Ludwig van Beethoven

1
Ludwig van Beethoven

• Periods of His Life
• and Contextual Politics
• (Various sources, but especially
• Beethoven in German Politics,
• 1870-1989
• by David B. Dennis)

2
Period 1 1770-1792

• Beethoven was born in 1770.
• He lived in Bonn until 1792.
• He lived in an area ruled by Maximilian Franz
  from 1784 to 1801, a nice despot.
• Maximilian was generally progressive, modernizing
  the educational and financial systems of the day.

3
Period 1 1770-1792 (cont.)

• The early influence of a benign absolute ruler
  influenced Beethoven throughout his life.
• During this period, Beethoven was also exposed to
  the ideas of the philosophers of his day, such as
  Kant, Rousseau, and Voltaire.

4
Period 1 1770-1792 (cont.)

• Beethovens musical mentors and acquaintances
  were deeply involved in political thinking.
• They were members of the Order of the Illuminati,
  and anticlerical group.
• Beethoven knew of Eulogious Schneider, a
  democratic thinker, eventually guillotined in
  France.

5
Period 1 1770-1792 (cont.)

• The French Revolution extended from 1789-1799.
• In a coup detat, Napoleon Bonaparte seized power
  and established a new government, with himself as
  the first consul, a virtual dictator.
• Napoleon made himself Emperor in 1804.

6
Period 2 1792-1804

• Beethoven shows little evidence of being deeply
  interested in the French Revolution until he
  moves to Vienna in 1792.
• In Vienna, he developed many friendships among an
  influential group of liberal thinkers.

7
Period 2 1792-1804 (cont.)

• Beethoven indicated his desire to put music to
  Schillers poem, Ode to Freedom.
• Beethovens Symphony No. 3 (Eroica) was
  initially dedicated to Napoleon Bonaparte. It
  was composed in 1803. Beethoven was attracted to
  the early Napoleonic republican principles.
• Beethoven later changed the dedication of Eroica
  to Prince Franz Joseph von Lobkowitz after
  Napoleon crowned himself Emperor.

8
Period 2 1792-1804 (cont.)

• Beethoven also wrote the opera Fidelio during
  this period. In Fidelio, a nobleman is unjustly
  imprisoned by a political opponent.
• The opera ends with the King seeking to end
  tyranny and promote justice.
• Prisoners are released.

9
Period 2 1792-1804 (cont.)

• Beethoven also wrote songs during that period
  this suggested support for notably non-Republican
  Germanic politics.
• Some of these songs were battle songs used to
  support fights with Napoleon.

10
Period 3 1804-1815

• In this period, Beethoven distanced himself from
  the French ideas he entertained in his youth.
• Napoleon fought to capture Vienna when Beethoven
  was finishing his opera, Leonore.
• The noise of the shelling further hurt his ears.

11
Period 3 1804-1815 (cont.)

• By the time of Waterloo, Beethoven was deeply
  defending the old regime in repudiation of
  everything political that was French.
• In 1813 (two years before Waterloo), he wrote
  Wellingtons Victory (the so-called Battle
  Symphony) in support of the victory over the
  French in the Battle of Victoria.

12
Period 3 1804-1815 (cont.)

• With the defeat of Napoleon in 1815 at Waterloo,
  Beethoven wrote a number of patriotic pieces to
  celebrate the restoration of the prior
  establishment. This was his most conservative
  phase.

13
Period 3 1804-1815 (cont.)

• WoO (Work without Opus number) 94 Germania,
• Opus 136 The Glorious Moment
• WoO 95 Chorus to the United Princes
• WoO 97 It is Achieved
• These are examples of songs celebrating the end
  of the Napoleonic era.

14
Period 4 1816-1827

• Post-Napoleon politics in Europe were repressive.
• Beethoven returned to his earlier more
  progressive political views.
• The Ninth Symphony came out of this period
  (written between 1822 and 1824).

15
Period 4 1816-1827 (cont.)

• Here Beethoven finally puts music to Schillers
  hymn in the famous choral to the Ninth Symphony.
• The Ninth Symphony was first performed in 1824
  in Vienna at the Kaertnerthortheater to an
  audience so struck by it they gave it five
  ovations and forced the police commissioner to
  order quiet.

16
Period 4 1816-1827 (cont.)

• Beethovens Ninth Symphony was considered
  potentially revolutionary in a political sense in
  its day.
• This is an example of music having a
  representational political force.