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Musical Courier 1927-04-28: Vol 94 Iss 17, 1927
65 lines. Read by computer on 29 September 2026. Printed page 8. See the scan on archive.org.
A town on its own line is one of the directory's headings. That is where the town on a maker's page comes from.
1Beethoven
2Notes Concerning His Genius and Character
3BY EDGAR STILLMAN KELLEY
5The full force of the term "Genius" has unfortunately, through indiscriminate use, become deplorably weakened. How often do we see it applied to individuals whose imagination and constructive abilities range all the way down from very good to mediocrity and worse.
7According to a familiar aphorism it requires considerable talent, or at least a goodly amount of skill, to write even a poor symphony. What shall we say then of a man who leaves behind him nine masterpieces of the first rank?
9I recall with pleasure a conversation some years since with the Polish composer, Xavier Scharwenka, in which the remarkably enormous productivity of Beethoven was the main theme. Said he: "We who have composed music in the sonata form know from experience what labor this implies. We can appreciate as no others what fertility of invention and physical energy it required to throw off, as did Beethoven, his luxuriant literature. Look at the list Op. 1, three trios for violin, cello and pianoforte—all excellent; op. 2, three piano sonatas—each a masterpiece; op. 3, three trios for strings; op. 9, three more such; op. 7, a piano sonata; op. 10, three more piano sonatas; then comes op. 13, the great Pathétique; op. 12, two sonatas for violin and piano; op. 15 and 19, each a concerto for piano and orchestra; op. 18, six string quartets; op. 20, the favorite septet for wind and strings; op. 21, the first symphony (in C)."
11This is enough to make one fairly dizzy, and the list of like masterpieces—usually increasing in excellence, continues until long past the hundred mark. All this indicates such a riotous profusion of ideas combined with consummate structural skill that we stand in awe before a veritable genius.
13When such a being is found, it is but natural that he should be subject to a comparison with some similar phenomenon of a former period. This usually implies a demand upon the newcomer that he show works that parallel those of the earlier master—something as difficult to avoid as it is difficult to adjust. Sir Charles Villars Stanford, in a sympathetic estimate of Beethoven,* sets him as a foil—contrapuntally speaking—against Bach, thus. It cannot be denied that despite the assiduity with which Beethoven worked during his whole life at contrapuntal studies he never attained the natural ease of Sebastian Bach in coping with set fugue. He mastered its suburbs without capturing the citadel. There is a certain uncouthness in his fugal writing of which he never shook himself quite free,
15*History of Music, Stanford & Forsyth.
17"A manly voice, unforced, and of appealing quality."
18New York Times.
20Frederick Gunster
21TENOR
22Management: RICHARD COBLEY, 10 East 43rd St., New York City
24Photo by Cattani, Florence
26Complete training and coaching for Concert and Opera, including Italian, French, German and English Repertoire, at the Studios of
28MAESTRO
29ISIDORE BRAGGIOTTI
30The Florentine Vocal Authority
32Manchester
33N. H.
35Los Angeles
36CALIF.
38Boston
39Mass.
41The Maestro will follow up his success of last summer by another season in LOS ANGELES, CALIF. He will hold master classes from June 1st to August 1st under the management of MERLE ARMITAGE, care of Los Angeles Grand Opera Association, 424 Auditorium Bldg., Los Angeles, Calif.
43For information address Mr. Armitage or
44A I M É E S P U R R, Assistant Teacher
4578 Upland Rd., Brookline, Mass.
46Tel. Regent 7477
48great as were the conceptions which underlie the form."
50Now, had Beethoven written fugues à la Bach, they would not have shown that originality which is so essential to genius, nor would they have adapted themselves to his individual needs; consequently such work would not have been in keeping with his style. Many years ago a friend told me that Beethoven regarded imitation and fughetta as more valuable in composition than strict fugue, as he was able to obtain the effect of fugue without its limitation. I have been unable to verify it in remarks attributed to the composer, but his works furnish ample evidence of a conviction of this sort. Witness the numerous charming fugal movements, the beginning of fugues that dissolve so naturally into more lyric and harmonic passages, and compare the results with a continuous fugal elaboration of the same—episodes, treatment in the inversion strettos, etc. Familiar examples of Beethoven's Fughettas are to be found in the slow movements of the first, third and seventh symphonies, and in the scherzos of the fifth and ninth. In the finale of the latter work there is a well sustained double fugue much more satisfactory than those fugal passages in the late piano sonatas. Beethoven certainly was justified in applying the fugue principle to his sonata movements as he saw fit, and we are no more justified in saying that he could not write fugues than we are in stating that Chopin could not write sonatas. Beethoven applied the fugue principle to his sonata movements, the same as Chopin embodied the sonata principle in his ballades, scherzos, etc.
52There are certain slow movements of Beethoven's which so affect the listener that he is profoundly impressed by the composer's deeply religious nature. I recall one instance in particular when as a boy I had the rare privilege of hearing Rubinstein play the Sonata Appassionata. The moments of exaltation elicited by his interpretation of the Andante I shall never forget. (When Rubinstein visited America my parents sent me from our home in Sparta, Wis., to Chicago—two hundred and fifty miles—in order that I might enjoy and profit by his five consecutive concerts, in which he was assisted by the great violinist, Wieniawski. The performance of Beethoven's Kreutzer Sonata by those two masters is likewise an imperishable memory.) But Beethoven's religious feelings did not find expression in any phase of sectarianism. In this way he resembled Lincoln who respected believers of all creeds and sought in his own life and actions to embody virtue and justice in all that he undertook. The honesty and sincerity of the composer in pursuing his ideals, regardless of the self sacrifice and suffering this implied, is ably set forth by Wagner in his celebrated monograph on Beethoven:
54"Like Mozart, placed entirely without means in a world where only the Useful pays, while the Beautiful is rewarded only when it flatters the senses and the Sublime must remain without any return whatever, Beethoven in the first place found himself debarred from drawing the world toward himself, just through his devotion to the Beautiful."
56This in part reveals the inner reason of Beethoven's attitude toward the stage where at that moment the composers of the Latin world reigned supreme. We have all read how Beethoven lamented Mozart's Italian operas, not only because of their un-German style but on account of their frivolous librettos. No wonder, then, that he found great difficulty in securing an opera text that was to his moral as well as his artistic liking. Fidelio with its simple story of the heroine's wifely devotion must have stood out in bold relief against the background of contemporaneous Italian products, indeed much as it does today. From the standpoint of stagecraft it has been much criticized however. Even so great a Beethoven enthusiast as Wagner has expressed regrets that the dramatic structure leaves much to be desired. And yet whenever we are favored with a worthy production, we are conscious of the moving of a mighty spiritual power. This consciousness has possibly never been more sincerely and aptly expressed than by the composer Weber (whose truly German operas were sympathetic to Beethoven) at a time when he was conductor of the opera in Dresden, after having acted in a similar capacity in Prague. Apropos of the forthcoming premiere of Fidelio he wrote Beethoven in substance as follows: "The performance in Prague under my direction of this mighty work which bears testimony to German grandeur and depth of feeling gave me an intimacy, as inspiring as it was instructive, with the essence through which I hope to present it to the public. . . . Every representation will be a festival day." (In this connection it is interesting to recall the incident related of Chopin, who was not always in sympathy with the sometimes rather conventional harmonic outlines of Beethoven's harmonies, and yet, when choosing a musical gift for a friend, he selected a copy of Fidelio, pronouncing it a masterwork.)
58While we admire the intense serious-mindedness of Beethoven with his lofty aspirations we do not forget the stories of his spells of temper and the numerous indications of that irritability which Henry Drummond called "the voice of the virtuous." But when we remember his terrible affliction, his stormy outbursts are easily explained, and even they who bore the brunt thereof usually forgave him. Fortunately for this singular being, as well as for us, he possessed in no small measure that Attic salt which preserved his disposition from utter corrosion. To this sense of humor we owe those piquant scherzos that, in spite of their Teutonic workmanship, impart a Gallic flavor, now to a serene sonata and again to a serious symphony. (Here be it remarked that the eighth of the "immortal nine" stands forth as an apotheosis of refined jocularity. So exuberant are its expressions of joy that it seems permeated with the spirit of Scherzo.)
60When we review the incidents of Beethoven's life, we shall find, as may be discerned in the careers of other men of genius, that a vast mentality is coupled with terrific emotional powers, and only through the combination of such vital factors may we expect the greatest art creations as a result.
62Geon Pupils on Radio
64The fortnightly radio concerts over station WRNY with artists from the studio of Marcella Geon are winning commendation from far and wide. The singers have received letters of appreciation not only from New York and environs but also from the states in the West and South. Miss Geon has also been kept busy other than teaching, her recent engagements as accompanist including appearances at Danbury, Conn., Morningside Presbyterian Church, New York Theater Club, Hotel Astor, and at the Second Reformed Presbyterian Church concert.
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