3/31/22

I like Beethoven, and I love his Ninth Symphony. This book is a lot of speculation and I didn't particularly like it. I skimmed through it and although it does contain a translation of what they say from German to English it wasn't enough to save it for me. ( )

The topic is interesting but the book is kind all over the place. It reads like three completely independent essays rather than one book. I did enjoy digging out my vocal score and recalling how satisfying and vocally demanding it was to sing but I'm afraid I didn't get as much out of this as I had hoped.

"Do not rob Handel, Hayden and Mozart of their laurel wreaths. They are entitled to theirs, but I am not yet entitled to one… Persevere, do not only practice your art, but endeavor also to fathom it’s inner meaning; it deserves this effort. For only art and science can raise men to the level of gods….The true artist has no pride. He sees unfortunately that art has no limits. He has a vague awareness of how far he is from reaching his goal; and while others may perhaps admire him, he laments that he has not yet reached the point to which his better genius only lights the way for him like a distant sun."

Ludwig van Beethoven
1812

This was excerpted from a letter that Beethoven wrote to a young admirer of his music. It is sometimes said that Beethoven lacked abilities with the written word. He certainly was quite ground on the earth that we also walk but his aspirations were boundless.

This book is a very personal tribute to the author's introduction to an inner life. An early birthday present of a modest record player (yes, those did exist) and a few select records started a lifetime heroic appreciation for the grand.

The book looks first at political events of the time and cites the repressed political passions turned safely to the arts as the source of the romantic movement. Then he unwisely described the Ninth Symphony in some detail that may be only of interest to the readers and players of music. He concludes by sharing the opinions of other composers about Beethoven's Ninth.

He shares an anecdote from the late scholar Jacques Barzun about a pianist who played a piece at a party. One person asked the player what the piece was about so the pianist sat down and played the same piece again. There is simply nothing more to say.

Once at a lecture I attended by renowned conductor Raymond Leppard, he was asked how to write about music. He said that he writes around it. What words do we have that could even describe Middle C?

Go ahead, play the Ninth and then consider this book for some context ( )

This book is not only about the creation of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony, but also the situation of music, classical music as it were, in 1824 in the early half of the 19th century in Europe. This is not a book about the technical details of music, about how Beethoven crafted his work in a more general sense, but getting into how the man thought and did his work. It also looks back on the situation of political change in Europe, particularly that caused by Napoleon. I waited a while before pluging into the book, and realized I need to have something to say about the book. I remember my own first encounter with the Ninth, when I got all of Beethoven's nine symphonies as an intrductory offer to a record collecting series in the late 1950's. It was my first literal encounter with contrapuntal music, and I tried to sing along with the choral group in th furth movement and got thoroughly lost in the third stanza of Schiller's poem -- barely coming up for air at the end. I am returning this book to the library as an overdue, and I almost would like to own it, so it is recommended. ( )