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Scan 57
A Biographical Dictionary of Musicians, 1900
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1BEETHOVEN
3bearing towards his hosts was that of an equal to equals; at the time of the Vienna Congress, as a guest of Archduke Rudolf, he met the various reigning monarchs as their peer, and even (as he said himself) let them pay court to him. A curious incident is the invitation extended to B. in 1809, by the de facto "King of Westphalia," Jérôme Bonaparte, to assume the post of maître de chapelle at Kassel at a salary of 600 ducats (about $1,500). There is no proof that B. seriously entertained the proposition; he really wanted to become Imperial Kapellmeister at Vienna; but the bare possibility of losing the great composer so dismayed his Viennese admirers, that Archduke Rudolf, and Princes Lobkowitz and Kinsky, settled on B. an annuity of 4,000 florins (nominally $2,000, but in depreciated paper of fluctuating value). After 1815, his growing deafness, and the sore trials incidental to the care of his nephew, caused him so much mental distress that he often thought himself on the verge of ruin, though he never really suffered want.—In December, 1826, he caught a violent cold, which resulted in an attack of pneumonia; dropsy then supervened, and after several unsuccessful operations he succumbed to the disease on March 26, 1827. His funeral was attended by 20,000 persons, and titled personages vied with each other in the expression of homage and regret.
5While Beethoven, in choosing a recognized (conventional) form—the sonata-form—as a vehicle for the expression of his thought (in 81 works, i.e., about one-third of all), still belongs to the school called "classic," his methods of moulding this form were eminently unconventional; so much so, indeed, that even at the beginning of his "second period" the progressive "Allgemeine musikalische Zeitung" of Leipzig, though not belittling his importance, reprehends his "daring harmonies and venturesome rhythms." As for his last period, no general appreciation of the latest string-quartets and pf.-sonatas was found, even among musicians, until half a century after his death. His innovations on the formal key-scheme of his predecessors; his original elaboration of connecting-links, both in thematic development and between separate movements; his fertility in incidental modulation, and the inexhaustible freshness of his rhythms, render the structure of his compositions thoroughly characteristic—typical. But his loftiest originality, and that whence the differences in formal construction naturally flowed, is the intensity and fervor of subjective emotion which pervades his works. It is this mood of profound subjectivity, of individual, powerful soul-expression, which most of all differentiates B.'s music from that of Bach, or Haydn, or Mozart, and which opens the era of "romantic" composition. Technically, his art of orchestration reaches a perfection in detail, and a grandeur of effect, before unknown; and his diversified development of the motive (melodic, harmonic, rhythmic) surpasses anything in music previous to Wagner. As specimens of what can be done in thematic treatment, his pf.-variations on given themes are a ne plus ultra of musical ingenuity. It is noteworthy that, according to contemporary accounts, his "free improvisations" at the piano, which held his auditors spellbound, were developments of a kindred nature; not mere rhapsodies, but the spontaneous elaborations of a teeming invention. He is still reverenced as the greatest instrumental composer of all time; and even in vocal music, his Fidelio and the Missa solemnis are creations of unique power.
7Monuments have been erected to B. in 1845 at Bonn (by Hähnel), and in 1880 at Vienna (by Zumbusch).
9B.'s works comprise 138 opus-numbers, and about 70 unnumbered compositions. His published works are noted below.
11INSTRUMENTAL WORKS.
13Nine Symphonies: No. 1, op. 21, in C; 2, op. 36, in D; 3, op. 55, in Eb (the "Eroica"); 4, op. 60, in Bb; 5, op. 67, in C min.; 6, op. 68, in F ("Pastoral"); 7, op. 92, in A; 8, op. 93, in F; 9, op. 125, in D min. ("Choral").
15"The Battle of Vittoria" (op. 91); music to the ballet Prometheus (op. 43), and to Goethe's Egmont (op. 84), both with overtures.
17Nine further overtures: Coriolanus; Leonore (Nos. 1, 2 and 3); Fidelio; King Stephen; Ruins of Athens; "Namenscier," op. 115; "Weihe des Hauses" (op. 124).
19Other comp.s f. orch.: Allegretto in Eb; March from Tarpia, in C; Military March, in D; "Ritter-Ballet"; 12 Minuets; 12 "deutsche Tänze"; 12 Contretänze.
21Violin-concerto, op. 61, in D.
23Five Pf.-concertos: No. 1, op. 15, in C; 2, op. 19, in Bb; 3, op. 37, in C min.; 4, op. 58, in G; 5, op. 73, in F# ("Emperor"); also a pf.-concerto arranged from the violin-concerto. A triple-concerto, op. 56, f. pf., vln., 'cello and orch.; a "Choral Fantasia" f. pf., chorus and orch.; a Rondo in Bb, f. pf. and orch.—Cadences to the pf.-concertos.
25Two Octets for wind, both in Eb.
27One Septet f. strings and wind, op. 20, in Eb.
29One Sextet f. strings and 2 horns, op. 81bis, in Eb.
31One Sextet f. wind, op. 71, in Eb.
33Two Quintets f. strings: Op. 4, in E min., and op. 29, in C; Fugue for string-quintet, op. 137; also Quintet arr. from pf.-trio in C min.
35Sixteen String-quartets: Op. 18, Nos. 1-6, in F, G, D, C min., A and Bb (first period).—Op. 59, Nos. 1-3, in F, E min., and C; op. 74, in E# (the "Harfenquartett"); op. 95, in F min. (second period).—Op. 127, in Eb; op. 130, in Bb; op. 131, in C# min.; op. 132, in F min.; op. 135, in F; also a Grand Fugue f. string-quartet, op. 133, in Bb (third period).—One pf.-quartet (arr. of the pf.-quintet); 3 juvenile pf.-quartets, in E#, D and C.
37Five String-trios: In Eb, G, D, C min., and
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