The project explores the dynamics of these complex relations and analyzes to what extent Hanslick’s critical writings are compatible with "Vom Musikalisch-Schönen," whether this text contradicts his criticism, or whether later texts could even be considered refinements of his aesthetics, which fails to properly theorize pivotal issues such as the performativity of music. To this very end, the project will also analyze Hanslick’s criteria for picking out and editing articles for the (more often than not heavily altered) versions of these texts in his numerous anthologies and ask what his revision process tells us about shifts in Hanslick’s positions. As he conceived of these collected volumes as a living history of the (Viennese) music scene, they will also be compared critically with Hanslick’s conception of scholarship.

Finally, this approach will also be extended to Hanslick’s language and his use of expressions, illustrations, metaphors, etc., which opens the project to an analysis of cultural, political, and general historical contexts that will become the focal point of investigation in a planned follow-up project. At present, the textual analysis is based on a digital edition of "Vom Musikalisch-Schönen" as well as the transcription and TEI annotation of Hanslick’s writings for "Neue Freie Presse" (1864–1904) and his 12 anthologies, which is to go online as part of a rolling process starting in early 2023.