=Formalism of Haydn and Mozart=.—It has been seen that the forms
of harmonic music, growing out of numerous and sometimes crude
experiments, were brought to a high state of perfection through the
genius of Haydn and Mozart; and that they left a definite structure,
nicely balanced, capable of expressing definite thoughts in a
unified form, and at the same time of allowing free rein to the
composer’s fancy. Of their instrumental works, the definition of the
musician-philosopher J. J. Rousseau (d. 1778), that “music is the art
of combining sounds in a manner agreeable to the ear,” gave a fitting
characterization; for while a tinge of melancholy is occasionally
perceptible, and there are passages of some dramatic intensity,
nevertheless such elements are introduced mainly to give a pleasing
contrast from the even flow of polished and idealized sound.
=Their Gift to Beethoven=.—In other words, neither Haydn nor Mozart
ever sacrifices his sense of artistic finish to the expression of
the heights and depths of human emotion. Putting the seal of genius
upon instrumental forms, they transmitted these forms to another more
colossal mind, which should make use of them, to be sure, but should
absolutely subordinate them to the expression of the burning thoughts
and passions of a great individuality; a mind which, like that of
Shakespeare, was able to look fearlessly upon universal truths, and to
bring these to the light, in this instance through the medium of tone.
While their predecessors, by unwearying attempts, made possible this
determination of a capable art form, so Haydn and Mozart, in their
turn, paved the way for the fuller expression which Beethoven gave to
music, and which would otherwise not have been possible, since the
vehicle for his thoughts would have been wanting. Thus the opportunity
had arrived for broadening the definition which Rousseau gave, and
announcing the fact that music is the art of the expression of every
emotion, whether pleasurable or painful, through the medium of highly
organized sound.
=Beethoven’s Early Life=.—Ludwig van Beethoven, the last and
greatest of this triumvirate of sonata writers, was a native of
Bonn-on-the-Rhine, where he was born December 16, 1770. His parents
were lowly people, his father a tenor singer in the Elector of
Cologne’s chapel, and his mother a cook; and, moreover, Beethoven’s
early life was an unhappy one, through his father’s irascible
disposition and tendency toward dissipation. Beethoven, of an acutely
sensitive nature, inherited his father’s quick temper and annoyances
at trifles, so that all through his troubled life he was constantly in
a state of irritation against something or someone. Like Mozart, he
showed early and unmistakable signs of a musical susceptibility; unlike
him, however, the unfolding of his genius was ultimately slow, since he
attained to his greatest powers much later in life than his phenomenal
predecessor. His early instruction was begun with his father; but soon
he was placed in the care of several local musicians: Pfeiffer, music
director and oboist; Van der Eeden, the court organist; and especially
the successor to the latter, Neefe (1748-1798), a man of reputation as
organist and composer for the pianoforte. As a result, Beethoven played
the violin well at eight, and at twelve had mastered the works of
Handel and the “Well-Tempered Clavichord” of J. S. Bach. This intimate
study of the best works of the old polyphonic school was of great
advantage later in solidifying his gifts as a musician.
=First Compositions=.—In 1782, were published his first attempts at
composition—a set of variations, and three sonatas; and these, together
with his remarkable extempore playing, began to attract the attention
of persons of influence. He was appointed organist at Bonn, and at
sixteen was sent by the Elector Max Franz, brother of the Emperor
Joseph II, to Vienna, where he received praise from Mozart, who
predicted a brilliant future for him.
=The Breuning Family=.—In 1787, his mother died; and this loss,
together with his father’s intemperate habits, made his home extremely
unpleasant. Fortunately for Beethoven, however, the enthusiasm for
music which was rife in Germany at this time among people of culture
and position was the cause of attracting to his side many true
friends, who, appreciating his sterling qualities, were able to pardon
his rough exterior and manners. Thus he was received as teacher and
friend into the home of the cultivated von Breuning family, under
whose refining influence he came into touch with the masterpieces of
English and German literature. Here he first met his staunch friend,
Count Waldstein; and here he had leisure for long walks amid the rural
retreats which he heartily loved, and for meditation upon those musical
ideas which he was accustomed to jot down in rough sketches, and which
should later be translated into his immortal creations.
=In Vienna=.—Haydn, passing through Bonn, warmly praised a cantata of
Beethoven’s; and the Elector, moved by such marks of approbation, sent
him again to Vienna, in 1792, for serious study. Here he was instructed
by Haydn till the latter’s departure for England, in 1794, when he
went to Albrechtsberger, the celebrated contrapuntist, and others; but
these exponents of an earlier school looked somewhat askance at the
bold innovations which Beethoven introduced into recognized principles,
and failed to understand the irrepressible genius which prompted them.
Nothing daunted, he launched zealously into composition, supported
by a growing circle of admirers to which the Elector’s patronage had
introduced him; and soon became a favorite at the private soirées of
the nobility, where, on account of his eccentric manners, he was known
as an “original,” but where his wonderful extemporizing was received
with ecstasy.
=Successes as a Pianist=.—Beethoven’s first public performance in
Vienna occurred in 1795, when he performed his pianoforte concerto in
C major at a concert. During a journey soon after, he played before
King Friedrich Wilhelm II, at Berlin, who distinguished him with marks
of favor, and to whom Beethoven dedicated two sonatas written for
pianoforte with ’cello. Here also he met the conductor, =Friedrich
Himmel= (1765-1814), a pianist and composer of high rank. We hear next
of his trial of pianistic skill with Steibelt, a popular virtuoso,
in which Beethoven won an overwhelming victory. With Wölfl, another
distinguished rival, his relations were those of mutual esteem, and
the two masters delighted to extemporize dashing capriccios on two
pianofortes.
=First Period=.—The thirteen years, from 1790 to 1803, are usually
considered to embrace his first period of activity as a composer,
comprising his works to opus 50. His opus 1, three trios for piano,
violin and ’cello, appeared in 1795, and soon after three piano
sonatas, opus 2, dedicated to Haydn, were published. Among the other
noteworthy works of this period were his first two symphonies, in C
and D, three piano concertos, the piano sonatas including opus 27, the
Kreutzer sonata for piano and violin, and his famous Septet for strings
and wind instruments. In general, these compositions _follow_ closely
the lines laid down by _Haydn_ and _Mozart_, although there is, notably
in the piano sonatas, a gradual tendency toward freedom of expression,
and the assertion of individuality.
Troubles now began to gather about him. About 1800 his hearing became
defective, and the malady grew steadily from bad to worse, so that
by 1816 he was obliged to use an ear-trumpet, and by 1822 he was
stone-deaf. To add to his discomforts, his brothers Karl and Johann
treated him shamefully, and a son of the former, to whom he was left
guardian at the father’s death, and upon whom he lavished a father’s
care, turned out a scapegrace, repaying his affection with the basest
ingratitude. Weighed down by these misfortunes, Beethoven became
irritable and morbid, distrusting his most faithful friends, and
constantly imagining plots against himself. His utter ignorance of
worldly matters, too, brought him into financial troubles, and involved
his domestic affairs in a state of continual confusion.
=Second Period=.—Yet, as if to prove man’s ability to rise superior to
every affliction, during this very time he was writing compositions
which, for joyous freshness and spiritual elevation, have been
scarcely, if ever, equalled. During his second period, extending to
1815, and including his compositions to about opus 90, he adopted a
_freedom of expression_ entirely untrammelled by formal limitations,
enlarging and vivifying the Sonata Form, and varying it to suit his
changing moods. The joy of living, with its intensity of passion
and depths of emotion, is reflected in these works, which assert a
character strong in its struggle against adverse fate, confidently
looking toward the goal of ultimate good.
=Compositions of this Period=.—His most popular symphonies were written
during this period, which embraces those from the third to the eighth,
inclusive. The “Eroica,” number three, was originally written in
homage to Napoleon, whom Beethoven honored as the guide of the French
nation toward that assertion of independence and individuality which
he dearly loved; but when the news arrived that Napoleon was declared
Dictator, in 1804, he tore up the dedicatory page in a fit of anger.
Another of his greatest compositions was his opera of “Fidelio,” upon
which Beethoven spent an amazing amount of time and pains, whose
overture he rewrote twice. Produced in Vienna, in 1805, soon after the
occupation of the city by the French, it was received coldly; and only
after several revisions did it score a success at all in keeping with
its grand and inspiring conception. Several orchestral overtures; his
violin concerto; an oratorio; a mass in C; some of his best chamber
music, including the celebrated Rasumovsky string quartets; and his
piano concertos in G and E-flat, were other fruits of about this time.
Of fourteen piano sonatas, we find several which have continued in
unbroken popularity, notably the two in opus 27, the “Pastorale,” opus
28, the “Waldstein,” opus 53, and the “Appassionata.”
=Latter Years of His Life=.—The latter part of Beethoven’s life, after
1815, was spent in Vienna, in a state of despondency from his troubles
which his general recognition as the foremost musician of his day could
scarcely alleviate. His many friends placed him, by their efforts, in
comfortable pecuniary circumstances; yet he constantly imagined himself
struggling with poverty. Sensitive to his affliction, he made himself
exceedingly inaccessible, and passed his days in unceasing labor upon
those works which eclipsed, in profundity and individuality, all of
his former compositions, and which were an index to the conflicting
struggles in his mind. Stone-deaf, he yet revelled in a spiritual world
of tone, hearing his greatest compositions only in the realms of his
imagination. An attack of pneumonia in 1826 left effects which proved
lasting, and which caused his death on March 26, 1827. In his last
illness he was surrounded by his circle of unfailing friends, among
whom the modest Schubert was admitted; and a proof of his hold upon his
countrymen is shown in the fact that 20,000 persons are said to have
attended his funeral.
=Last Great Works=.—The greatest fruit of these later years was his
last symphony, the Ninth, or “Choral,” in which, for the first time,
he introduced voices as an aid to the instrumental climax. The free
vent which he gave to his radical tendencies in this symphony, its
unheard-of boldness of harmonic progressions, and its defiance of all
conventional rules, aroused a storm of protest from his critics which
was only lulled after succeeding generations had placed the stamp
of unmistakable approval upon the work, and had recognized it as a
monument of genius. Near to this in importance stands his “Solemn Mass”
in D, a work imbued with all the religious fervor of his declining
years.
=Sonatas of Third Period=.—Other notable achievements, in the line
of chamber music, mark this period; and the last five piano sonatas,
extending from opus 101 to opus 111, exhibit the same undaunted
freedom that is found in the Ninth symphony. Enormous in their demands
upon the pianist, they are food for none but virtuosi; but analyzed,
they show a _compendium of_ all known _musical resources_, from the
choral fugue to the most daring flights of harmonic expression.
=Beethoven’s Dual Personality=.—Beethoven furnishes an example of a
personality whose dual nature is remarkably apparent. Often unkempt,
and rude in his outward bearing, he seemed at times absolutely
oblivious to his surroundings and to chafe at his bodily limitations;
yet his apparent rudeness toward his friends was as often humbly atoned
for by his confession of his haste in judging them. His independence
of spirit could brook no submission to authority other than his own
conscience; and that conscience prompted him to stand firm in support
of the genuine, the pure and the ideal; firm, thus, in its abhorrence
of artificiality and deceit. In his ignorance of worldly wiles he was
on a par with a little child; finding his true sphere when buried in
the lofty problems of his art, giving to the world the fruits of his
innermost spirit, which were ever animated by nobility and truth of
expression.
=Beethoven Stood Alone=.—Detesting the fetters of teaching work, he
left few pupils. Among these =Ferdinand Ries= (1784-1838) enjoyed an
intimate association with him, and afterwards became prominent as piano
virtuoso and composer. With the great men of his day he affiliated but
little. Goethe (1749-1832) he met but once, on one of his journeys;
but the meeting had no further results. Like other great minds, his
original ideas had to make their way amid a shower of abuse from more
conventional contemporaries, who lauded as his equal or superior others
whose works have long since passed into oblivion; but, fortunate in
finding staunch defenders, he made steady progress against his enemies,
until his position in the music world became unique and unassailable.