Beethoven Buchzusammenfassung - das Wichtigste aus Beethoven

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Zusammenfassung von Beethoven

Name: Beethoven
Rating: 4.5 (77 reviews)
Author: Laura Tunbridge

Laura Tunbridge

A Life in Nine Pieces

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38 Min.

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What’s in it for me? Take a musical tour through the life of one of history's musical giants.

Even if you rarely listen to classical music, you probably know the name Beethoven. Maybe you can even hum a few bars from his Ninth Symphony. But there’s a lot more to Ludwig van Beethoven than the “Ode to Joy.” Few musical artists have transformed their medium and stretched its boundaries as much as Beethoven did. But what many people don’t realize is that his ambitions and achievements weren’t all that appreciated during his time.

This is Beethoven’s story, as told through nine key works that shed light on his day-to-day concerns and reveal the artist to be far different than the insular genius of popular imagination.

In these blinks, you’ll learn

the difference between “von” and “van” Beethoven;
why audiences were not won over by Beethoven’s symphonies; and
how the evolution of the piano influenced his compositions.

Early Recognition

The year 2020 marks the 250th anniversary of Ludwig van Beethoven's birth. The exact day of his birth is uncertain, as is the case with many people born in the eighteenth century. But there is a record of his baptism; it took place on December 17, 1770.

Beethoven was one of the few surviving children of Johann van Beethoven and his wife, Maria. The family, which included Beethoven’s grandfather (also named Ludwig), lived in Bonn, Germany, and worked for the court. It was a musical family.

Beethoven’s grandfather and namesake was the director of court music. He was also a wine merchant, and Johann, a court singer, was known to be an alcoholic. Since Beethoven’s grandfather died just three years after his grandson’s birth, Beethoven was raised by his father, who was demanding and sometimes abusive. Johann wanted his son to be nothing less than a Mozart-like musical prodigy. The sad irony was that the relationship between father and son only grew more tense as Beethoven quickly surpassed the talents of his father.

Beethoven’s family wasn’t one of nobility. This was often a topic of some confusion throughout Beethoven’s life. In Germany and Austria, having the word “von” in your name implies noble lineage, and many assumed that having a “van” in your name implied the same. But Beethoven’s grandfather was Belgian, and the Flemish “van” had nothing to do with noblesse.

Nevertheless, due to the family’s proximity to the court in Bonn, young Ludwig gained notoriety among noblemen who would prove to be influential patrons and benefactors in his career. At the age of thirteen, Beethoven became a substitute organist for the court. Soon after, he joined the chamber music ensemble of Archduke Maximilian Franz – his first benefactor.

Beethoven quickly learned the importance of pleasing his patron. His first compositions purposefully highlighted the viola, Maximilian’s instrument. In 1786, Maximilian sponsored Beethoven’s first trip to Vienna, where he impressed Mozart with some improvisational playing – not an easy feat. Mozart didn’t make a habit of being wowed by piano-playing teenagers.

A second trip to Vienna in 1792 found Beethoven under the tutelage of another legendary composer, Joseph Haydn. A year later, Haydn was so impressed that he wrote to Maximilian saying that it would only be a matter of time before Beethoven joined the ranks of Europe’s greatest musical talents.

At this time, and many others, war would play a role in Beethoven’s career. The end of the eighteenth century was also the middle of the Napoleonic Wars. In 1794, Napoleon’s army took Vienna, and all plans to return to Bonn were put aside. Though no one could have predicted it at the time, as it turned out, Beethoven would remain in Vienna until his dying day.

Making a Name

In this blink and the ones that follow, we’ll look at nine significant compositions that reflect key moments in Beethoven’s life. The first one is an early success: Septet, op. 20, completed in 1800, and performed that same year in Vienna’s most prestigious theater.

Staging your own concert in Vienna was no easy task. And getting your own Akademie concert at the Imperial and Royal Court Theater was even harder. It had taken Beethoven eight years to win over the right people – most importantly, the police and the director of theaters, who both had to approve requests for academy concerts. But it was worth the effort.

A Man with Connections

If you have a mental image of Beethoven, there’s a good chance he isn’t smiling in it. One of the popular images of the man is from a bust made by Franz Klein, taken from a life mask. But making a life mask isn’t exactly fun. Beethoven had to sit patiently while his head was covered in plaster, breathing through tubes in his nostrils. It took two attempts before the process was successfully completed, which might explain why Klein’s famous bust wears a scowl.

But judging from his letters and the accounts of those who knew him, Beethoven wasn’t always frowning. Nor was he the isolated, brooding genius that many might imagine him to be. He was a social man and a figure of Vienna’s bustling coffeehouse scene. He was also capable of making jokes and teasing others, and he knew the value of friendship and maintaining connections.

Defying Conventions

By 1804, Beethoven was on his way to becoming infamous for composing challenging, convention-defying, complex music. One critic summed up the Kreutzer sonata as “whimsical, presumptuous, and ostentatious.” But this musical ambition and boldness weren’t always appreciated.

Remember, at the time, the way people heard new music was at concerts like the academy, where different compositions were presented together as part of a program. A long, brash, and complicated piece of music probably won’t sit well with a restless audience if that’s not what they’re used to. Certainly, Beethoven was well aware of this, but he wasn’t about to stop challenging the listener.

A Man Ahead of His Time

It may come as a surprise, but in 1808, Vienna’s orchestral players weren’t the skilled musicians we think of today. In those days, there was no such thing as a professional musician who makes a living playing for an orchestra. Instead, you had people with various day jobs who came together every once in a while to play music. Usually, there was only one rehearsal before the big show. During performances, mistakes weren’t uncommon.

As you might imagine, the more ambitious Beethoven got, the more demanding the music was for the performer. Sometimes he could write knowing that a virtuoso would be performing, but not always. For his third academy showcase, Beethoven premiered both his Fourth and Fifth Symphonies, along with five other selected works. Even people who were looking forward to this immersion in Beethoven left feeling that there can indeed be too much of a good thing.

Unrequited Love

Beethoven’s typical day went something like this: He woke up early, made coffee, and worked till around midday when he’d have lunch and go for a long walk. He’d take his notebook with him on the walk, which would last the afternoon. Before dinner he’d visit a coffeehouse or tavern and read the newspaper. He’d be in bed by ten o’clock.

The composer was also an avid reader. Like many of his time, he loved Goethe and even met the author at least once. For his part, Goethe was amazed by Beethoven’s talent but less taken with his personality, which he found to be “intractable.” Goethe gave him some benefit of the doubt, suggesting that the composer’s failing hearing could be blamed; if Beethoven were already a laconic person by nature, Goethe figured that this had made him even more so.

A Banner Year

There was a lot to celebrate in the autumn of 1814. Napoleon had been defeated and sent into exile, and the promise of peace was sweeping across Europe. Festivities were being held, with visiting dignitaries converging in Vienna for a series of balls and events.

Amid the fanfare, Beethoven was clearly being positioned as the city's most esteemed composer. That year, his music was performed more than in any other year of his life. But the song that was most popular then is perhaps his least admired song these days.

Using the Tools at His Disposal

In 1818, Beethoven’s fame spread further. London’s Royal Philharmonic Society invited him to visit, and though he didn’t take them up on the offer, he did receive a significant present – a new piano, from the esteemed London outfit Broadwood.

The fact that the technology and craftsmanship around instruments was quickly changing during Beethoven’s time is something that had a profound effect on his work. In his early years, for instance, pianos gained more keys than they ever had before – works like Septet, op. 20, literally wouldn’t have been possible to write just a few years earlier. The “Kreutzer” Sonata was also influenced by the recent evolution of the violin bow, which allowed musicians like George Polgreen Bridgewater to play in a completely new style.

Evoking the Spirit

If the Hammerklavier was a chance for Beethoven to play with the fugue form, his 1823 composition Missa solemnis, op. 123, would further test the fugue’s formal possibilities.

Missa solemnis translates to “solemn Mass,” and the composition was intended to accompany a Mass service in honor of Archduke Rudolph, who was installed as the Bishop of Olmütz in 1820. The fact that the work arrived three years late was not a sign of disrespect or laziness; on the contrary, the Archduke was one of Beethoven’s most loyal patrons. It was the composer’s ambition – and his vision for a beautiful, grand piece of music – that delayed the premiere.

A Grand Finale

By 1826, Beethoven was, by most accounts, a disheveled and unhealthy man. There are accounts of people crossing paths with the composer on his daily walk, with Beethoven appearing unkempt, harried, and capable of endless rambling if you got him talking. By the end of the year, he would be bedridden – his liver failing, his feet swollen, pneumonia and jaundice wreaking havoc on his body.

Some people described him as being lost to the world in 1826. But, in fact, for much of the year he was still fully engaged with his music and with the family and friends that remained close to him.

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Worum geht es in Beethoven?

Beethoven (2020) takes a unique look at the legendary composer by digging into nine specific compositions that offer fresh insights on key moments in his life. The author challenges popular misconceptions of Beethoven as the reclusive, tortured, misanthropic genius – instead portraying an artist who values friendships, longs for love, and isn’t above haggling over publishing deals.

Bestes Zitat aus Beethoven

Revolutionary France and the Napoleonic Wars shaped and reshaped Europe throughout the composers lifetime . . .

—Laura Tunbridge

Wer Beethoven lesen sollte

Music aficionados
Anyone who likes learning about the lives of artists
People interested in what makes a genius tick

Über den Autor

Laura Tunbridge is a scholar of German Romanticism and nineteenth-century music. She has written three monographs, including one on German composer Robert Schumann, and is currently a Professor of Music and a Henfrey Fellow at St. Catherine’s College, University of Oxford.

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