Martha McDermott December 6, 2013
THE REVOLUTIONARY Beethoven‟s Middle Period
Violinist Felix Radicati allegedly complained to Beethoven that the 3 Razumovsky String Quartets in were “not music”. Beethoven‟s answer to this was that “they are not for you, you, they they 1
are for a later age.” Whether or not this story is true, it is apparent that for man y of Beethoven‟s works they were not fully appreciated by his own generation. Beethoven saw that the musical structure set by his predecessors Haydn and Mozart needed to be changed. Heavily influenced by cultural changes due to the French Revolution and events in his personal life, his middle period was his most influential and revolutionary. During Beethoven‟s Middle Period, Beethoven broke free of musical “norms” and “norms” and made drastic changes in the genres of Concerto, rd
Symphony, and String Quartet. By looking at various aspects of his 3 Symphony, Violin Concerto, and Razumovsky Quartets , these changes will be more fully explained. th
When one thinks of revolutionary fervor at the be ginning of the 19 Century, one automatically thinks of the French Revolution. The entire political structure structure of France was turned on its head and eventually in 1799 Napoleon Bonaparte became the Consul of the Republic.
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Events occurring between 1799 and 1804 had a great great influence on his 3 Symphony
which was originally dedicated to Napoleon. “The second movement has strong links to France during the Republic…Thirty-Second Republic…Thirty-Second note upbeats in the strings imitate the role of muffled drums used in the Revolutionary processions processions that accompanied heroes to their final resting place. One
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Lewis Lockwood and the Julliard String Quartet, Inside Beethoven’s Quartets. (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2008) 95. 2 Grout, Donald Jay, A History of Western Music. (New York: Ww. Norton & Company, 2010) 569.
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passage strikingly resembles a famous French Revolutionary march.” Another important influence was Beethoven‟s inner turmoil about his hearing loss. In 1798, he first began noticing his hearing loss. As it continued worsening, he realized that it was not temporary. Although he 4
contemplated suicide as seen in the Heiligenstadt Testament, he was able to continue creating his art. He had a desire to get his music out there for future generations before he couldn‟t create it anymore. Time was of the essence, and this is very apparent in his middle period compositions. rd
Beethoven‟s 3 Symphony Op. 55 ( Eroica in E flat major) was composed between 1803 and 1804. When it was initially composed, it was longer than any symphony written before. The initial title of it was Bonaparte, but upon hearing that Napoleon had crowned himself emperor, he tore up the title page. Although that original score no longer exists, on another copy 5
that still was titled “Bonaparte” one can see the title scratched out and visible holes in the paper.
The official inscription of the work translates to “Heroic Symphon y to celebrate the memory of a great man.” However this was not intended to be for a single man, rather the idea of a great 6
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man. Beethoven‟s 3 symphony is more than just an interesting story about title changes. Before it‟s completion in 1804, nothing like it had been composed before. Its first movement 7
contained a heroic theme that recurs throughout the entire symphony through variations. One of the most important compositional choices by Beethoven with this work is using the music as drama. Beethoven took the typical structure of each movement and revolutionized the emotional drama it conveyed. The first movement, as described by Philip G. Downs “encapsulates this
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Grout, A History of Western Music, 582. Grout, A History of Western Music, 577-578. 5 Joseph Schmidt-Görg, The Life of Ludwig van Beethoven (Hamburg: Polydor International GmbH 1972) 38. 6 Schmidt-Görg, The Life of Ludwig van Beethoven, 39. 7 Robert Haven Schauffler, The Mad Musician, an Abridgment of “Beethoven: The Man Who Freed Music” (New York: Doubleday, Doran & Company, Inc) 84-85 4
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story of challenge, struggle, and final victory.” It is full of “disjointed rhythm” and “rude 9
dissonances” that paint the picture of frustration and rage. One particular part of the first movement, the horn plays the “hero theme on the tonic against a dominant seventh chord” in the violins.
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To listeners of that time, it sounded like the horn had incorrectly entered. Modern
listeners whose ears are more accustomed to the non-traditional harmonies of the time are not so inclined to think that. The second movement is a funeral march for a fallen hero. While staying true to the traditional structure of a slow second mo vement, Beethoven added emotional depth to the piece. As mentioned previously, one passage “strikingly parallels” Francois-Joseph Gossec‟s 11
Marche Lugubre. Beethoven also uses cyclic elements in the second movement. Bars 87-92 contain the hero theme from the first movement “rhythmically distorted and divided up between the first and second horns.”
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The scherzo of Beethoven‟s third scherzo is especially
revolutionary in terms of instrumentation. The scherzo adds a third horn part which later influenced standard instrumentation of the Romantic Period. Hector Berlioz observes that a scherzo may not be stylistically appropriate for a piece in the style of Eroica. He states “it is play 13
of funeral kind, at every instant clouded by thoughts of mourning.” Schauffler describes the first three movements as “new phenomena.” They were truly revolutionary. The finale is not so obviously revolutionary. However “we now know that no work so closely knit, so consistently organic and incandescent with Promethean fire had ever before been written in symphonic 14
form.”
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Grout, A History of Western Music, 579. Hector Berlioz, A Critical Study of Beethoven‟s Nine Symphonies (London: Wm. Reeves) 42. 10 Schauffler, The Mad Musician, 93. 11 Grout, A History of Western Music, 582. 12 Schauffler, The Mad Musician, 84. 13 Berlioz, A Critical Study of Beethovens Nine Symphonies, 44. 14 Schauffler, The Mad Musician, 89 9
Beethoven‟s Violin Concerto in D Major Op. 61 was composed in 1806. It was initially 15
performed and composed for Franz Clement.
The most revolutionary aspect about this
concerto is the abandonment of the double exposition in the opening and the conversation style of concerto orchestration. Rather, Beethoven‟s violin concerto is symphonic. “Someone has 16
called the Concerto in D a „Tenth Symphony with violin obbligato.‟”. The violin acts as another line in the orchestra weaving in and out. This symphonic concerto structure was highly influential on Beethoven‟s later concertos like his Piano Concerto No. 5 Emperor which is also composed in the symphonic concerto form. Another aspect of his violin concerto to take note of is the Baroque influence. In the Larghetto, the recurring bass line is reminiscent of the chaconne. 17
The baroque influence is also apparent in the bass line of the Emperor Concerto. The virtuosity and orchestration of this piece forever changed the way Beethoven composed concertos. The Razumovsky Quartets Op. 59, like his Violin Concerto, were also completed in 1806. They were commissioned by Count Andrei Kirillovitch Razumovsky, who was the Russian Ambassador to Austria. Although there are three quartets in Op. 5 9, the focus will be on No. 1. The Razumovsky Quartets are special because he revolutionized the genre of spring 18
quartet as he had done so before with his third symphony. He creates a “new artistic image of the genre.” As he did with the concerto and symphony, he made the quartet more orchestral, 19
while retaining the “expressive qualities of chamber music.”
In the first movement of No. 1,
Beethoven makes us believe that we are going to listen to the exposition twice, but after the first four bars of the opening are played at measure 103, 107 takes us into the development section thus changing the standard sonata form. This quartet is the epitome of revolutionizing a genre. 15
Schmidt-Görg, The Life of Ludwig van Beethoven, 52-53. Lawrence Sommers, Beethoven‟s Violin Concerto (Oxford University Press 1934) 46 -49 17 Plantinga, Beethoven‟s Concertos, 226-227. 18 Lewis Lockwood, Inside the Beethoven String Quartets, 96 19 Lewis Lockwood, Inside the Beethoven String Quartets, 105 16
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His middle period quartets expand everything “beyond the point that anyone could conceive.” Until 1806, his Razumovsky Quartets are probably Beethoven‟s most progressive works. His
need to get his art out there is truly apparent. Lewis Lockwood described Op. 59 No. 1 as having “an apocalyptic character. The whole conception is out of our world and looking forward to later times, in a progressive sense.”
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As time proved again and again, the revolutionary compositions of Beethoven were for a later generation. A more “enlightened” listening audience. At the time of their public debut, Ops 55, 59, and 61 were not fully appreciated for their emotional depth and revolutionary qualities. Through time, these pieces were performed and studied which led to a greater understanding and appreciation for them. No longer were reviewers questioning whether or not they were music and simply deeming them as noise. Rather, all three-the Eroica, the Violin Concerto, and the Razumovsky Quartets- have become standard repertoire in their respective genres.
References Berlioz, Hector. n.d. A Critical Study of Beethoven's Nine Symphonies. London: Wm. Reeves. Grout, Donald Jay. 2010. A History of Western Music. New York: Ww. Nortan & Company. 20 21
Lockwood, Inside Beethoven‟s String Quartets, 124. Lockowood, Inside Beethoven‟s String Quartets, 128.
Lockwood, Lewis, and Juliard String Quartet. 2010. Inside Beethoven's Quartets. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. Plantinga, Leon. 1999. Beethoven's Concertos. New York: W.W. Norton & Co. . Schauffler, Robert Haven. n.d. The Mad Musician, an Abridgement of "Beethoven: The Man Who Freed Music". New York: Doubleday, Doran & Company Inc. Schmidt-Görg, Joseph. 1972. The Life of Ludwig van Beethoven. Hamburg: Polydor International GmbH. Sommers, Lawrence. 1934. "Beethoven's Violin Concerto." Music & Letters 46-49.
