Éric-Emmanuel Schmitt et ses maîtres de bonheur : à la croisée des voies littéraire et musicale
Eric-Emmanuel Schmitt and his masters of happiness: the convergence of literary vocation and musical inclination

Summary/Abstract: In some of his works, containing autobiographical elements, Eric-Emmanuel Schmitt reveals the musical origins of his vocation as a writer. He emphasizes the importance of several composers and describes the maieutic method used by his piano teachers. The paper studies the (trans)forming function of learning music, and more specifically the initiation to the works of Mozart, Beethoven and Chopin. Spiritual guides and maîtres à penser, these composers influenced Schmitt’s existential and artistic trajectory and inspired his own esthetic adventure. The salutary encounter with Mozart caused the birth of spiritual love and enabled an acceptance of the writing vocation and initiation of the process of creative transmission. The Mozartian disciple reinvents his vocation and transposes in his literary works some features of the musical philosophy of his masters of wisdom and thus, perpetuates their esthetical and spiritual filiation.

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