10/15 Beethoven PDF

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Professor Ted Gordon...

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Thursday, 10/15: (Ludwig van) Beethoven Read: ● Listen, Ch. 15.1–15.3 (p. 200–212) Listen: ● Ludwig van Beethoven, Symphony No. 6, ● Ludwig van Beethoven, Piano Sonata Op. 109

Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827) ● The art of music was never taken so seriously until Beethoven’s symphonies and sonatas ● His deafness caused him to retire from a performing musician to a composer 15.1 Between Classicism and Romanticism ● Beethoven’s music was between the 18th century Viennese Classical style and 19th century Romanticism. ● He committed to the principles of Classical style (Classicism) - not all of it though, nor the mood behind it ● His music is different from Haydn or Mozart in the sense that there is usually a sense of urgency in it. His music can range from very violent to very gentle The French Revolution ● Romanticism was originally a literary movement ● The French Revolution had a big impact on Romanticism ● Beetohven, as well as many other artists, felt obligated to express their sympathy with the ideal of freedom symbolized by The French Revolution ● Beethoven was 18 when a Parisian crowd stormed Bastille in 1789 ● He wrote his symphony, Bonaparte, in honor and admiration of Napoleon Bonaparte, a hero of the revolution ○ After hearing that Napoleon made himself emperor of France, Beethoven didn’t end up sending his symphony to Paris because of his newfound anger towards Napoleon and France. ● A now mature and individual, free artist, Beehtoven wrote the symphony, Eroica (Heroic), in 1803 15.2 Beethoven and the Symphony ● Beehtoven’s mood of excitement and urgency makes him different from Haydn and Mozart -- he maximizes all musical elements ● Beehtoven is mostly associated with symphonies even though he only wrote 9 of them (he wrote more piano sonatas [32] and string quartets [16]) ● Beethoven’s “symphonic drive can be seen in his Fifth Symphony (1808):

The Scherzo ● Starting in his Second Symphony, Beethoven replaced the traditional minuet with the scherzo ○ Scherzo: “fast, rushing movement in triple meter- inherited from the minuet - and in the basic minuet-and-trio form, A B A” ■ Sometimes Beehtoven’s scherzos go so fast, they need more repetitions → A B A can be extended to A B A B A ■ “Scherzo” = “joke” in Italian ● Beetohven’s humor is broad, and violent ■ Scherzo became part of his characteristic rhythmic drive [Beethoven’s Biography in textbook] Symphony No. 5 in C Minor, Op. 67 (1808) ● Beethoven performed his Fifth Symphony, which was composed together with his Sixth

(Pastoral) at a successful concert of his. ○ First Movement (Allegro con brio) ■ Single rhythmic motive that initiates the bridge ■ This is different than Classical motivic technique because while in Mozart’s Symphony No. 40, a single motive is also developed with consistency and growth, here, Beethoven use of the same device gives the Fifth Symphony a sense of gripping urgency -- “the difference is not in the basic technique but in the way it is being used - in expressive intensity it is made to serve. The motive becomes a Classical device used for nonClassical ends” ○ Exposition ■ Movement begins by presenting the first theme in C minor ■ Meter is then disputed by two fernatas (fernata = indication of a hold on the note it goes over) that give a sort of “great shout” to the music ■ As the theme goes on and seems to be picking up momentum, it is stopped by another fermenta ■ Bridge is dramatic ■ “Second theme introduces new, gentle mood, despite the main motive rumbling away below it” ● This ends quickly with a return to a stormy cadence passage ○ Development ■ Starts with a new modulation that returns to the minor mode ■ First theme is developed, leading to the climax, when the rhythm is repeated furiously

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■ Recapitulation

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“Third fermenta is filled by a slow, expressive passage for solo oboe, a sort of cadenza in free rhythm” This movement provides a short rest from the rhythmic drive

■ Coda ■ Action-packed ■ French horns below and strings above ● This sequence becomes a minor-mode march ■ A final appearance of the original theme ■ End of the movement has affirmative cadences, built out of the main motive The Remaining Movements ■ Feels like a response / resolution of all the tension from the first movement ■ Later movements all refer to the key of the first movement ● When it returns in the major mode (C major), it signifies the ultimate resolution of all that tension ○ C major - almost anytime a loud, triumphant theme is heard in the later movements is in this key Second Movement (Andante con moto) ■ Two shattering brass fanfares in C major Third Movement (Allegro) ■ One of Beethoven’s great scherzos Fourth Movement (Allegro) ■ End of the scherzo does not reach a cadence; rather, it goes into a transition with timpani tapping out the rhythm of b - the original DA-DADA-DAAA motive, again, over a strange harmony ■ Music gets louder until a military march begins in C major

15.3 Beethoven’s “Third Period” ● Beethoven’s music can be divided into 3 style periods: 1. [Until 1800]: Music building in the style of Haydn and Mozart 2. “Heroic” works like the Eroica and Fifth Symphonies 3. [1818-1827]: His music loses a lot of its heroism tone from before a. Becomes more introspective and have more intimate genres (piano sonatas, string quartets, piano miniature [new genre]) than the symphony b. More abstract - long fugues, variation forms that range further form their themes than any before them i. Control of contrast and musical flow ii. Disruptions like fernatas were always part of Beethoven’s music, but now the breaks in the music can be confusing, or creepy Piano Sonata in E Major, Op. 109 (1820), First Movement ● “Gentleness and spirituality characterize this transformation of sonata form” ● Contrast between 2 themes in every way, even in tempo and meter:

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1. First theme: quietly comes about, with a playful repeated rhythm 2. Second theme: passionate, “draws on some brilliant piano effects” In the recapitulation, “the second theme introduces new juxtapositions of dynamics (p→f) and of unexpected harmonies” Closing theme leads to a gentle coda ○ Focuses on rhythm of first theme ○ Closes with repeated cadences

In Class Notes ● ●

Sonata Form Romanticism ○ The sublime ○ Organicism ●

Questions ○ What are the social values ○ How are these concepts expressed ○ What musical forms and patterns evoke these feelings ○ Music and the enlightenment - sapere aude! Dare to think for yourself ○ 1. What do we know about Beethoven ○ Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827) ○ Had ancestry of people who had dark skin but he did not identify as black ○ He is known as the poster child for classical music and he was respected and liked by many white people but he could very much have had black ancestors ○ Became profoundly deaf as of age 30 ■ The idea that he could hear all the music in his head without even hearing it in person shows his artistic genius and represents the transcendence of romanticism. ○ He became deaf over time he was not born deaf ○ No one wanted to commission him to write music ○ Abusive father - hard life ■ Hero mythology ○ Smart people music ○ In the Mahler portrait of beethoven in the background there are two different backgrounds combined into one with a musical and happy background and a dark scary background ○ He wrote the most folk songs out of all of his music ○ 80 songs ○ 32 piano sonatas

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○ 16 string quartets ○ 9 symphonies ○ 5 conciertos ○ 1 opera What do we know about sonata form ○ ABA’ - “Epsotion, development, recapitulation” (home, away, home) go out, explore and learn more about the world, return to the home land ○ Exposition has two different themes within it, even two modes meaning one may be in minor and major ■ Each theme has different melodies and the rhythm varies ○ Development - may go to different keys, fragmentation, sounds more unstable or a sort of tension grown in the development ○ Recapitulation - return to the tonic, variation of the exposition, everything is in the home key Music and the enlightenment - sapere aude! Dare to think for yourself ○ Move away from inherited knowledge, think for yourself and the best way to govern yourself and the ability to be an individual What happens when people realize the limit of their own thought and when the enlightenment fails? ○ When you are pushed to the limit of rationality → this leads to romanticism What do we know about romanticism - the limits of knowledge and rationality ○ Novalis (1772-1801) “Life isn't a dream, but it should - and perhaps will- become one” ○ Romantics know that we can have dreams and sometimes they don't work out ○ This is wear we get the dark side of music from, fairy tails, scary stories ○ How did beethoven express this and influence this The sublime ○ Whatever is terrible or bad or painful, evokes the feeling of sublime ○ The sublime produces the strongest emotion which the mind is capable of feeling ■ No matter how talented and enlightened we may be, there is always a natural and painful way that one’s life can end in a split second ■ This is the idea of romanticism ■ Immanuel Khant says that there are things that we can look at and not comprehend. ■ We can see the stars in the sky but we cannot comprehend how many and where there are and how big

they are We cannot comprehend the number of infinity Dynamic sublime - the power of nature to kill us (dieases, earthquakes, plagues) ● Despite all of our enlightened parts of the world, there are still parts which we cannot conceive, conceptualize, or think about ● What better median to say and do this other than music. The romantic ideology could make people feel feelings that they had never felt before E.T.A Hoffman wrote a book with a really long weird name, he was a very interesting writer ■ He thought there was this trajectory from classical to romantic music ■ Haydn - evening (humor), mozart - sunset/ purple shimmer (classical forms taken to new kinds of emotions and passions), Beethoven - deeper night (classical forms pushed to the edge, no more light) ■ Infinite longing - beethoven is a romantic composer, he had less success with vocal music, instrumental is the true basis of romanticism ■ ■

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7. How does this all come together in beethoven's 5th symphony 5th Symphony ○ There was a benefit concert for beethoven with beethoven conducting under rehearsed orchestra ■ The premiere happened in a strange setting ● Very very cold part in the winter, bad orchestra with only one rehearsal, the heating in the building broke ● The orchestra was supposed to be able to play 4 hours ● Tickets were expensive and only the elite could afford ■ Concert didn't seem to go so well ■ The music was also unusual because it came after the 6th symphony which was a normal common symphony and sounded normal ● The 5th however started with the classic Dun dun dun DUNNNNNNNN dun dun dun dunnnnnn ● This is two things of two notes each which isn't even a chord nor a theme - stops is very short and doesn't have identifiable harmony - just a motif - not

a nice folksy memorable tune We hear this motive throughout every single part of the symphony - it's very simple and he adapted it to a lot of different scenarios and it shows up everywhere Organicism - the idea that life springs forth from a small little seed and a work of art will evolve in the same way that a seed does naturally. Instead of the rigid formalism of the classic era, with theme after theme (1,2,3) - this motive in beethoven will show up everywhere in beethoven so the symphony becomes like an organic being and grows from this small motive - not just theme after theme ● There is a sense of growth over the whole thing, it goes from sad, eerie, sound to a huge loud victorious part ● ■

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