BEETHOVEN

Evening Post, Volume CX, Issue 144, 16 December 1930, Page 17

BEETHOVEN

AItTIST A3S 1!) MAN

16OTH ANNIVERSARY

(By L. P. Austin.) Ludwig van Beethoven was bom at Bonn 160 years ago to-day. His parents were exceedingly poor; it is probable that his father's salary as a member of the Court Band never exceeded £30 per annum, and not much of this mcagro stipend was available to the family after Beethoven, senior, had gratified his propensity for intoxicants: lie was an unmitigated 'drunkard, who treated his .wife and children with harshness, even brutality. Young Ludwig spout a good deal of his time keeping his erring sire under observation and out of the clutches of the police. A SAD CHILDHOOD. It will bo gathered, therefore, that the composer's, early years were clouded by considerable uh'happincss, and matters were not improved when his mother, a gen.tlearid long-suffering creature, passed away, leaving Ludwig, at seventeen, the responsible head of the family. But long before this time the boy had shown signs of musical precocity. It is oh record that the father, who, with all his vicious traits, was not altogether a fool, discerned unusual talent in the youngster when ho was only five, and used to lock' him in a room to practise, the piano, which the poor child, did to . the ;bcst of his untrained ability. Under a good tutor at r this tender age young Beethoven would in air probability have developed into a wonderful executant: the Intel- ] lectual power was there, but the opportunity for developing manual dexterity along regular lines was denied him. ". Even as'dt happened, Ludwig was a deputy-organist at a local-church be-J fore he reached twelve years of age, and by various other means he managed j to augment the precarious resources of the family: but much of his work was J underpaid, and his. average earnings j never exceeded 10s a week. MISERY'S AFTEK-EFFECTS. It has long been a common delusion that poverty and w-retchedness help to develop the character of genius: the implication being that poor Beethoven was made to suffer" for the good of musical humanity, and that ho would not have written such noble music had his material circumstances been happier. I cannot subscribe to this belief. With the example of Brahms before our eyes, a composer at least the equal of j Beethoven —some nudges have gone as far as to assert that he began where Beethoven left off—it is surely feasible to suppose just the converse. My view is that if Schubert and Beethoven had" been born in an affluent environment, they would have composed, perhaps not more inspired work than their admitted masterpieces, but certainly music of a generally higher level: for there is no denying the fact that both of them wrote a lot of comparative rubbish. As far as Beethoven is concerned, I attribute this directly to his deplorable surroundings and manner of life, also very largely to the deafness which hampered his later years. In fact, this terrible disability was no doubt responsible for the lack of cohesion and spontaneity which are noticeable in the productions of the final decade. EUINED BY DEAFNESS. There has always been, and probably always will be,-a conflict of opinion as to the effects upon his compositions of Beethoven's disastrous malady. Let us quote the theories expressed by three eminent authorities. Diiimreuthcr said: "This fiery trial (i.e., the failure of hearing) did not injure his power of production, in the least degree, as is evident from the list of great works of the "third period," from Op. 101 onward. In. these divine compositions Beethoven passed beyond the horizon of a mere singer and poet: here lie touched upon the domain of the seer and prophet, where, in unison with all genuine mystics and ethical teachers, he delivers a message of love and resignation, deprecation of self, negation of personality, and release from the world." But Sir George Grove, who yielded to no one in. his admiration and reverence for Beethoven, admits that ". . . In his later works he wandered further and further away from the old paths; in these the thought seems everything and the form nothing, and the obscurity of the thoughts themselves, combined with their apparent lack 'of connection,. is probably the reason why the last compositions are so difficult to understand.'' SPOHR'S JUDGMENT. Then we have the opinion of Spohr, who had known and admired Beethoven for many years. In his autobiography the former wrote as follows: "Up to 1815 there was no falling off in Beethoven's creative powers; but from then onwards he could no longer hear music, owing to increasing deafness, and it must have adversely att'eeted the workings of his mind. Consequently, his constant effort to be original and to move in new paths could not, as formerly, be guarded from error by the guidance of his car. Is it to be wondered at, then, that his music should suffer and become gradually moro eccentric and incoherent? I know there are lots of persons :who profess to understand and. to enjoy the later works— indeed, some even- go the length of ranking these higher than the early compositions; but I must candidly confess that I cannot stomach Beethoven's last series: I would even class some of them as absolute failures, regarded as works of art. In this category I place the much-vaunted ."Choral Symphony," which, though showing, here and there, occasional flashes of his former genius, is, on the whole, tasteless, and trivial — so much so that it seems almost impossible so eminent a composer could have written it." . BEETHOVEN'S REAL GREATNESS. "We sec, therefore, that the so-called "final phase" has given rise to much controversy and ■ heart-burning: possibly many musicians share the opinion of Spohr, but their loyalty to the early Beethoven, more especially to the Beethoven of the piano sonatas, induces them to keep such notions secret. I use the phrase '"Beethoven of the piano sonatas" advisedly, because here again crops up another source of speculation and argument—the comparison between the. Orchestral and the pianoforte compositions. WERE THE SYMPHONIES INSPIE.ED? There have not been lackiXig critics who profess to find no real genius in what havo boon perhaps hyperbolically termed the "Immortal Nino" symphonies. I think wo must admit that none of Beethoven's works for the orchestra reveal the charm, dignity, grandeur, and unalloyed beauty to be found in the earlier sonatas, that is to say, up to Op. 81, "L'adieu, )'absence, le retour." Can any competent musician honestly maintain that any of the symphonies compare in trauscendant genius with the "Moonlight," '' Waldstein," or "Appassionata" sonatas—to say nothing of others almost equally beautiful, though seldom heard, such as those in A flat, Op. 20, and D major, Op. 10? These glorious works, represent the pinnacle of Beethoven's achievements, and, together with some almost equally lovely chamber music, they; will remain. jk>r all tiuio ;h Ihu

finest monument to his. memory, for when listening to them wo feel iust.inclively that we are in the presence of something far nobler and higher than the mere development of.musical.themes so insistently—and, it must be confessed, often so wearisomely—characteristic of the symphonies. The piano was the true vehicle of Beethoven's genuis, and upon it he spoko a language no one ever spoke before, and probably never will speak again. PERSONAL TRAITS. It is hard to imagine the composer of the "Moonlight" to have been a morose, surly, irritable individual, with whom practically everybody quarrelled. He never succeeded in building up a comfortable home: he could not manage to surround himself with the ordinary conveniences of life, nor could ho ever command the grateful comfort of regularity. His rooms were always untidy, and he was untidy in person; it is on record that his hair was a complete stranger to comb or brush, and from this we may infer that he was not too particular about cleanliness: in fact, one might reasonably advance the hypothesis of a boyish objection to washing his ears having materially contributed to the subsequent atrophy of j those organs. There is not the least doubt about the composer's natural awkwardness and domestic incompetence, and we cannot escape the conclusion that he was a most'" trying " person to live with. He.was forever at loggerheads with his landladies, who detested the erratic habits that upset their domestic arrangements, and the clumsiness which ruined their furniture. Besides all this, Beethoven possessed a peremptory and dictatorial manner impossible to be borne: nothing pleased or satisfied him, and he in.turn almost frightened everyone by his selfish, exacting, not to say ferocious, demeanour. The natural consequence was that the poor devil scarcely ever had .1 decently-cooked meal —with results to his liver which the post-mortem examination showed to have been appalling. DOMESTIC DIFFICULTIES. It is difficult to. contend that in more congenial environment, •■ Beethoven would not havo produced work of more frequent inspiration. His- diary during 18KJ-20, for instance, reveals a state of affairs hardly conducive' to coherent composition. Here are some excerpts: —"Jan. 31.—Gave housekeeper warning. Feb. 15.—New kitchenmaid arrived. March. B.—New kitchenmaid gave fortnight's■ notice. March 22. — New housekeeper came. July 20.—Gave housekeeper warning. April 17 (nest year).—New kitchenmaid.. May 16.— Gave her notice to quit. May 19. — She - left. May 30. —Woman cook arrived. July I.—-New kitchenmaid. July 28. —She ran away at night. .July 30.—Cook left.. Sept. 0. —New cook arrived, etc., etc." .... Thus it evidently continued to the end of the chapter. All these servants were personally selected by Beethoven; he endured them for a little, while, and they put up with his tantrums as long as they could. . Then, no doubt, they "told him off," and he gave them warning—always excepting the girl who ran : away at night. ■■ ! ■ ' • ! He had a pleasant habit, too, of throwing books at his servants: sometimes other things than books. For instance, when eggs arrived from the grocer, Beethoven inspected them carefully- to ascertain whether they were new-laid eggs, fresh eggs, or merely eggs; if the latter, he promptly flung them, with a curse, at the cook's head. One wonders whether Beethoven's wife, if ho had happened to marry, would j have submitted tamely to such behaviour: the uncertainty of his temper, plus the uncertain age of eggs, opens up v, vista of marital possibilities, whilst the idea of Beethoven as a hen-pecked husband gives one furiously to think. In justice to him, however, it must be said-that his spleen' was not reserved exclusively for menials: he dis- '■ tributed his irritability with impartial .■ liberality, quite indifferent as to whom ] ho gave offence. When playing at tbe| house of Count Browne, on one occa-' sion, somebody persisted in talking; ! Beethoven at last could stand it no! longer, so he rose suddenly from the j piano, exclaiming loudly: "I do not i play for hogs!" A trivial quarrel with j a friend-would- load him to' write ai furious letter:"You false hound! Don't j come near me any more, I dislike the society of dogs!" and more- in the same gentle strain. ■ He had pupils among the nobility and aristocracy, and treated them.all alike; if they played badly, or.otherwise displeased him, he would fly into a furious rage, tear the music into fragments, and stamp upon them. PERSONAL APPEARANCE. In spite of these peculiarities, Beethoven had some likeable qualities. His portraits and v busts do not give a true Tjicturo of him. According to Klober, who painted him in 1818, "his face was "glj'j but very expressive. Every change of feeling showed itself unmistakably in his features, whilst his smile, though rare, was peculiarly genial and winning. Below the middle height, lie was broad and well built, with very determined jaw and mouth. His eyes were brilliant and arresting, his head rather large, and hair abundant. He was very careless of his dress, and often presented a comical appearance .upon the street." ■ Another eccentricity was his absence pf mind: more than, once ho stood at his-open window shaving, clad only in his shirt, and wondering why a crowd collected in front of the house; whilst it is recorded that some friends who had been invited to hear a new composition found him at the piano in the same airy attire; and to their remonstrances ho replied that he had no time for d —d conventionalities. These descriptions are not pleasant, but the facts are incontrovertible. However, Beethoven, with all his defects, was a supreme genius remote from the common universe; ho knew his mighty powers, and was intolerant of petty, mundane concerns. Whatever his personal shortcomings, his soul was great and strong: the evil that he did died with him, but his music will outlive the ages. . .