The Romantic era is where we start to see a shift in classical music. Composers started to express more of their own emotions into their pieces. Beethoven was one of the first composers to transition. This lecture is interesting that we delve deeper into the life and mind of Beethoven. Not only did he advance the Classical Style, but he also paved the way into Romanticism. He was viewed as a transitional figure as well as a “creative genius.” Beethoven was a true master of music. His ability to swiftly establish solidarity in pairing different keys with unexpected notes was incredible. This innovation expanded the harmonic realm and created a sense of a vast musical and experimental space through which music moved in a piece. Along with his development of themes and motifs, which were usually by means of modulation, he was truly able to distinguish himself and his works from those of any prior composer. …show more content…
Beethoven’s musical shift can be seen as a direct parallel to his own life.
From the video clip of the Immortal Beloved-“Moonlight sonata” scene, we realize that how personal and intimate music was for Beethoven. He absolutely freaks out when the woman taps his shoulder to grab his attention when he is playing the piano. He even lays his head on the piano while playing which indicates his extreme bond with it. This also shows just how talented of a pianist he was because he could simply feel the music within himself and produce it at the same time. His eyes are shut and it is apparent that music is an outlet for Beethoven throughout his disappointing life. The letter to his immortal beloved is interesting because it depicts how deeply tormented and confused his soul was. He essentially initiated all of the complexity and disorientation that was communicated and analyzed in art and music throughout the romantic
period. Beethoven wrote a series of thirty-two piano sonatas. In “The Passionate Sonata”, we are able to see real soul searching from Beethoven. This piece was structured in sonata form, although it was not easily noticeable. He wanted to convey emotions. In the piece we hear his efforts to find some sort of happiness or balance and also his struggle to achieve a theme. This is not to say there are no moments of refuge. Some slower movements, which are hymn like expressions of peace, suggest that he has found a temporary bond with nature and spirituality. The only thing that seems to be constant in the piece is the particular pattern or rhythm that continuously interrupts the effort to sing. By referencing another one of his symphonies the contained that same rhythm, where he wrote in the margins “fate knocks at the door”, we are able to infer that the constant interruption is because of “fate keeps hammering him.” Beethoven articulates two options for not escaping reality, but finding some refuge within it. The first is to contemplate nature, which becomes increasingly important for the romantic generation. Nature becomes the site of spiritual salvation and a pantheistic orientation toward nature. He felt that by immersing oneself in natural experience, one could forget oneself, at least temporary, and feel oneself connected to something larger. If you take a moment to go out into the woods you can forget about yourself temporarily and feel yourself connected spiritually to some sort of whole, and thus not feel so alone. Beethoven uses this as his deafness progressed, which made him feel more alienated to the human world, but when he went out into nature he could still hear the trees speak to him. Religion was another option. He saw it as an opportunity for the individual to receive some sort of temporary relief from the torment on a personal level.
Beethoven was a political composer. He stubbornly dedicated his art to the problems of human freedom, justice, progress, and community. The Third Symphony, probably Beethoven's most influential work, centers around a funeral march provoking patriotic ceremonies from the French Revolution. Beethoven was a long time admirer of Napoleon Bonaparte. So he dedicated the symphony to Napoleon, but when Napoleon was proclaimed the Emperor of France, he scratched the dedication to Napoleon. This Symphony is cited as the marking end of Beethoven's classical era and the beginning of musical Romanticism. But what of Beethoven after Napoleon? Beethoven's life and music became worse after the Third Symphony was composed because of his reaction to Napoleon becoming Emperor, his deafness, and through his personal and family difficulties.
His astonishing understanding of musical rudiments was further cemented at age seven by his first teacher Otto Friedrich Willibald Cossel, with piano literature ranging from Bach to Schubert to Clementi (Musgrave 10). The young gifted talent quickly matured, with his compositions being sedulously characterized in craft similar to the seasoned taste of aged liquor. Following in the wake of Beethoven, his style of romanticism seemed restrained, and viewed as being confined to classical forms. With his preference towards absolute music, his works demonstrated “as [Ian] McEwan/ [Clive] Linley would have it, at the intersection of emotion and reason” and of “powerful intellect and of passionate expressivity” (Platt and Smith 4). However, being the headstrong romantic that he is, he manipulated the limiting factor into an area of expanse, in which he developed his music into seriously emotional, imaginative works of art.... ...
Traditional analysis of Beethoven's use of Sonata Allegro form tends to focus on harmonic or melodic movement and key relationships. This study stretches such investigations to include questions of historical context and philosophic motivations that drive a composer to structure music in a certain way. Ultimately this leads to an inquiry about how these traditions affect us as listeners, and more specifically how they relate to gender issues in a musical tradition primarily made up of male composers.
Beethoven was a pioneer of his time. During the classical period most composers were at the hands of monarchs. Composers had to create whatever the monarchs wanted, they really did it have a choice in what they wrote. Beethoven on the other hand was not reliant on patrons of the arts. Beethoven created and sold what he made, not what some aristocrat told him to make. These traits of Beethoven make it possible for him to be classified in both the classical and romantic music periods.
Classical music can be best summed by Mr. Dan Romano who said, “Music is the hardest kind of art. It doesn't hang up on a wall and wait to be stared at and enjoyed by passersby. It's communication. Its hours and hours being put into a work of art that may only last, in reality, for a few moments...but if done well and truly appreciated, it lasts in our hearts forever. That's art, speaking with your heart to the hearts of others.” Starting at a young age Johann Sebastian Bach and Ludwig van Beethoven have done just that with their musical compositions. Both musical composers changed the world of music and captivated the hearts of many. Their love of composing shared many similar traits, though their musical styles were much different.
It is clear that Beethoven’s stands as being significant in development of the string quartet to a massive extent in creativity and innovation. His early quartets show great influence of those from the Classical period and with his own, has influenced his contemporaries and later composers. The quartets published later in his life show even greater imagination and use of expression. It is also through similar uses of texture, harmony, rhythm and counterpoint that composers of the Romantic period and the 20th century wrote their own string quartets. Beethoven’s however prove a huge advancement in how string quartets are written and the intensity of emotions that they portray.
Ludwig Van Beethoven was regarded as one of the greatest musical composers of the 19th century. Beethoven’s compositions are considered to be a watershed moment in western musical history. According to scholar Scott G. Burnham, “The overmastering coherence felt in Beethoven’s music became an imposing measure of the greatness of musical artworks.” Part of Beethoven’s greatness can be linked to the inner turmoil he dealt with throughout his life. Part of this turmoil was caused from his hearing disability which ultimately resulted in his deafness. Beethoven felt isolated due to his illness, but this isolation greatly affected the music he composed. The Fifth Symphony was a testament to that. Out of Beethoven’s nine different symphonies, the Fifth symphony is regarded as one of his greatest compositions. The Fifth Symphony is a total of 4 movements, and has a four-note opening motif in C- minor which is considered to be fate knocking at the door.
Joseph Haydn and Ludwig van Beethoven. Two composers who marked the beginning and the end of the Classical Period respectively. By analysing the last piano sonata of Haydn (Piano Sonata No. 62 in E-flat major (Hob. XVI:52)) and the first and last piano sonatas of Beethoven (Piano Sonata No. 1 in F minor Op. 2, No.1, Piano Sonata No. 32 in C minor Op. 111), this essay will study the development of Beethoven’s composition style and how this conformed or didn’t conform to the Classical style. The concepts of pitch and expressive techniques will be focused on, with a broader breakdown on how these two concepts affect many of the other concepts of music. To make things simpler, this essay will analyse only the first movements of each of the sonatas mentioned.
In this essay, I’m going to discuss two composers- Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Ludwig van Beethoven. I will first tell you about the life of these men. Then, I’ll compare and contrast their music, the time period of which they lived in, the purpose of their music and more.
Beethoven is viewed as a transitional figure between the classical and romantic eras and from 1800 to 1809 he wrote some of the most revolutionary compositions in the history of western music. This essay therefore will aim to discuss the numerous ways in which Ludwig Van Beethoven expanded the formal and expressive content of the classical style he inherited. From the early 1770s to the end of the eighteenth century the concept of the symphonic style and sonata style dominated most of the music composed. These forms, employed countless times by Mozart and Haydn, stayed relatively constant up until the end of the eighteenth century, when Beethoven began to extend this Viennese classical tradition. Many musicologists have put forward the idea of Beethoven music falling into four periods.
Beethoven slowly began showing his emotions, and feelings, but very subtly. His work began to have a very sublime feeling to it, very deep and not knowing what to expect. It was after those first two that Beethoven had a big life crisis. (Sayre 407) He then began seeing life as a shorter journey than previously sought, and stopped caring about what consequences would arise from what he wanted to do. Which was to show strong emotion in his music. It was his escape from his impending doom, which was becoming deaf. He released music very quickly over the next decade. This shows how Beethoven’s own life experiences changed the direction of his
Romantic: of, characterized by, or suggestive of an idealised, sentimental, or fantastic view of reality… concerned more with feeling and emotion than with form and aesthetic qualities.
Beethoven’s piano sonata ‘quasi una fantasia’ gives listeners an emotional journey through his complicated life. When I first listened to this song I felt a wave of sadness as I can sense this piece was related to a tragic event. After researching more, I was able to understand Beethoven and sympathize with him in another level, how as individuals we can never control and protect what we care about in our lives, and eventually we realize that it is not possible to achieve a happily ever
Roughly from 1815 to 1910, this period of time is called the romantic period. At this period, all arts are transforming from classic arts by having greater emphasis on the qualities of remoteness and strangeness in essence. The influence of romanticism in music particularly, has shown that romantic composers value the freedom of expression, movement, passion, and endless pursuit of the unattainable fantasy and imagination. The composers of the romantic period are in search of new subject matters, more emotional and are more expressive of their feelings as they are not bounded by structural rules in classical music where order, equilibrium, control and perfection are deemed important (Dorak, 2000).
Music Appreciation has broadened my view to listen to different eras of music that I was not accustomed to. It was pleasant listening, reading, and learning about different periods of music. This course has given me an exceptional amount of knowledge on different styles of music, identifying different elements in music as well as learning about legendary composers who have influenced music throughout history. Not only has music been around for decades, it has developed a history of great composers who have left an imprint in history by their extraordinary compositions of music they developed during their times of glory, like Ludwig van Beethoven. In this essay I will discuss how Beethoven is known as one of the greatest, ingenuity composers of his time and how the classical period is so fascinating to listen to and learn about. In addition, I will also discuss how Music Appreciation has reshaped the way I perceive and listen to different styles of music that have been created throughout history.