SENSE OF HUMOR
In tristitia hilaris, in hilaritate tristis.
--MOTTO OF GIORDANO BRUNO.
Beethoven did not have much in the way of enjoyment, as the word is
generally understood, to compensate him for the pain of existence. The
resources vouchsafed others in this respect, family affection, love,
friendship, generally failed him when put to the test. Out of harmony
with the general order of things in the material world, the point in
which he could best come to an understanding with his fellow-creatures
was by the exercise of his sense of humor. The circumstances of his life
tended to make a pessimist of him. He did not understand the world and
was misunderstood in return. To counteract the tendency toward
pessimism, his resource was to develop his sense of humor, to create an
atmosphere of gayety, by which he was enabled to meet people on a common
plane. But not only in the ordinary affairs of life does it stand him in
good stead, this sense of humor. It comes out finely in his creative
work in the sonatas and the Scherzo movements of his symphonies. He
originated, invented the Scherzo, developing it from the simple minuet
of the earlier composers. The primary object of the Scherzo was
recreation pure and simple. It was introduced with the object of resting
the mind.
The evolution of humor in music is an interesting subject of study. It
is something foreign to it, an exotic, of slow growth, gaining but
little in the hands of the earlier composers from Bach on. Even with
Haydn it never advanced much beyond geniality. They had essayed it
chiefly in the minuet, but succeeded only in producing something
stately, in which the element of fun or humor, to modern ways of
thinking is hardly appreciable. It found a sudden and wonderful
expansion, an efflorescence in Beethoven, with whom every phase of the
art was developed to colossal proportions. He has made of the Scherzo a
movement of such importance that it lends a distinctive character to his
symphonies. In this form he is unapproachable. In the whole range of
music there is nothing like it elsewhere. It is peculiar to Beethoven,
and is another example of the many-sidedness of the great composer.
"Happiness is a new idea in Europe," said St. Just, speaking of the
period immediately following the French Revolution. Whether or not
Beethoven ever met with this remark, its significance at least was taken
to heart. The word Scherz--joke, sport, is sufficiently obvious. He goes
much farther at times than simply to play pranks, however. A wide range
of expression is possible in the Scherzo when manipulated by a
master-mind like that of Beethoven. The satirical, sarcastic humor which
escaped him in social intercourse at times, is vented on a colossal
scale in the Scherzo, in which he often makes sport of humanity itself,
making it the subject of his jest, his ridicule--its foibles being
shown up, its follies exposed. When projected in this mood, the movement
calls for intellectual co-operation, and is of equal importance with the
others.
Humor has been defined as the outcome of simplicity and philosophy in
the character. It can exist independently of genius we know, but genius
is never without humor. In other words, wherever there is a work of
genius, it transpires that the author has a fund of humor with which he
occasionally enriches his work. The profoundest philosophical treatises
have it. It is a part of the stock in trade of every great novelist;
Fielding, Thackeray, George Eliot, Walter Scott. It frequently comes to
the surface in Schopenhauer pessimist though he be; it pervades
Shakespeare. Few men regarded life with greater seriousness than
Thoreau, but humor sparkles all over his works. It is only where this is
in excess that it detracts from the value of the work. Not important in
itself when separated from the deeper work which it accompanies, it is
yet, all in all, one of the infallible tests, though a minor one, of the
work of any man of genius. A sense of humor exists in the man even
though he keep it out of his work, if he is good for anything.
Beethoven's humor was titanic, heroic, on a grand scale, always with
what might be called a certain seriousness about it like that of a lion
at play. Mozart gives many instances of humor in his compositions, but
with a great difference in the character. His disposition was all
gentleness and sweetness, and his humor is characterized by these
attributes. It is on a small scale, and though enjoyable, has nothing
commanding about it. The musician, more than any artist, reflects his
character and trend of life in his work.
This sense of humor, inherent in the mental equipment of Beethoven,
enabled him to enjoy a joke as well as give it, to perceive a ridiculous
situation and extract due amusement from it, to appropriate it wherever
he found it. But singularly enough, when the point of a joke was turned
against himself, his sense of humor failed him utterly. He would often
become angry in such cases and the perpetrator would come in for a round
of abuse which made him chary of attempting it again.
Very bad music of which there was a sufficiency already in those times,
gave him great amusement, which he manifested by roars of laughter, we
are informed by Seyfried, who saw more or less of him during a period
covering a quarter of a century. "All his friends," says Seyfried,
"recognized that in the art of laughter, Beethoven was a virtuoso of the
first rank." He often laughed aloud when nothing had occurred to excite
laughter, and would in such case ascribe his own thoughts and fancies as
the cause. Naïve and simple as a child himself, he could only see the
naïveté in the worthless compositions above referred to, and could not
understand the small ambition back of the pitiful effort. He often
unintentionally afforded equally great amusement to others by his own
naïveté. Thus he once told Stein, of the noted family of pianoforte
makers that some of the strings in his Broadwood were out of order or
lacking, and to illustrate it, caught up a bootjack and struck the keys
with it. Ries states that Beethoven several times in his awkwardness
emptied the contents of the ink-stand into the piano. On this same piano
the master was often begged to improvise. The instrument was a present
from the manufacturers, and when made, was probably the best example of
its kind extant. It later came into the possession of Liszt.
Beethoven's love of a joke was such that it appears in the title to one
of his works, the opus 129. It is a rondo a capriccio for piano, with
the title, Die Wuth über den verlorenen Groschen (fury over a lost
penny), of which Schumann says "it would be difficult to find anything
merrier than this whim. It is the most harmless amiable anger."
Beethoven was ready in repartee, and full of resources, with a wit that
was spontaneous and equal to any emergency. One New-year's day, as he
and Schindler were sitting down to dinner, a card was brought in
JOHANN VAN BEETHOVEN
_Gutsbesitzer_ (Landed proprietor).
Beethoven took the card and wrote on the back of it--
L. VAN BEETHOVEN
_Hirnbesitzer_ (Brain proprietor).
and sent it back to Johann. Cold-blooded, selfish, always ready to
profit by his talented brother, and never caring how he compromised him,
it was not to be expected that Johann would have the master's approval,
or that there could be any accord between them. In any encounter, the
composer generally managed to be master of the situation, through the
exercise of his wit, something which the duller Johann could neither
appreciate nor imitate. It may be said in passing, that the master
supplied the funds which enabled Johann to start in business. This was
in 1809. He made money rapidly in army contracts, a business for which
he was well qualified, and finally bought an estate and set up for a
landed proprietor.
Beethoven's waggishness was frequently vented on a young friend,
Zmeskall, who was court secretary. Zmeskall undertook the task of
keeping the master supplied with pens, which he cut from goose-quills.
Beethoven used up large quantities of them and was incessant in his
demands on him. A certain drollery characterizes all his letters to him.
He knew how to hit the vulnerable points in the other, and they were
often made the subject of attack. Zmeskall being a member of the
nobility, is often addressed by him, "Most high-born of men." He was
useful to Beethoven not alone on the subject of pens, but was appealed
to by him for advice and assistance on all sorts of matters. Zmeskall,
though a bachelor, lived in fine state, and maintained several servants.
He was thus in a position to procure the right sort of one for
Beethoven. Many of the letters are either on this theme or in regard to
securing him another lodging. Zmeskall is his resource in many of the
small matters of every-day life, perplexing to him, but simple enough to
the practical man. The master's helplessness is shown with pathos and
unconscious humor in the following note:
LIEBER ZMESKALL,--
Schicken sie mir doch ihrem spiegel, der nächts ihrem fenster hängt
auf ein paar stunden der meinige ist gebrochen, haben sie zugleich
die Güte haben wolten mir noch heute einen solchen zu kaufen so
erzeigten sie mir einen grossen Gefallen. Ihre Auslage sollen sie
sogleich zurük erhalten. Verzeien sie lieber Z meiner
zudringlichkeit. Ich hoffe sie bald zu sehen.
Ihr,
BTHVN.
DEAR ZMESKALL,--
Won't you kindly send me the mirror that hangs next to your window
for a few hours. Mine is broken. If you will at the same time have
the goodness to buy me such another you will do me a great favor.
Your outlay will be immediately returned to you.
Pardon dear Z my importunity. I hope soon to see you.
Your,
BTHVN.
Beethoven's lapses from grammar (untranslatable into English), indicate
his impatience at the trivial wants and necessities which interrupt his
creative work and take his thoughts from his compositions. Instances of
bad grammar in his letters are frequent, when dealing with ordinary
topics. In no sense a polished man, he could, however, when the occasion
required it, assume in his grammar and diction the grace and elegance of
the scholar, but it does not often come to the front. He was too rugged,
too headstrong, to pay much attention to the little niceties of life.
In common with his contemporaries, Zmeskall found his principal
enjoyment in music. He gave musical parties at his quarters, playing the
cello himself, and gathered about him many of the most distinguished
artists and amateurs of the day. Beethoven was always interested in
feats of virtuosity, but he cared little for the compositions of
others. He occupied himself with his own work to the exclusion of that
of his contemporaries. His musical library was scant, consisting of a
small collection of the works of the early Italian masters, bound in one
volume, some of Mozart's sonatas--which must have seemed to him
curiously stunted and commonplace in comparison with his own--and a
portion of Don Giovanni. In addition, he possessed all of Clementi's
sonatas, which he greatly admired and which formed the basis of the
musical studies of his nephew for several years. Lastly there were a few
works of Bach, consisting of the Well-tempered Clavichord, some motets,
three volumes of exercises, some inventions, symphonies and a toccato.
In speaking of Weber he said that he began to learn too late, and makes
the curious criticism that Weber's only apparent effort was to attain
the reputation of geniality. In reading Freischutz, he said he could
hardly help smiling at certain parts, but afterward qualified this by
saying that he could judge it better if he could hear it. Schindler
says, that when Rossini came to Vienna in 1822, and endeavored to call
on Beethoven, the master succeeded in escaping his visits. His opinion
of Händel is high. He once remarked to a friend who called on him,
"Händel is the greatest composer that ever lived." Continuing the
narrative this friend, J.A. Stumpf of London, says, "I cannot describe
the pathos and sublimity with which he spoke of the Messiah of that
immortal genius. We all felt moved when he said, 'Ich würde mein Haupt
entblössen und auf seinem Grabe niederknieen.' (I would kneel at his
grave with uncovered head.)"
Of Mozart, he said, near the end of his life, in a letter to the Abbe
Stadler, "All my life I have been esteemed one of the greatest admirers
of Mozart's genius and will remain so until my latest breath." Czerny
said that he was at times inexhaustible in praise of Mozart, although he
cared nothing for his piano works and he makes a severe criticism on Don
Giovanni. "In this opera Mozart still retained the complete Italian cut
and style. Moreover, the sacred art should never be degraded to the
foolery of so scandalous a subject. The Zauberflöte will ever remain his
greatest work, for in this he showed himself the true German composer."
Of Cherubini's Requiem he said, "as regards his conception of it, my
ideas are in perfect accord with his and sometime I mean to compose a
Requiem in that style." (Later in life his opinion of Cherubini was
greatly modified). He seldom spoke of Haydn, and had nothing of that
master's compositions in his library.
Beethoven's collections in literature were far more extensive and
interesting than in music. He was essentially a student. His
predilections and thoughts all tended toward the acquisition of
knowledge. This was a veritable passion with him. His mind ranged
through almost every department of literature. In the intervals of his
work, worn by fatigue, he was in the habit of resting his mind by
reading the classics, or Persian literature. Schindler, who was near him
for the last ten years of his life says in relation to Beethoven's love
of the Greek classics. "He could recite long passages from them. If any
one asked him where this or that quotation was to be found he could find
it as readily as a motive from his own works." Elsewhere he says,
"Plato's Republic was transfused into his very flesh and blood." He was
an insatiable reader of history. As may be supposed Shakespeare was an
especial favorite with him. There is a curious little work published
called Beethoven's Brevier, made up of those portions of Shakespeare and
the classics for which he had a particular regard. Here, Shakespeare is
first on the list. There are also many selections from the Greek, and
from Schiller, Goethe, Herder and others.
Although a man of considerable culture, he was not an educated man, all
his available time and strength having been required for his musical
training. He was, however, the equal or superior in mental attainments
of any of the great musicians, with the exception of Wagner. He had the
strongest faith in his own powers. It was his belief that almost
anything could be accomplished by trying. Side by side with this belief
was the ineradicable conviction that intellectual culture was of more
importance than anything else in the universe. He stated his views
finely on this subject in a letter to a young girl, unknown to him, who
had sent him a present with a letter expressing her appreciation of his
music. "Do more than simply practice the art (of music), penetrate
rather, into the heart and soul of it. It will be found well worth
while, for art and knowledge alone have the power to elevate mankind up
to Deity itself. Should you want anything of me at any time, write me
with entire confidence. The true artist is never arrogant; rather he
sees with regret how illimitable all art is, and how far from the goal
he remains. While he may be admired, he only grieves that he cannot
reach the point toward which his better genius beckons him."
We read of his ordering complete sets of Schiller and Goethe in the
summer of 1809. The study of these authors carried on under most
unfavorable conditions, bore good fruit subsequently, as some good work
was inspired by them. The Egmont music, which appeared the following
year, the Calm Sea and Prosperous Voyage, Bundeslied, the different
settings of Erlkönig, the four settings of Sehnsucht are instances,
although this does not by any means complete the list of his settings
from the works of the authors just named.