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Meanwhile: Building culture requires intention, not accident

Published: 20 Feb. 2026, 00:05 Updated: 22 Feb. 2026, 18:17

Na Sung-in

The author is a music critic and director of the classical music brand Poongwoldang.

Culture does not arise by accident. It is built over time — through perseverance that withstands decades, through diligence and above all through selfless love and collaboration.

Germany two centuries ago was no different. A land that had never held political hegemony, it harbored an idealistic ambition: to become the Greece of the 19th century through culture. Under that aspiration, endeavors begun by one generation were carried forward by the next. Hard-won cultural spaces were treated as precious inheritances. Sharp debates were not uncommon, yet a broad respect for artistic innovation and diversity remained intact.

At the age of 25, Robert Schumann founded the “Neue Zeitschrift für Musik (New Journal for Music)” in 1834. The journal became a forum for introducing new composers and works, and for sharing visions of art and culture. It operated on a different plane from the solitary struggles of Ludwig van Beethoven or the intimate salons of the so-called Schubertiades associated with Franz Schubert. Here, artists did not merely form bonds among themselves — they engaged more broadly with civil society. It was a significant turning point.
The questions were fundamental: What should be preserved? How should it be cultivated? To establish a noble culture — one that grows stronger only through sustained effort — required wider communication, participation and attention.

Robert Schumann. [WIKIPEDIA]

As editor, Schumann introduced and championed many of his contemporaries, including Frédéric Chopin, Hector Berlioz and Felix Mendelssohn. Ultimately, with something close to prophetic intuition, he discovered the artist of the next generation: Johannes Brahms. Without the “Neue Zeitschrift für Musik,” the lineage of German absolute music might well have been broken. Instead, it found its heir.

Schumann praised the young Brahms in rapturous terms: “When he lets his magic baton fall, choirs and orchestras lend him their powers.” Yet he did not neglect a more enduring admonition: “In every age, kindred spirits secretly unite. You who belong together, strengthen this circle!”

That counsel may be the one our own artistic community would do well to remember.

This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.