Download Chapter 21 -- Ludwig van Beethoven

Chapter 21 -- Ludwig van Beethoven
Illustration 1: Excerpt of manuscript of Symphony No 9 in d minor by
Ludwig van Beethoven (courtesy of Petrucci Music Library)
A dilemma: where does one properly put Beethoven? If we analyze and listen to his
earliest music, it is as much a part of the Classical tradition as that of his famous teacher,
Franz Joseph Haydn. His first compositions included the standard forms of sonatas,
concerti, symphonies, string quartets, etc.
And, at the end of his life, he was still composing sonatas, concerti, symphonies, string
quartets, etc.
However, if we try to pigeonhole his late music into the Classical style, it just doesn’t
work. One of the most striking changes is that Beethoven's personality engulfs his
music. Added to that, the harmonies, the technical difficulties, the unusual structures in
his later compositions seem more appropriate to a much later era.
During the 19th century, the Romantic Era splintered off into two directions: one
inspired by the strict discipline of the Classical Era, focusing on time-honored structure
and forms—the traditionalists. The other was a truly innovative Romantic style where
formal structure took a back seat to freedom of expression—the music was the story of
the artist's personal journey—the rebels. Not surprisingly, each side had contempt for the
opposing viewpoint.
And. . . both of them trace their origins and inspiration to Ludwig van Beethoven.
How is it possible for one man to have that much influence on the next several
generations of musicians?
It's a remarkable story and stands alone in the history of music. . . and this is the reason
that Beethoven deserves his own chapter.
HIS STORY IN SYMPHONIES
Illustration 2: Fourth Movement of Symphony No 5 in C minor by
Ludwig van Beethoven
It's not mandatory to know the story of a composer's life in order to listen to his music,
but sometimes knowing his back story adds a depth that aids in understanding of why
the composer did what he did.
Unfortunately with Beethoven, this has difficulties. While a number of detailed
biographies were written by Beethoven's contemporaries, modern research suggests that
some of these authors were more than a little loose with the truth. Parts of the
manuscripts are accurate, but we now know that some events have been fabricated
wholesale. Generally, something that is inaccurate or inconsistent is worse than nothing
at all—which is why many of the biographies of him are worse than useless.
What do we have, then, that can tell us a true story of his life and put his enormous
talents in perspective?
One of them is a set of conversation books Beethoven used after he lost his hearing. If a
visitor wanted to ask him questions, he would write his question in one of the books.
Beethoven would read the question and then answer verbally. Unfortunately, as you can
imagine, the material is quite one-sided and we’ll never know what his responses were.
However, the best answer can be found in his music. Unlike the biographies, it tells no
lies. It is his pure unfiltered voice. Through it, we can follow the trail of his development
into one of the greatest and most influential minds in Western culture.
In contrast to much of the music business today, his music was not arranged, padded out,
corrected, or exaggerated. There was no collaboration, no producer or arranger to come
along and flesh out ideas. Minus a few relatively minor copying errors here or there, his
published work is the pure raw thoughts and emotions that Beethoven experienced—and
communicated. Beethoven’s manuscripts are definitive primary sources.
As we've seen earlier, notation is a storage device that preserves the meticulous detail of
the parameters necessary to reconstruct the performance of a piece of music. However, it
preserves much more.
On a very basic level—and perhaps this is more relevant to the point of what music is all
about—a piece of music itself is a storage device for emotions. The notes, the rests, the
harmonies, melodies, dynamics are simply the delivery mechanism for the thoughts and
feelings of a human being.
It is similar to a computer program that executes a series of commands. However,
instead of generating calculations, it generates a sequence of emotions that manipulate
the listener through a pattern of feelings. As we've seen, we in the West tend to be very
specific with this emotional program; we are obsessed with the great detail of musical
notation and to perform it exactly as written (and then argue endlessly about those
details).
And, some psychologists and neurologists go even further. They argue that as motions
can convey emotion (imagine someone walking into a room and slamming his briefcase
down on the table—that's a very clear communication), it's perfectly logical that a wide
variety of emotions are communicated in the motions a performer uses to play piano
music. This is obviously something that only a performer would be able to experience.
There are many layers to a musical composition, but the emotions may well be the most
important one. It’s also not just music that does this--on a very basic level, plays, films,
books, etc. are also programs of emotions.
Beethoven composed in all of the common classical mediums during his life. It could
just as easy to make the case to trace his life by way of his 17 string quartets or his 32
piano sonatas.
This chapter will focus on his nine symphonies for a number of reasons.
First, as a general body of music they are the most accessible of his major compositions,
and the most popular (for example, an Amazon.com search for “Beethoven complete
symphonies” gets almost 2,700 results).
Second, as musical statements they represent a group of work he labored over very
seriously. For Beethoven and those that followed him, the symphony is a parallel to a
novel by a writer – a very complex and involved work of art.
When Beethoven composed his first symphony, his work was very much in the classical
model of his teacher, Franz Joseph Haydn. At his death in 1827, he had completely
transformed the medium and had become the greatest innovator of his time. Nearly 200
years after his death, anyone who composes a piece of music called a symphony is still
walking in the composer's footsteps.
Two centuries after his death, his symphonies remain the most popular and most
performed of any composer. Herbert von Karajan, the most recorded conductor of the
20th century, recorded the complete symphonies four times on audio recordings. In
addition, he filmed two more complete performances of the nine.
For orchestra conductors trying to establish a repuation, they are the gold standard upon
which a performer’s reputation is measured.
A recent published collection of Beethoven's music fills out 85 cds—that's a lot of music
for someone who only lived to age 57. What might be surprising is that for being such
an innovator and a prolific composer, Beethoven often had difficulty getting his ideas to
a point where he was satisfied with them, unlike his contemporaries.
Melodies seem to have flowed effortlessly out of Mozart—in every year of his adult life
he singlehandedly composed more music than the Beatles did during their entire career.
Haydn's assertion that he sometimes had to get down on his knees to pray for musical
inspiration often gets a chuckle out of musicians who know his tremendous output and
wonder how one person could compose such an amount of music in one lifetime
regardless of him claiming that he needed divine help.
We know from Beethoven's sketchbooks that he had no such luck. His music sometimes
seems as if it had to be chiseled out of stone one note at a time. Beethoven worked
intensely on pieces of music, sometimes taking years and revision after revision until he
was satisfied with it.
Living to age 77, Haydn composed nearly 110 symphonies. Mozart died at age 35 and
composed over 40 of them.
Beethoven died at age 57, composing only nine symphonies with sketches for a tenth
left incomplete. Nine compared to 40 or 110? How is it that many consider this man to
be the greatest symphonist who ever lived?
Unlike his predecessors, his music was not created for the purpose of light entertainment
for nobility. This was a new era demanding different works from its creative artists. His
intense revision process, coupled with a brilliantly creative imagination, (and a stubborn
personality as witnessed in his music) refined ideas to a peak never seen before.
The early 19th century was a time when audiences were demanding a much more
personal, individual vision. With composers now having the freedom—intellectual
freedom as well as financial freedom—to compete with each other for the public's favor,
all of those factors contributed to a somewhat smaller outputi.
The musical era starting in the early 19th century is often described as “The celebration
of the individual” and we can see this characteristic taking hold early in Beethoven's life
and output. It was an intense era, an era full of promise and change.
Economics had changed to where the middle class had enough clout to be a factor in the
music market. Public concerts were common and now a venue for an artist to earn
serious amounts of money staging them. Beethoven became quite well known during his
lifetime and died a comfortably wealthy man, due in part to being a ruthless
businessman. The publication of his first opus (a set of piano trios) was successful
enough to take care of his living expenses for an entire year (Barry Cooper, Beethoven,
Oxford University Press, US)
And, there is also the factor of sheer luck. While Beethoven was enormously talented, he
was also fortunate to live in an era where his dynamic, personal, humorous, and
sometimes rebellious style was what audiences were ready to hear. His personal tragedy
of his hearing loss (and his resolve to overcome the damage), coupled with his strong
political views was a perfect match for the zeitgeist of the era he lived in. Had he been
born at a different time, we may still remember him as an outstanding musician and
composer. It may be, though, that we wouldn’t be talking about him as one of the all
time greats.
As noted at the beginning of this chapter, Ludwig van Beethoven is a challenge to
classify. His earliest music is clearly Classical in its feel and structure. He lived the bulk
of his life within the confines of what most historians would call the Classical Era. His
orchestra was essentially the same as the orchestra used by Haydn and Mozart. The
expansion of instruments and sizes of the sections were decades away.
And even with the same basic set of symphonic instruments, Beethoven’s late music is
completely out of place in the early 1800s. His forms, harmonies, and musical ideas
didn't just push the musical envelope of the time—it ripped the seams of the envelope.
For decades after his death, music critics argued that he had lost his sanity. However as
time passed, his "insanity" turned out to be his far-reaching vision and a creativity that
was decades ahead of his time.
Composers who followed him found his footsteps to be giant. The first symphony of
Brahms got the nickname "The Tenth", a reference to the fact that some critics felt it was
the first symphony since Beethoven ninth (dating from 50 years earlier) that lived up to
the standards of the great master. In every one of his own nine symphonies, Anton
Bruckner took Beethoven's 9th symphony as a starting point. Gustav Mahler's 5th
symphony begins with the three short/one long motif that permeates Beethoven's 5th
symphony. Mahler also re-orchestrated Beethoven's symphonies, updating the scores to
the enlarged orchestra of the late 1800s in an acknowledgment that Beethoven seemed to
be writing for a medium that didn't exist yet.
It also helps to understand the time in which he lived.
Beethoven was born in 1770, into an era that was rapidly changing and becoming highly
fertile ground for political and social upheaval of the likes that had never been seen
before.
A few centuries earlier, the Church had dominated all of society—especially music and
the arts. In the Renaissance with the rise of humanism, in addition to the splintering of
the Church during the Reformation, we see power (political and economic) shifting to
the monarchy, creating the era of absolute monarchs.
An additional game changer was the first Industrial Revolution. The middle class began
to gain unprecedented wealth and influence, a trend seen again in the Second Industrial
Revolution that began in the late 1800s.
We see the end of rule by Divine Right echoed in Rousseau's Social Contract Theory,
suggesting that there were certain rights that belonged to every human being and that
government should be at the consent of the masses. We see "enlightened despots" such
as Emperor Joseph II, who believed that his subjects should be treated humanely.
In 1776 a disorderly band of colonies in the New World decided enough was enough and
officially severed political ties with the powerful British Empire, choosing selfgovernment and eventually creating a representative form of government that hadn't
been seen for thousands of years.
In 1789, France followed the example of the United States, creating a political shock
wave all over Europe.
It was an age of revolution; an age where the individual could believe that he was born
with rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
A piece of music tells stories on many levels. In earlier centuries, music told the story of
the Church and the total influence of God in society. Later, the music told story of the
grandiosity of the nobility. Even later, in it we begin to hear logic, reason, and the
celebration of the universal, the story of "Everyman".
Society—and, of course, music—then turned to celebrating the power of the individual.
This was the rise of the musical personality, the heroic artist giving his personal vision,
telling his personal story. Members of his society had the personal and financial means
to create a market for art and music that told the stories they wanted to hear.
Enter Beethoven.
Born into a musical family, Beethoven showed a tremendous musical talent at an early
age. He was a child prodigy and began composing music early, although not on the level
of Mozart. His father recognized his son's talent and began exploiting the fact, taking the
young child on tourii.
Tradition tells us that Mozart heard him play and made the statement, "Some day he will
make a noise in the world!", although modern scholars find no hard evidence that the
two actually met.
His composition teachers included Antonio Salieri and Haydn--who found the young
man impulsive and his compositions difficult to understand.
Even if they didn’t see eye to eye, Beethoven's first works are clearly in the mold of
Haydn. However, a few distinct traits of his personality already begin to show through: a
rough edged humor, an energy, a drive—even to the point of obsessiveness—that begins
to surface.
As far as we know, Beethoven always had a certain contempt for nobility and the
concept of being born into privilege. On the other hand, he kept many ties to nobility
and a number of them supported him financially.
When he was 19, a critical event happened at an impressionable time in his life—the
French Revolution. For each of us, quite often in our adolescence, there are events that
affect us for the rest of our lives. They determine how we will see things and react to
them and are the standard to which we compare all future events. The French Revolution
was an event that seems to have profoundly affected Beethoven.
This was not the only upheaval he was to experience. As early as his mid-20s, his life
took a very tragic turn as he discovered that he was losing his hearing. Analyzing his
description of the symptoms, modern scholars have not come to a definitive conclusion
as to the cause. Among the suspected culprits was lead poisoning.
As he was simultaneously trying to establish his reputation as a composer, Beethoven
was the most famous pianist throughout Europe, known for his legendary
improvisational ability. For a performer knowing that he would eventually be unable to
hear what he was playing, it was nearly as devastating as having an arm amputated.
In one of his writings known as the Heiligenstadt Testament, he even confessed to
considering suicide. However, the young composer stated that he had decided to take
Fate by the throat and continue working through his affliction. He would not let it win.
Regardless of anything his doctors could do, even supplying him with primitive hearing
devices, within a couple of decades, he was completely deaf.
This is where the musical genius becomes the musical deity. From this world of silence,
he composed the most powerful music of his life, and as many critics say, some of the
finest and most powerful music composed in Western history.
The following section is a cursory analysis of his nine symphonies with some historical
notes. It is recommended that the reader take the opportunity to listen to the works
discussed here. There are numerous fine performances on YouTube, the Petrucci Music
Library (imslp.org), and other locations on the internet.
SYMPHONIES 1 AND 2 -- THE EARLY PERIOD
Beethoven's two first symphonies are very much in the Classical mold of his teacher,
Haydn. There is little sign of a feeling of struggle that characterizes his later music.
Symphony No. 1 in C Major
1.
2.
3.
4.
Adagio molto —Allegro con brio
Andante cantabile con moto
Menuetto: Allegro molto e vivace
Adagio—Allegro molto e vivace
First performed in 1800, Beethoven's first symphony is perfectly Classical in feel with
the standard four movement framework: fast (with a slow introduction reminiscent of his
teacher, Haydn), slow, medium, fast. The structures of the movements draw heavily
from the sonata form, also a trademark of Haydn.
There is also a good natured sense of humor in it with a few harmonic tricks. He may
have gotten that from his teacher, Haydn, who occasionally indulged himself in mild
musical pranks in his symphonies.
Symphony No. 2 in D major
1.
2.
3.
4.
Adagio molto, Allegro con brio
Larghetto
Scherzo: Allegro
Allegro molto
The second symphony, first performed in 1803, also begins with a slow Haydenesqe
introduction and the remainder of the symphony follows through in the pattern
established by his Classical peers.
The "feel" of this one, though, is a little different. There is again an ebullient and
sometimes impish sense of humor that pervades it. Compared with its predecessor, the
second is filled with an unstoppable energy. Unlike the first which has a quiet entry, the
second begins with two loud full orchestra notes quickly getting the listener’s attention.
The theme that begins fourth movement was a little shocking to purists at the time with a
wide jump in the intervals of its melody. There were a few harmonies that also were
outside the norm as Beethoven was already asserting his personal stamp on his music—a
prophesy of things to come.
Had Beethoven stopped composing here or at least continued in the same vein, he would
have left a legacy as having created one of the best, most dramatic—and yes, most fun—
of Classical symphonies.
SYMPHONIES 3 THROUGH 7 -- THE MIDDLE PERIOD
Something seems to have happened between the creation of his second and third
symphonies.
There is a phrase sometimes used to describe such a situation; "new wine in old
wineskins". Prior to the use of bottles, wine was fermented in animal skins. New
wineskins would be needed to store new wine as it fermented. They would have the
flexibility to be able to expand with the fermentation of the wine. Putting new wine in
old wineskins would cause them to explode.
Such a musical explosion takes place in his third symphony, first performed in 1804.
Symphony No. 3 in Eb major “Eroica”
1.
2.
3.
4.
Allegro con brio
Marcia funebre: Adagio assai
Scherzo: Allegro vivace
Finale: Allegro molto
Beethoven dispenses with the slow and quiet introductory passage typical of his old
teacher Haydn. It starts off with two fortissimo chords from the full orchestra (that
would be right at home closing the movement) and immediately plows right into the first
main theme which is introduced by the cellos. The scale of the movement is larger,
grander, more complex with the creative touches and surprises that became a trademark
of Beethoven. It ends in an extraordinary coda hammering home the main theme through
repetition, with Beethoven adding more and more instruments until it becomes a heroic
celebration of the theme.
The second movement is, of all things, a funeral march: grand, heroic, filled with twists
and turns of mood almost like one remembering the complex life of a great man.
The third movement is no longer a minuet--it is a "scherzo", a fast romping goodnatured movement. The final movement is an imaginative and large scale theme and
variations (he must have had a liking for this melody because he used the same theme a
number of times in other compositions).
The “Eroica” (meaning Heroic), as it came to be called, is almost twice as long as most
of Haydn's symphonies. The treatment of the musical themes and the scope of the
complexity and the drama he created were far beyond what anyone else had done up to
that point. The triumph of the first movement giving way to the tragedy of a funeral
march in the second movement is an example of the broad scale of his unique creative
concept. Even though his orchestra is esssentially the same one that Haydn used,
Beethoven's use of the orchestral instruments was unconventional.
There is a well-known story behind this “heroic” symphony. Fortunately, this one can be
corroborated.
Napoleon Bonaparte had become known as the great liberator of Europe, and someone
that Beethoven deeply admired. The accounts of Beethoven's life (that we can trust)
suggest that he was obsessed with the ideals of freedom and human rights.
The symphony began life as "Sinfonia Bonaparte", a testament to his hero.
His plan did not end well.
In a solemn and opulent ceremony Napoleon Bonaparte narcissistically crowned himself
emperor. When word reached Beethoven, he was furious and came to the conclusion that
Napoleon was yet one more tyrant. He tore up the dedication page and scratched out the
words "Sinfonia Bonaparte" so angrily that he ripped a hole in his manuscript.
The composer rededicated the symphony "to the memory of a great man"; perhaps with
a personal meaning that it was to an ideal that only existed in his memory before reality
sunk in.
Whatever the outcome, it was a very personal portrait.
A portrait of Napoleon? A little psychology tells us that’s not necessarily the case.
Many times, those we look up to as ideals are actually reflections of our own aspirations.
In our heroes, we see ourselves.
If there was any need for a glimpse at the real Beethoven, it can be found in this
symphony. Beethoven later redubbed the nickname, "Eroica". However, we have a
pretty good case in concluding that the "hero" is Beethoven himself.
Starting with the third symphony he seemed to have alternated his symphonies. Some of
them are intense dramatic musical statements--most of these are the odd numbered
symphonies. Most of his even numbered symphonies tend to be a little gentler, a little
more introspective, a little more conservative. Whether he planned it this way is
unknown.
Symphony No. 4 in Bb Major
1. Adagio – Allegro vivace
2. Adagio
3. Allegro vivace
4. Allegro ma non troppo
His fourth symphony sits between two great dramas--the heroic third and the bombastic
fifth symphony. It starts softly and is almost a throwback to a classical style, but it has
many of the characteristics of Beethoven's mature symphonic musical style. It has his
unusual (and sometimes tricky to perform) rhythms and syncopations. It was given its
first public performance in 1807.
Regardless of its fresh innovations, nothing could have prepared his contemporaries for
his fifth symphony.
Symphony No. 5 in C minor
1. Allegro con brio
2. Andante con moto
3. Scherzo Allegro
4. Allegro
The first four notes – three short notes and one long—may be the most recognized
melody on the planet. Various writers have called it his "Battle Symphony", his "Victory
Symphony" (in part because the Morse code for the letter 'V' is the same pattern), or the
"Fate Symphony" because it is so powerful of a document that it's hard for many people
to think of it in just purely musical terms.
It may be the most intense, compact, powerful, and innovative piece of music composed
up to that time, and perhaps still hasn’t been equaled.
Beethoven--at least in any authenticated history--seems to have had little to say about it,
but if we take a look at the circumstances surrounding the creation of it, we may be able
to understand a little more about it and the time for which it was created.
Battle? Fate? Victory? What about a piece of music would lead listeners to draw that
conclusion?
Beethoven was engaged in his own personal battle that threatened to take away his most
precious gifts – he realized that he was losing his hearing.
The young Beethoven was certainly an up and coming composer who had studied with
some of the greats of his era. At this time in his life, he was considered to be the finest
pianist in Europe. His improvisations were legendary. There was a potential for
substantial income from performances.
By all odds, the future should have been in the palm of his hand.
Instead, Beethoven found himself being robbed of a talent that should have been greater
in him than in anyone else. The best doctors of the time were helpless to do anything
about it.
What was his first reaction? From one of the reliable sources—a letter to his brothers
known as the Heiligenstadt Testament—we know that it was despair. In his own words
we know he contemplated suicide.
And later in the same document, we see him saying he said that he he would not let
deafness defeat him and resolved to “take Fate by the throat.”
Let's step back for a moment and look at the larger historical musical picture. Up to this
time, if you listen to the work of composers and try to guess what was happening in their
lives—tragedy or prosperity—you will have a nearly impossible task on your hands.
Music tells stories on many levels—the instrument makers, the printers and the needs
that led to standardized notation, and the economics of their times; the thinking and
understanding of the time in the structures used; not to mention the intended audience
for the composition.
Earlier music told the story of a powerful Church, or a powerful monarchy—or in
Haydn's time, the story of the common man. The composer's personal story was simply
not that important in earlier times.
This is where Beethoven begins to stand alone from the crowd. It is his point of view
that we are hearing. We hear his triumphs, his tragedies, his fears—not someone else's.
Simultaneously we also know that there was a great battle going on in society around
him. Revolutions were taking place. A powerful monarchy was being overthrown by a
small set of colonies on the other side of the Atlantic showing the world that a
representative form of government based on the will of its common citizens could exist.
We do know with some certainty that Beethoven was obsessed with human rights.
These political movements going on around him couldn't help but fire his imagination
and very likely resonated as freedoms took tyrants “by the throat”.
Beethoven's fifth symphony begins with a dramatic movement dominated by a motif
consisting of three short notes followed by one long note. He constructed the entire first
theme out of it, creating a melody sounding very ominous and oppressive. The
movement itself is a conflict between the first theme and a second defiant melody that
seems to give a sense of hope and strength.
The second movement is two sets of theme and variations (alternating) that once again
bring back the opening motif. This was something that had never been done before.
The third movement is a fast scherzo overwhelmed by the same motif, but once again a
battle between the ominous and the optimistic.
Like all good symphonies of the time, the fifth symphony has four movements.
However, the third movement plows directly into the fourth without a break—again, an
innovation that no one had ever done before.
The main theme of the fourth movement is a defiant victory theme—almost with the
power of a fight song. And again. . . the four note motif returns and threatens to
overwhelm the victory, but in the end, the symphony ends in unquestionable triumph as
the positive sounding key of C major replaces the ominous key of C minor.
In this one piece, Beethoven had done a number of things never done before. He created
the first “cyclical” symphony where the four movements were musically related—not
unlike a “concept album” in modern pop music. He also shifted the dramatic balance to
where the greatest drama comes at the end, not in the first movement.
The fifth symphony is unmistakeably telling a personal story. The Romantic Era is often
referred to as “the celebration of the individual”. This is unquestionably one of the
works of art—even if it is still within the confines of a Classical structure—that led the
way for musicians who followed him.
Again, as far as we know he never said publicly what was behind the powerful
emotions expressed in this symphony; but it is probably not likely that someone who
had not experienced the adversity and tragedy that Beethoven did—or someone who
didn’t sense the hope and promise of freedom—would have created such a document
that hinted of such a powerful struggle.
Symphony No. 6 in F major “Pastoral”
1.
Erwachen heiterer Empfindungen bei der Ankunft auf dem Lande (Awakening of
cheerful feelings upon arrival in the country): Allegro ma non troppo
2.
Szene am Bach (Scene at the brook): Andante molto mosso
3.
Lustiges Zusammensein der Landleute (Happy gathering of country folk): Allegro
4.
Gewitter, Sturm (Thunderstorm; Storm): Allegro
5.
Hirtengesang. Frohe und dankbare Gefühle nach dem Sturm (Shepherds' song;
cheerful and thankful feelings after the storm): Allegretto
Beethoven's sixth symphony is of a completely different character. It is relaxed: almost
as if the battle has been fought and won.
It begins like a breath of fresh air—quite literally. For the first time, Beethoven gives
each of the movements a subtitle. If he hadn't, it wouldn't have been too hard to guess
that it was about another great passion of his—nature.
The “Pastoral Symphony” is meant to be his musical impressions of general feelings
upon arriving in the country; technically not a true program symphony with distinct
references to concrete experiences. Not for the last time in his life, what he was trying to
express in music was too large for the medium to hold.
Even if it is meant to be only impressions of nature, it nevertheless contains musical
lines that are unmistakably depicting the gentle sound of a flowing stream, bird calls, a
peasant dance, and a violent thunderstorm. Like his fourth symphony, Beethoven
showed his more relaxed, lyrical side. As he did with his fifth symphony, he broke a
number of formal traditions, including having five movements instead of the usual four
with the last three movements played without a break.
An interesting footnote: Beethoven's fifth and sixth symphonies were first heard in the
same four hour concert (yes, really four hours long) in 1808, but the order of the two
(and by some accounts even the numbering) was reversed. The composer likely
understood the power of his fifth symphony, as did many of his contemporaries who
immediately recognized it as a major work of the time.
Symphony No. 7 in A Major
1.
2.
3.
4.
Poco sostenuto – Vivace
Allegretto
Presto – Assai meno presto (trio)
Allegro con brio
The final symphony of his “middle” period is his seventh symphony composed in 1811
and 1812, first publicly performed in 1813. Going back to a more traditional four
movement form with breaks between the movements, it is a work by a mature
Beethoven who had completely mastered his craft.
The seventh symphony starts off with a series of loud sfortzando chords followed by
softer passages. Some historians have suggested that his hearing had deteriorated to the
point where he could no longer hear the quieter parts of his music, so he included a few
loud blasts to be able to verify that the orchestra was playing it correctly.
For the most part, the remainder of the symphony follows more or less conventional
forms (sonata form, theme and variations, scherzo-trio, sonata form).
As noted earlier, one of the things that makes Beethoven different from other composers
up to that point is the amount of personality in his music. It is difficult to listen to it just
as a piece of music. His music is a self-portrait, a story of one man's journey. These
symphonies are the roots the era where the artist speaks with his own individual voice. It
is the first glimpse of the modern era where we often buy music as much for the
personality of the performer as we do for the songs itself.
His predecessors were limited in what they could compose by the patronage system.
Artists were now saying what they wanted to say. It was also the era where the general
public had become powerful enough to support a composer/performer's career. They got
what they expected—just as the nobility and the clergy did with the musicians they
supported in eras prior to this.
Listening to the symphonies in chronological order, there is a very logical progression,
but it is startling to compare his seventh with the second symphony he composed only
10 years earlier.
The greatest changes—and arguably the greatest symphony ever written—was yet to
come.
SYMPHONIES 8 AND 9 -- THE FINAL PERIOD
The final period of Beethoven's life was heavily affected by his deafness. Unable to
perform, he devoted his time and energy to composing.
Composing music that he was unable to hear? Were there other people involved in
arranging and scoring his music?
The answer to the question is “no”. Not only is his late music is completely his unaltered
product, scholars take great pains to examine his original manuscripts (and his
sometimes almost undecipherable handwriting) to make sure that published music is as
accurate to his original intentions as it can be.
Part of a musician's training is to be able to write notes on a paper and “hear” the
pitches, the timbres, the rhythms, the harmonies in his imagination. From the fact that
Beethoven would often take his sketchbooks out into the country and compose miles
away from a piano or any other instrument—even when he could still hear--we know
that he had an extraordinary talent for thisiii.
It was a skill that allowed him keep his vow to “take Fate by the throat.”
The music from Beethoven's final period is unlike anything heard before. His ambitious
use of harmonies, his rethinking of traditional structures, and his musical ideas in
general make his music sound like it should have been written decades later. Beethoven
was so far ahead of his time that more than a few of his contemporaries felt that he had
gone insane.
It wasn't until long after his death that it became universally recognized that in his prison
of silence, he achieved a spiritual depth to his music that few others, if any, have
achieved.
Symphony No 8 in F major
1. Allegro vivace e con brio
2. Allegretto scherzando
3. Tempo di Menuetto
4. Allegro vivace
On the surface, Beethoven's eighth symphony appears to be a “back to basics”
symphony, going back to his classical roots. Shorter in length than the sixth and seventh,
it has the standard four movement scheme created by Haydn, although with no proper
slow movement. A very high spirited and good humored piece, it has the fingerprints of
a master craftsman who had become the greatest composer of his era.
There is a saying that “you can never go home again” and this could almost have been
written about this symphony. On paper, it fairly well follows in the footsteps of his old
teacher, Haydn. However, the music could never be mistaken for something written two
decades earlier. The world was a different place. Musical language was different—
thanks in a large part to Beethoven.
The symphony was composed in 1812 and received its first performance in 1814.
During this time, Beethoven's hearing had deteriorated to the point of being nearly
useless. His last attempt at a public performance was in 1811 and was a disaster. While
he performed all of his early piano concerti, his final one was first performed by one of
his students, Carl Czerny.
It is believed that at the time of the performance of the 8th symphony, Beethoven could
hear only very muffled low frequencies.
The first movement begins immediately with an extroverted main theme and proceeds
along the lines of a standard sonata form ideal. As typical with the composer, the coda
contains a few surprises and a sense of humor.
In a standard Haydn symphony, the second movement would have been slow. The
second movement of the 8th is taken at a fairly fast tempo and begins with a melody that
has been suggested as a tongue in cheek tribute to Johann Maelzel, friend of Beethoven
and inventor of the metronome.
The third movement is a minuet—back to the standard of the earlier Classical, but no
one would be able to mistake this rhythmically spiky piece for the finesse earlier in the
era.
The fourth movement is a sonata form characterized by Beethoven's relentless energy
and willingness to dominate the music with a less than subtle sense of humor.
Symphony number 8 – Four movements; around a half hour in length; roughly the same
orchestra as Haydn used. However, no one could ever mistake it for a composition by
Haydn.
Symphony No. 9 in D minor “Choral”
1.
Allegro ma non troppo, un poco maestoso
2.
Scherzo: Molto vivace – Presto
3.
Adagio molto e cantabile – Andante Moderato – Tempo Primo – Andante
Moderato – Adagio – Lo Stesso Tempo
4.
Recitative: (Presto – Allegro ma non troppo – Vivace – Adagio cantabile –
Allegro assai – Presto: O Freunde) – Allegro assai: Freude, schöner Götterfunken –
Alla marcia – Allegro assai vivace: Froh, wie seine Sonnen – Andante maestoso: Seid
umschlungen, Millionen! – Adagio ma non troppo, ma divoto: Ihr, stürzt nieder –
Allegro energico, sempre ben marcato: (Freude, schöner Götterfunken – Seid
umschlungen, Millionen!) – Allegro ma non tanto: Freude, Tochter aus Elysium! –
Prestissimo, Maestoso, Molto Prestissimo:Seid umschlungen, Millionen!
While Beethoven was a little reckless with convention in his earlier symphonies, nothing
ever suggested the direction his final symphony would take.
Ignoring the musical mechanics, Beethoven explored new territory in musical
expression. It has become one of the most popular classical symphonies ever written.
The choral theme of the fourth movement—often known as the “Ode to Joy” has been
set to the lyrics of numerous hymns, heard in numerous films and television programs,
even becoming an internationally popular song. It has become a symbol of international
unity and is often used to suggest the triumph of good over evil. It is a simple melody
with a devastatingly powerful effect without a trace of irony or cynicism. Even when
heard instrumentally, it suggests profound spiritual and emotional depth.
By the time of its first performance in May 1824, Beethoven was trapped in a prison of
silence—his deafness was complete. But, instead of robbing him of his creative powers,
it sharpened them. It gave a dynamic (and very stubborn) personality a motivation to
fight his affliction and was probably responsible for removing distractions. He was left
with the sound in his imagination, and he was able to focus in on it like no one else in
history.
Beethoven's tremendous compositional skills remained intact—if not having grown—
including his ability to “hear” the music in his imagination and notate it on paper
exactly as he had conceived it.
The 9th symphony starts off quietly with a soft theme emerging from murmuring strings
(an effect Anton Bruckner would use as a model for the beginning of all nine of his own
symphonies). Like the first movement of his 5th symphony (also in sonata form), it
presents a musical battle between a stark and oppressive first theme and a hopeful
second theme. The first movement is arguably the most intense composition written up
to that time.
Beethoven chose a prestissimo scherzo for his second movement with an intensity
matching that of the first movement. The third movement is a slow double theme and
alternating variations of each, similar to the structure of his fifth symphony.
It is the fourth movement where Beethoven boldly set foot into uncharted territory. The
first part begins with a very gruff recitative (a name given to a very free section of an
opera) led by the low strings. We then hear a phrase from the first movement, and it is
cut off as if it is being rejected. We hear a phrase from the second movement, with the
same outcome, followed by a similar treatment from the third movement.
The winds then play a new hopeful, encouraging phrase. This one is accepted and is then
taken up by the cello and bass section. It is repeated by different instruments, getting
louder until it seems to be a celebration for the full orchestra. The loud dissonant section
that opened the movement interrupts once more. At this point, a solo bass voice sings,
“Oh friends, not these tones! But let us sing something more cheerful and more joyful,”
a text written by Beethoven. The vocal parts of the rest of the movement are set to a
poem by Friedrich Schiller, his “Ode to Joy”, along with a few additional lines by
Beethoven.
While voices with orchestra (in opera, for example) were common, this was the first
time the purely instrumental form of the symphony ever had the human voice be part of
a symphony.
A classicist would have major problems with the movement. On paper, the structure of
the movement looks ridiculous—if there is even a coherent structure to follow. In some
ways it is similar to a recklessly free theme and variations, but one cannot call it that
because of so many episodes of other things happening. Critics of the time were
confused, leading some to conclude that Beethoven had lost his mind.
However, the impact of the music is devastatingly powerful. The audience at the first
performance broke out in applause numerous times, something not often heard at
classical concerts of this type.
In one account, after the final chords the audience erupted in a standing ovation.
Beethoven, who was on stage facing the musicians could not hear it. One of the soloists
turned him around to face the audience; the ovation became deafening and moved
people to tears.
It is considered one of the greatest works of Western music and many music critics call
it the greatest symphony ever composed. Not the least reason is the message Beethoven
chose to set to music—a poem about the universal brotherhood of man brought together
by joy. It was a very powerful and personal message.
However the story may go even deeper. Some scholars suggest that the word in
Schiller's poem Freude--”joy” in German was a substitute for a word too risky to say
publicly—Freiheit, the German word for freedom and that this hidden meaning was an
open secret obvious to everyone at the time.
In 1961, during the Cold War between the Soviet Union and the West, a wall was built
dividing the city of Berlin, serving as a stark reminder of the fear and animosity between
East and West, and the very real possibility that if war broke out between the two sides,
the nuclear conflict could end the human race.
In 1989, when the two superpowers had reached a point of trust with each other, the wall
was torn down and the two sides of the city of Berlin were now one. A concert was
organized to celebrate this stunning event. The music? Beethoven’s 9th with musicians
from orchestras of all the major countries involved in World War II. In this performance,
instead of proclaiming “Freude!” (joy), the performers substituted “Freiheit!”
(Freedom).
A century and a half after his death, Beethoven’s music was as powerful and relevant –
and moving – as it had ever been in history.
Beethoven lived in a time of revolution and was caught up in the tidal wave of change.
His music both chronicles those events and served as a standard for those who followed.
Things could never be the same.
Beethoven's career as a symphonist began in 1800 and ended in 1824. 24 years is also
the exact span between Mozart's first and last symphonies. 36 years separate Haydn's
first and final symphonies.
Under normal circumstances, a time span of 24 years would seem hardly enough to
witness a major transformation in music, let alone cause one.
Beethoven was not a normal composer and he certainly wasn't living in normal times.
He was a powerful personality endowed with musical genius and musical talents that
rank among the finest of anyone who ever lived. The torture of his growing deafness
managed only to refine his resolve and in the later years of his life, his compositions
achieved a spiritual depth that seem far ahead of their time.
He was the perfect match for an era of revolution—both political and musical. When
one listens to the symphonies of Haydn, one is listening to the common voice of an era.
When one listens to the symphonies of Beethoven, one is listening to one man's distinct
voice, his anger, his beliefs, his humor, his hopes.
And, in 24 short years enclosing his nine symphonies (approximately 6 hours of music
together), we can clearly trace the history of a radical musical transformation from one
era to another.
The Romantic Era is often described as “The Celebration of the Individual.”
So. . . would Beethoven be considered Classical or Romantic? That remains a tough call.
His early music is unmistakably Classical—and certainly Classical elements are clearly
heard up through his final works—but if you took away his influence on Romantic
composers, you would completely eviscerate the era. Some of the music he composed
near the end of his life seems even beyond the Romantic Era in its depth and expression.
One thing is certain – in his influence on the direction Western music continues to take,
Beethoven stands alone. He was once quoted as saying, “There are and will be a
thousand princes; there is only one Beethoven.”
He certainly got that right.
i To give you an idea of how a composer's approach changed, Schumann and Brahms only composed
four symphonies each. Mendelssohn composed five mature symphonies; Tchaikovsky made it to six;
Bruckner died before he could complete his ninth. Mahler became so superstitious that he tried to
play games with Fate by composing a symphonic work as his unnumbered ninth. Then he composed
his numbered ninth with the attitude that he had cheated Fate. He died not long afterward.
It could be said that this was an exchange of quantity for quality, except that's not entirely accurate
in that Haydn and Mozart seemed to have achieved both. It does reflect a change in the intensity of
the music as well as each era demanding originality from its music rather that compositions that
evolve from a template. In a situation where the composer needs to reinvent at least part of the
wheel each time, his output will naturally be smaller.
ii To make him seem even more remarkable, Beethoven's father shaved a few years off his age now
and then. It wasn't until Ludwig was an adult that he finally learned his actual age.
iii A number of other highly successful composers suffered the same fate but continued to compose,
including Gabriel Faure and Bedřich Smetana. Perhaps the best known classical percussionist in the
world, Evelyn Glennie, is deaf but has learned to “hear” by sensing the air vibrations of the music
she is performing.
Material copyright 2016 by Gary Daum, all rights reserved. All photos and illustrations by Gary Daum unless otherwise
noted. Unlimited use granted to current members of the Georgetown Prep community.