“Beethoven’s career ushered a revolution in the social standing of the musician. But it was in the realm of musical composition that he achieved his greatest revolutionary triumphs. Instead of composing music to entertain aristocratic masters, he sought to communicate through music with humanity. He strived to express his deep personal feelings and emotions through his compositions.”______________________
by Satyajith Andradi
(May 01, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) "Is he then, too, nothing more than an ordinary human being? Now he, too, will trample on all the rights of man and indulge only his ambition. He will exalt himself above all others, become a tyrant!" cried Beethoven in great anger when he received the news that Napoleon Bonaparte, whom he considered to be a liberator of Europe from the shackles of feudalism, had proclaimed himself emperor of France. He got hold of the title page of his Eroica symphony, which announced the dedication of that great masterpiece to Napoleon, and tore it in two.
The establishment of the French republic in 1793 was a great achievement of the French revolution. Napoleon’s assumption of the title of emperor in May 1804 resulted in the abolition of that republic. This was indeed a heavy blow to the French Revolution — one that was hard enough to stir the staunch republican instincts of the greatest composer of all time!
The French Revolution
The French Revolution was one of the greatest social and political upheavals in world history. It swept away monarchism, the landed — aristocracy and clericalism and brought the progressive bourgeoisie into power. It replaced the centuries-old Bourbon monarchy with a revolutionary republic based on democratic principles. The feudal privileges of the royalty, nobility and clergy were abolished and everyone was made equal before the law. Advancement in career was open to talent and was no longer to be an aristocratic birth right. A hallmark of the new order was the freedom of the individual, as enunciated by the Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen. ‘Liberty, Equality and Fraternity’ became the rallying cry of this great revolutionary movement, which had a profound influence on Beethoven and his immortal music.
The feudal ‘patronage system’
From medieval times to the beginning of the nineteenth century the social status of musicians living in continental Europe was low. This was due to the fact that even highly gifted musicians were compelled to seek employment in either the princely courts of feudal rulers or in the church. Opportunities to earn a decent living by performing or composing for the general public hardly existed. And to add insult to injury, the manner in which musicians were treated by their aristocratic masters was sometimes degrading, to say the least. Johann Sebastian. Bach was imprisoned for a month when in 1717 he sought permission to resign from the services of Wilhelm Ernst, the ruling duke of Weimar. 65 years later, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was literarily kicked out from the presence of his employer, Hieronymus Coleredo, prince archbishop of Salzburg, Mozart sought permission to resign. It was to this world of oppression and servility that Ludwig van Beethoven was born in December 1770. Both his father and grandfather were employed as musicians in the electoral court in Bonn of the archbishop of Cologne. Further, Beethoven himself was employed as a musician at this court during his early youth. However, since settling down in Vienna in 1792 he was able to live independently and successfully as a free-lance musician. It is true that he enjoyed throughout the rest of his life in Vienna the enthusiastic support of many wealthy members of the Viennese aristocracy, who were fascinated by his astounding musical talents. However, he accepted their support only on his own terms. He jealously guarded his freedom as an individual and as an artist. When he died in 1827, the Viennese aristocracy was among the large crowd which attended his funeral.
The social revolutionary
Prince Karl Lichnowsky was one of Beethoven’s long standing and influential patrons in Vienna. The prince, who had been a pupil of Mozart, was a great connoisseur of music. He was a devoted admirer of Beethoven’s towering genius and associated him from the time the latter arrived in Vienna. Once Lichnowsky was entertaining some French army officers in his country estate. He requested Beethoven, who was also one of his guests, to play the piano for them. However, despite repeated requests, Beethoven did not oblige. Not only that, he became increasingly angry that he left the castle that night in the rain and walked to the nearest town clutching the manuscript of the great Appassionata Sonata. Later he vented his anger by smashing a bust of Lichnowsky and remarked,. " There have been and will be thousands of princes; there is only one Beethoven". This is only one of the numerous episodes which demonstrate in no uncertain terms Beethoven’s refusal to yield to dictates of the aristocracy. However, the quarrel between Beethoven and the prince was soon forgotten and the two became friends again.
The musical revolution
Beethoven’s career ushered a revolution in the social standing of the musician. But it was in the realm of musical composition that he achieved his greatest revolutionary triumphs. Instead of composing music to entertain aristocratic masters, he sought to communicate through music with humanity. He strived to express his deep personal feelings and emotions through his compositions.
It is true that Beethoven used the classical sonata symphony form and style, which he inherited from Haydn and Mozart. But he used them only as a means to an end. Classical forms and styles became increasingly subservient to the expression of feelings and emotions. The supreme outcome of this paradigm change was the sublime music of Beethoven — music of unsurpassed beauty infused with heroism, raging passion , daring, and a deeply felt universal humanism. Beethoven’s great musical creations spanning from the early masterpiece, the Sonata Pathetique ( 1799 ) to that celebrated composition of his last years, the Ninth Symphony ( 1824 ), stand testimony to this fact. What else in music could epitomize heroism and daring better than the monumental Eroica Symphony? Wasn’t the French Revolution itself a monumental act of heroism? The Ninth Symphony, the apogee of orchestral art, is above all a grand celebration of that universal humanism, which was so personal to Beethoven. It was in the last movement of this Symphony that Beethoven set to music the Schiller’s ‘Ode to Joy’. The Appassionata Sonata ( 1805 ) is one of the most sublime artistic expressions of raging human passion. Do not the ‘Sturm Sonate’ ( Storm or Tempest ; 1802) and many other masterpieces of Beethoven echo the storming of the Bastille, that grim bastion of feudal tyranny, by the people of Paris? The storming of the Bastille on 4th July 1789 is undoubtedly the most celebrated single event of the French revolution. Last but not least, isn’t the triumphal finale ( the ‘Allegro’) of the Fifth Symphony a glowing tribute to the glorious victories of French revolutionary armies against the combined counter-revolutionary forces of European feudal monarchies.
Apotheosis of the French Revolution
The French revolution was the greatest political and social achievement of the bourgeoisie — the capitalist middle class. It found the bourgeoisie in its most progressive historical phase, engaged in the destruction of the feudalism. The revolution was ushered by an age of unbridled optimism and progress — an era in which people believed in the progress of mankind, in spite of whatever obstacles they were confronted with. Beethoven was a child of this heroic age. His noble music is the most sublime artistic expression of this great revolutionary epoch. It is the apotheosis of the French Revolution!
- Sri Lanka Guardian
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