John Chuckman
COMMENT POSTED TO AN ARTICLE IN CBC NEWS
“Beethoven's iconic scowl influences how we hear his work: musicologist”
I am not sure I agree with the thesis, and I certainly would not call Beethoven’s expression "a scowl."
Much of his music is simply epic, heroic, and defiant - without the listener having any sense of what he looked like.
The genuine darkness in Beethoven's life, of course, comes through in the portraits. Romantic, political, health, other personal disappointments, and, as is the case for a great many creative people, Beethoven suffered some form of depression. He died, having achieved musical immortality, at only age 56.
Remarkably, the darkness does not come through at all in his music, only his heroic response to it.
Imagine the tragedy of one of the most gifted composers and pianists, ever, realizing he was going deaf, and at a fairly young age?
And imagine, too, the grim determination that saw him continue his work, creating many masterpieces and new musical forms, culminating in the Ninth Symphony, our supremely heroic piece of music, a great hymn to the human spirit, composed while he was totally deaf?
He was an idealistic man in many ways who met with great disappointments, as in the story of the Third Symphony's dedication to a young revolutionary Napoleon he admired and Beethoven's later angry reaction to Napoleon's authoritarianism.
I love his music.
Mozart's lyricism and bittersweetness – qualities Beethoven also can display, but less often – are my most frequent and beloved work companions. Beethoven demands attention.
