Ludwig van Beethoven

━━I want to hold the throat of fate

Ludwig van Beethoven (Ludwig van Beethoven) van Beethoven (1770-1827), one of Germany's greatest musicians. Originally from the Netherlands, he was born into a civilian family in Bonn, Germany. He showed his musical talent very early and began performing on stage at the age of eight. In 1792, he went to Vienna for further study and made rapid progress in art. Beethoven believed in harmony and admired heroes, and created a large number of outstanding works full of the flavor of the times, such as: the symphonies "Hero" and "Destiny"; the overture "Egmont"; and the piano sonatas "Pathetique" and "Moonlight" , "The Tempest", "Passion" and more. He had a rough life and never established a family. He became deaf when he was twenty-six years old and became completely deaf in his later years. He could only talk to people through conversation books. But his lonely life did not make him silent or retreat. In the feudal restoration era when all progressive ideas were banned, he still adhered to the political belief of "freedom and equality" and worked hard for freedom and ideals through his speech and works. Scream and write the immortal masterpiece "Ninth Symphony". His works were influenced by the Enlightenment Movement of the 18th century and the German Sturm und Drang movement. They have distinctive personalities and have developed greatly compared with their predecessors. In terms of musical performance, he touched almost all musical genres at that time; he greatly improved the expressive power of the piano, giving it a symphonic dramatic effect; and made the symphony an important musical form that directly reflected social changes. Beethoven gathered the culmination of classical music and at the same time opened up the path for music in the Romantic period. He played a decisive role in the development of world music and was revered as the "Saint of Music".

Beethoven was born in Bonn, Germany on December 16, 1770. His father was a tenor singer in the local palace choir, moody and alcoholic; his mother was a cook, kind-hearted and gentle. The hard life deprived Beethoven of the right to go to school. The musical talent he showed at an early age gave his father the desire to make him a music prodigy and become his cash cow. He did not hesitate to beat and scold him, forcing Beethoven to practice the harpsichord and violin endlessly from the age of 4. Beethoven made his debut on stage when he was 8 years old and achieved great success. He was regarded as the second Mozart. After that, he studied under the organist Nifu and began to study composition. Published his first work "Piano Variations" at the age of 11. At the age of 13, he joined the palace band and served as organist and clavichord. In 1787, he went to Vienna and began to study composition with Mozart, Haydn and others. In 1800, after his first victory, a bright future opened before Beethoven. But for three or four years, a terrible thing kept tormenting him, and Beethoven found that his ears had become deaf. For a musician, there is nothing more terrifying than being deaf. One can thus understand this heartbreaking anguish in the slow movements of his early piano sonatas.

Beethoven was always full of a fiery heart, but his enthusiasm was very unfortunate. He always alternately experienced hope and enthusiasm, disappointment and resistance, which undoubtedly became his source of inspiration. In 1801, Beethoven fell in love with Giulietta Guichardier, and he dedicated the "Moonlight Sonata" to her. But the naive and selfish Qili Aitai did not understand his noble soul. He married someone else in 1803. This was a desperate moment and he wrote a suicide note.

In 1803, he emerged from the gloom and wrote the bright and optimistic "Second Symphony". After that, more and better music continued to emerge from his pen. "Third Symphony" (Eroica), "Fifth Symphony" (Destiny), "Sixth Symphony" (Pastoral), as well as the beautiful and joyful Violin Concerto, and the colorful Piano Concertos and Sonatas .

In 1823, Beethoven completed his last masterpiece "Symphony No. 9" (Chorus). This work creates his ideal world. In December 1826, Beethoven suffered from a severe cold, which caused pulmonary edema. On March 26, 1827, he left in a snowstorm. Never married. There was a funeral on the 29th, with 20,000 mourners, and the body was buried in St. Max Cemetery.

The composer only stayed on earth for 57 years and completed more than one hundred works in his lifetime. His major works include 9 symphonies; dozens of orchestral pieces ("Egmont Overture" is the most famous); 5 piano concertos, one violin concerto; 5 other concertos; and 32 piano sonatas (Passionate, Moonlight, Pathétique, Dawn, The Tempest, etc. are the most famous); 80 pieces of chamber music; 1 opera ("Fidelio"); 1 oratorio; 2 masses, etc.

Life Anecdotes

Childhood

Beethoven’s grandfather and father were both court singers. Most of the time, his father was drunk and never cared about the family harmony. He never even cared about whether the family had enough food and clothing. At first, the kind-hearted grandfather could save the family from too much suffering; in turn, his eldest grandson's musical talent also made the old man feel great comfort. But when little Beethoven was only four years old, his grandfather died. Beethoven's father often dragged his son to the keyboard, made him practice hard for many hours, and slapped him every time he made a mistake. Neighbors often heard the little child sobbing to sleep from fatigue and pain. Soon, Pfeifer, a traveling musician with little skill, came to this town and was taken to Beethoven's house. He and the old Beethoven often drank in a tavern outside until midnight, and then went home and dragged little Ludwig out of bed to start class. This class sometimes was not completed until dawn. In order to make him look like a child prodigy, his father lied about his age and took him out to perform a concert as a six-year-old when he was eight years old. But there is no child prodigy in the world who is nurtured. Although he spent a lot of time, the old Beethoven was never able to cultivate his son into another young Mozart. Compared with Mozart, Beethoven's childhood was too unfortunate. Mozart received a good education in his childhood. His practice time was pleasant and quiet, and he had a loving father and a beloved sister. This was not the case with Beethoven. Although his performance won the respect of his hometown people, he was not recognized worldwide. However, his travel performances are far from astonishing as Mozart.

Good Teacher

The father took the boy to one teacher after another, where he learned different instruments and the art of composition. None of these teachers could be called good until he fell into the hands of Neefe, court luthier and manager of the Bonn Theater. This is a respected music teacher, friendly, well-educated young man. This was truly a blessing for Beethoven. Because although there were the best schools in Bonn - the kind of schools that even good old Bach would happily send many of his children to study - Beethoven's father never thought it worthwhile to send Beethoven there to study. Even if it is only for two or three months, in his eyes, studying is not as profitable as studying music. For the first time in his life, young Beethoven found lessons enjoyable. Mr. Nephew was very kind to him and taught him not only music but many other things in the world. To pay for his tuition, Beethoven took his place as organist when Mr. Nieffe was busy or out of town. So when he had just turned fourteen, he was appointed assistant court organist and clavichord at the theatre. How proud was the hateful and unfortunate father when he saw that his son's music had finally made some money!

Visit

Around this time, Mozart visited Vienna for the first time in his life to play for his most admired idol, Mozart. Mozart thought that the boy was just playing a virtuosic showpiece that he had long practiced for such occasions, and out of politeness he had to praise him politely but coldly. Young Beethoven got angry and asked Mozart to give him a theme, which he then improvised on with so much emotion and genius. Mozart was so surprised that he immediately ran to the door of the next room. "Pay attention to this young man," he shouted to a group of friends who were partying inside. "One day the whole world will hear his voice!"

Beethoven finally understood that he could not make greater progress in his hometown, so he decided to go to Vienna to seek his luck.

When he first arrived in Vienna, he proposed to Magdalene Willman, a singer from his own hometown, but she refused because Beethoven was "too ugly." Since then, he has fallen in love with several aristocratic women - lovely women with lovely names - and he confided in them with music, but they accepted his music and rejected his love!

Master's Style

Eroica Symphony

Beethoven's heart was filled with the ideals of freedom, equality and fraternity. He was the ardent spirit of the French bourgeois revolution in 1789. advocate. In 1798, General Bernadotte (1763-1844) served as the French ambassador to Vienna. Beethoven often visited his home and had close contacts with the people around him. In 1802, at the suggestion of Bernadotte, Beethoven began to write the "Third Symphony" dedicated to Napoleon. In his mind, Napoleon was a hero who destroyed the autocratic system and realized his ideals and revolution. In 1804, Beethoven completed the "Third Symphony". Just as he was preparing to dedicate it to Napoleon, news of Napoleon's proclaimed emperor reached Vienna. When Beethoven learned the news from his student Liss (1784-1838), he angrily shouted: "He is just an ordinary person. Now he will also trample on human rights to fulfill his personal ambitions. He will ride on the Become a tyrant over everyone!" He walked to the table, tore up the dedication to Napoleon and threw it on the floor, not allowing anyone else to pick it up. After many days, Beethoven's anger gradually subsided and he allowed this work to be made public. In December 1804, the symphony was performed for the first time at the court of Prince Robkowitz in Vienna. The first public performance at the Vienna Theater in April 1805 was conducted by Beethoven himself. The program notes read: "A new grand symphony in D sharp major, Ludwig van Bedow Composed by Mr. Fen, dedicated to His Royal Highness Prince Lobkovitz. "Strangely, Beethoven did not say it was in E-flat major, but said it was in D-sharp major. When the score was published in October 1806, the title page printed: The Eroica Symphony was written in memory of a great man. From then on, the "Third Symphony" was called the "Eroica Symphony".

Symphony of Destiny

The first four notes of Beethoven's "Symphony in C minor" (Op. 67) are strong and heavy, like the sound of fate knocking on the door. This work is therefore called "Symphony of Destiny". "Symphony of Destiny" was composed from 1805 to 1808. Beethoven already said in a letter to his friend Wegler (1765-1848) in November 1808: "I want to block the throat of fate, and it will never completely overwhelm me!" "Fate knocks "The sound of the door" has already appeared in the third movement of "Piano Sonata in C minor" (Op. 10-1) composed in 1798, and later appeared in the third movement of "String Quartet in D major" (Op. 18-3) , the first movement of "Passionate Sonata" (Op. 57), the third "Leonora" Overture (Op. 72), "String Quartet in E flat major" (Op. 74) and other works. It can be seen that defeating fate through struggle has been Beethoven's consistent creative thought. The raging passion for struggle expressed in "Symphony of Destiny" is highly contagious. When the Spanish alto singer Maribrandt heard "Symphony of Destiny" for the first time, she was so frightened that she had to leave. An old guard of Napoleon couldn't help but jump up and shout after hearing the theme at the beginning of the fourth movement: "This is the Emperor!" Berlioz regarded the thrilling struggle scene in "Symphony of Destiny" as "Othello's obedience" Iago's slander misunderstood Desdemona's terrible rage when she had an affair with others. "Schumann believed: "Although you hear this symphony often, it always has a constant power on you. ——Just like the phenomena in nature that occur from time to time, they always make people feel frightened.” In May and June of 1830, Mendelssohn stayed in Weimar for two weeks, meeting Goethe for the last time, and wrote a poem on the piano. He performed famous works of ancient and modern times.

The final movement is violent and passionate, expressing exactly the opposite of the gentle bright moon. Only the short second movement can be said to be a moment of moonlight. "In Germany, some people also call this song the "Garden Pavilion" sonata. A garden pavilion is a pavilion built under the shade of trees. Obviously, this title is also inaccurate for this sonata. It seems that the decisiveness expressed in this song It is not a clear landscape painting, but an inner gloomy mood. The author of "Beethoven's Biography" Thee (1817-1897) said that the first movement is "a girl praying for her sick father", which is better than anything else. "Moonlight" and "Garden Pavilion" are more appropriate. Beethoven composed this piece in 1801, when he was in love with Giulifata Guicciardi (1784-1856), and this piece was dedicated to her this year. Beethoven mentioned her in a letter to Wegler on November 16th: "She loves me and I love her. "But by the beginning of 1802, she had fallen in love with Count Robert Hallenberg and married him in 1803. Romain Rolland connected this song with Beethoven's lovelorn, saying, "The illusion can be maintained. Soon the sonata contained more pain and grief than love. Roland interpreted the first movement as melancholy, lamentation and crying. Russian musicologist Olibishev (1794-1858) believed that the first movement was the "deep sorrow" of lost love, like "dying fire". But in 1801, Beethoven and Guichardi were passionately in love. To say that this work is about the pain of lost love may not be consistent with the facts. Perhaps the Russian art critic Stasov (1824-1906) explained this work. His opinion is quite reasonable. After recalling Liszt's performance in Petersburg, he believed that this sonata is a complete tragedy. The first movement is full of thoughtful tenderness and a mental state that is sometimes full of dark premonitions. I had a similar impression when listening to Anton Rubinstein's performance: "...from far away, far away, as if a quiet voice suddenly rose from the depths of the invisible soul. Some of the sounds are melancholy, full of infinite melancholy; others are pensive, with a flood of memories and dark omens..." "#C Minor Sonata" is particularly famous for its title and legend of "Moonlight". Beethoven has Once he said: "People often talk about the "#c Minor Sonata", but I have written better things than this, such as the "#F Major Sonata" (Op. 78). "It can be seen that Beethoven himself was not very satisfied with "Moonlight".