klee’s work and, like Szeghy, she recognizes Klee’s unique style as a "stimulating harmony between the playful and the somber". In “The Twittering Machine”, she contrasts fast and slow tempos in order to represent the “whimsical, puppet-like, mechanistic, ironic, and playful” versus the “lyrical field of transparent color.”

Performance of McTee's "The Twittering Machine" by the Oberlin Conservatory Orchestra.

"A space where music can exist"

Alter Klang ("Ancient Sound"). 1925. Oil on cardboard.

Another work commonly set to music is Ancient Sound, an oil on cardboard painting from 1925. With its evocative title and “polyphonic” style, one can imagine how the painting could inspire musicians.

Composers that set music to include Spanish composer Benet Casablancas, American composers George Crumb and Gunther Schuller, and Hungarian composer Sandor Veress.

In 1986, Japanese composer and pianist Takashi Kako released his album Klee, with Ancient Sound as the album art cover. Klee consists of a piano cycle of twelve movements. Each movement is based on a painting by Klee, the last movement being the titular Ancient Sound.

In his interview with Sankei news, Kako compares the musicality of Klee with other artists:

“In the case of Picasso or Van Gogh, the power of the artwork suppresses the music. But Klee's work has a space where music can exist. In terms of literature, it has the presence of poetry rather than novels, making it easy for the recipient's imagination to blend in.”

Takashi Kako, Sankei News

"A sophisticated complexity to make a concentrated simplicity"

It is evident how Klee’s art has had a particularly unique effect on musical creativity. Even more telling is how each of these composers, from different parts of the world, appear to be affected in different ways.

In 1992, Chinese-born American composer Tan Dun composed the symphony “Death and Fire: Dialogue with Paul Klee”. Tan Dun’s symphony is divided into sections and inserts, each of which is based on a painting by Klee, including Ad Parnassum and Twittering Machine.

Tod und Feuer ("Death and Fire"). 1940. Oil and colored paste on burlap.

The titular Death and Fire, painted in 1940, is one of Klee’s final paintings, and like with Szeghy’s Ad Parnassum and Kako’s Ancient Sound, it forms the final movement of the symphony.

In the program notes for this piece, Tan Dun directly relates Klee’s artistic vision with the Chinese aesthetic:

“Klee was concerned with finding formal means to embody deep universal feelings without bitterness or pathos, using a sophisticated complexity to make a concentrated simplicity. Line, which in his thinking was associated both with melody and dynamics, was a major element in his work. This is closely related to the Chinese aesthetic, which is linear, non-harmonic, and seeks the soul of the work rather than its surface effects.”

Tan Dun, “Death and Fire: Dialogue with Paul Klee: Tan Dun.” Wise Music Classical.

"Color in music", "Sound within the colors"

For those of us who practice music, it is actually easy to forget what music is to us, or why or how we experience music.

In examining musicality through art, a different medium, we can now recognize music in new ways.

Is there a musician inside all of us?

Can we express ourselves musically or experience music beyond sound?

What can the past teach us about the future?

What can art teach us about music, and what can music teach us about art?

One thing I have learnt from Klee’s vision is that:

Music lives in everything.

With sound and instrument alone, music cannot survive.

Music has survived throughout history, because it lives in people, nature, the non-living, memory and the future.

To finish this series, let’s listen to one last composer’s insight on Paul Klee:

Japanese composer Tōru Takemitsu, whose composition “All in Twilight” for solo guitar was inspired by Klee.

"Klee's works seem to have a magical power similar to the way music captivates people. I believe that just as there is color in music, there is sound hidden within the colors."

Toru Takemitsu

Future listening of compositions inspired by Paul Klee

• Benet Casablancas: Alter Klang. Impromptu for Orchestra (2006)

• George Crumb: Metamorphoses, Book 1 (2015-2017) and Book 2 (2019) for solo piano

• Peter Maxwell Davies: Five Klee Pictures (1959, revised 1976) for school, amateur or professional orchestra

• David Diamond: The World of Paul Klee (1959, revised 1976) for large orchestra

• Tan Dun: Death and Fire, “Dialogue with Paul Klee” (1992) for orchestra

• Takashi Kako: Klee (1986 album)

• Andrew May: The Twittering Machine (1995) for flute and computer

• Jim McNeely: Paul Klee - Swiss Jazz Orchestra & Jim McNeely (2006 album)

• Cindy McTee: The Twittering Machine (1993) for chamber orchestra or chamber ensemble

• Roberto García Morillo: Divertimento on Themes by Paul Klee, Op. 37a (1967) for wind quintet

• Paul Osterfield: Klee Abstractions (2007) for flute, clarinet and guitar

• Carlos Sánchez-Gutiérrez: ...Ex-Machina  (2008) Concerto for marimba, piano and symphony orchestra

• Gunther Schuller: 7 Studies on Themes of Paul Klee (1959) for orchestra

• Iris Szeghy: Ad Parnassum (2005) for string orchestra

• Dmitri Tymoczko: This Picture Seems to Move (1998) for string quartet

• Sándor Veress: Hommage à Paul Klee (1951) phantasy for two pianos and strings

Sources

• 『クレーの贈りもの (“Klee’s Present”)』. Tokyo, Corona Books editorial department. Heibonsha, 2001.

• “心と共鳴するクレー、想像力溶け込ます色彩　作曲家・加古隆　私とパウル・クレー(2).” 産経新聞：産経ニュース, April 22, 2025. https://www.sankei.com/article/20250422-MYDYQRWTYJLZJPDVCAAVYGW7GM/.

• “Death and Fire: Dialogue with Paul Klee: Tan Dun.” Wise Music Classical. Accessed June 5, 2025. https://www.wisemusicclassical.com/work/33554/Death-and-Fire-Dialogue-with-Paul-Klee--Tan-Dun/.

• Buja, Maureen. “Musicians and Artists: Peter Maxwell Davies and Paul Klee.” Interlude, June 10, 2022. https://interlude.hk/musicians-and-artists-peter-maxwell-davies-5-klee-pictures-inspired-by-paul-klee/.

• Buja, Maureen. “Music and Art: Klee.” Interlude, January 3, 2016. https://interlude.hk/music-art-klee/.

• Düchting, Hajo (translated into Japanese by Goto, Fumiko).『パウル・クレー: 絵画と音楽 (“Paul Klee: Art and Music”)』. Tokyo, Iwanami Shoten, Publishers, 2009.

• Fink, Monika. “Polyphony in Image and Sound.” Music in Art Vol. 42, no. 1–2 (2017): 367–74. https://www.jstor.org/stable/90019515.

• Kläy, Walter. “Text Zur Portrait-CD 2 - ‘Jeder Moment Erfüllt von Intensität.’” Iris Szeghy. Accessed June 20, 2025. http://www.szeghy.ch/de/texte/uber-iris-szeghy/text-zur-portrait-cd-2/.

• McTee, Cindy. “The Twittering Machine.” Cindy McTee. Accessed June 23, 2025. https://www.cindymctee.com/twittering_machine.html.

• Mondolo, Ana María. “Música Clásica Argentina: Roberto García Morillo.” Música Clásica Argentina, 2001. https://www.musicaclasicaargentina.com/garciamorillo/conjunto.htm.

Images and Photos

• Klee’s Alter Geiger ("Old Violinist”) was downloaded from the Digital Work Database of the Zentrum Paul Klee in Bern.

• All other images of artwork in this video are scans of either postcards or pages from books that I personally own.

  • Ad Parnassum and In the Style of Bach were scanned from postcards purchased at the Hyogo Prefectural Museum of Art.

    • Klee, Paul. Ad Parnassum. 1932. Bern, Kunstmuseum Bern. Printed in Germany. Postcard.

    • Klee, Paul. im Bach’schen Stil. 1919. Art Unlimited Amsterdam. Printed in Holland. Postcard.

  • All other images:

    • 『クレーの贈りもの (“Klee’s Present”)』. Tokyo, Corona Books editorial department. Heibonsha, 2001.

    • Hajo Düchting (translated into Japanese by Fumiko Goto).『パウル・クレー: 絵画と音楽 (“Paul Klee: Art and Music”)』. Tokyo, Iwanami Shoten, Publishers, 2009.

    • Makoto Shindo.『もっと知りたいパウル・クレー 生涯と作品 (アート・ビギナーズ・コレクション) (“Want to Know More Paul Klee: Life and Works”)』. Tokyo Bijutsu Co.,Ltd., 2011.