Wiseacres not infrequently accused Beethoven of want of regularity in
his compositions. In various ways and at divers times he gave vigorous
utterance to his opinions of such pedantry. He was not the most
tractable of pupils, especially in Vienna, where, although he was
highly praised as a player, he took lessons in counterpoint from
Albrechtsberger. He did not endure long with Papa Haydn. He detested the
study of fugue in particular; the fugue was to him a symbol of narrow
coercion which choked all emotion. Mere formal beauty, moreover, was
nothing to him. Over and over again he emphasizes soul, feeling,
direct and immediate life, as the first necessity of an art work. It
is therefore not strange that under certain circumstances he ignored
conventional forms in sonata and symphony. An irrepressible impulse
toward freedom is the most prominent peculiarity of the man and artist
Beethoven; nearly all of his observations, no matter what their subject,
radiate the word “Liberty.” In his remarks about composing there is a
complete exposition of his method of work.
31. “As regards me, great heavens! my dominion is in the air; the tones
whirl like the wind, and often there is a like whirl in my soul.”
(February 13, 1814, to Count Brunswick, in Buda.)
32. “Then the loveliest themes slipped out of your eyes into my heart,
themes which shall only then delight the world when Beethoven conducts
no longer.”
(August 15, 1812, to Bettina von Arnim.)
33. “I always have a picture in my mind when composing, and follow its
lines.”
(In 1815, to Neate, while promenading with him in Baden and talking
about the “Pastoral” symphony.)
[Ries relates: “While composing Beethoven frequently thought of an
object, although he often laughed at musical delineation and scolded
about petty things of the sort. In this respect ‘The Creation’ and ‘The
Seasons’ were many times a butt, though without depreciation of Haydn’s
loftier merits. Haydn’s choruses and other works were loudly praised by
Beethoven.”]
34. “The texts which you sent me are least of all fitted for song. The
description of a picture belongs to the field of painting; in this the
poet can count himself more fortunate than my muse for his territory
is not so restricted as mine in this respect, though mine, on the
other hand, extends into other regions, and my dominion is not easily
reached.”
(Nussdorf, July 15, 1817, to Wilhelm Gerhard, who had sent him some
Anacreontic songs for composition.)
35. “Carried too far, all delineation in instrumental music loses in
efficiency.”
(A remark in the sketches for the “Pastoral” symphony, preserved in the
Royal Library in Berlin.)
[Mozart said: “Even in the most terrifying moments music must never
offend the ear.”]
36. “Yes, yes, then they are amazed and put their heads together because
they never found it in any book on thorough bass.”
(To Ries when the critics accused him of making grammatical blunders in
music.)