On the Task of the Music Historian: The Myth of the Symphony after Beethoven Sanna Pederson This inquiry was prompted by my encounter with the recently translated history of nineteenth-century music by Carl Dahl- ham. While Dahlhaus has been undoubtedly the single most influential figure in American and German musicology in re- cent years, his work must necessarily take on different kinds of significance within different national and academic communi- ties. By asking what Dahlhaus had to lose or gain in perpetuat- ing the myth of Beethoven, and by comparing this to our own interests, we can understand more dearly the value this book has for us. I. Psychological Warfare The myth of the symphony after Beethoven is so compelling that it is told with relish by almost every historian of nine- teenth-century music. What seems to impress the teners of this tale most is that almost no composer proves strong enough to meet the challenge of producing a symphony worthy of the 5