HWM - 9

Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827)!

• Understood by the critics of his time (E.T.A. Hofmann) as an artist, rather than a craftsman
(Mozart, Haydn, and everyone before)
• Beethoven is the first “lonely artist-hero whose suffering produces works of awe-inspiring
greatness that give listeners otherwise unavailable access to an experience that transcends all
worldly concerns” (Richard Taruskin. HWM: ‘Beethoven and “Beethoven”’)
• Beethoven’s suffering: “deafness,” “the Immortal Beloved”
• Status of the score changes from a recipe for performance to an autonomous work of art
• To be followed as exact as possible
• To be deciphered by the performer and critic/analyst
• No improvisation (written-out cadenzas)
• Audience behaviour changes: “concert etiquette”: concert hall is like a museum or a church
• Perception of music changes from “beautiful” to “great”

!Works
138 opus numbers, 205 unpublished works, including
• 9 symphonies
Symphony no. 3, Op. 55 (Eroica). I. Allegro con brio
• 6 concertos for piano, 1 for violin
• 32 piano sonatas (“Pathethique,” Op. 14, “Moonlight” Op. 27-2)
• 10 violin sonatas (“Kreuzer”), 5 cello sonatas
• 22 sets of variations (33 Diabelli Variations, Op. 120)
• 18 string quartets, 5 quintets
String Quartet in B-flat Major, Op 130. V. Adagio molto espressivo (Cavatina)
• 12 works for various chamber music ensembles
• 1 Operas (Leonore reworked to Fidelio)
• 2 Masses (Mass in C Major, Missa Solemnis)

!Symphony
• Beethoven’s symphonies are a musical problem: they get longer
• Absolute, conservative or closed compositions
• Beethoven 1, 2, 4, 7 and 8
• Programmatic, radical or open compositions
• Beethoven 3 (Eroica), 5, 6 (Pastoral), and 9 (Choral)
• The unsurpassable model for the 19th century

Symphony no. 3, Op. 55 (Eroica)

Work of unprecedented dimensions
I. Allegro con brio
• Same length as many classical symphonies
• Introduction of a new theme in the development section
• “Wrong entry” of horns at recapitulation
II. Marcia funebre. Adagio assai
• Model for future funeral marches
III. Scherzo. Allegro vivace – Trio
IV. Finale. Allegro molto
• Theme and Variations
!
Beethoven’s example

Franz Schubert (1797-1828) 9 symphonies (2 unfinished)

Robert Schumann (1810-1856)
Johannes Brahms (1833-1897)
Antonin Dvořák (1841-1904)
Anton Bruckner (1824-1896)
Gustav Mahler (1860-1911)
4 symphonies, (1 unfinished)
4 symphonies
9 symphonies
9 symphonies (1-8, 1 invalid, 1 unfinished)
9 symphonies + 1 unfinished