Beethoven. One against fate

In this issue we will talk about the last years of the life of the great Beethoven.

In the previous issue, we talked about the composer’s life, overshadowed by his meager financial situation and consistent failures in relationships with the fair sex. But these details, as well as the character, which was far from the most beautiful character of the composer, did not prevent Ludwig from writing his beautiful music.

Today we, finishing our short excursion according to the biography of Beethoven, let's talk about the last twelve (1815-1827) years of his life.

Beethoven's family problems

It cannot be said that Beethoven ever got along well with his brothers, especially with Beethoven, who by that time was already a wealthy pharmacist who supplied medicines to the army.

In 1812, after meeting Goethe, the composer went to the city of Linz to visit Johann. True, apparently, Ludwig was prompted for this trip by a selfish idea, namely, to upset the engagement between Johann and one of his employees, Therese Obermayer, whom the composer simply could not stand. True, the result was not in Ludwig’s favor, because his younger brother did not listen to him.

A few years earlier, back in 1806, Ludwig prevented the marriage of his other brother, and also his secretary, Kaspar, and the attempt was equally unsuccessful. But all these attempts by the composer to interfere with personal life their brothers were there for a reason.

After all, the surname BEETHOVEN by that time was thundering throughout Europe, and the composer could not afford for his younger brothers to disgrace this family. After all, both Teresa and Johanna, potential daughters-in-law of the great composer, to put it mildly, were not worthy of bearing this surname. But it was still useless, because the brothers did not listen to him.

On the other hand, Kaspar himself will understand that he has made a stupid mistake - in 1811 he will be so disappointed in his wife that he even tries to divorce her, although he still will not reach a final divorce. His wife, Johanna, turned out to be far from the most decent woman, as his older brother, Ludwig, predicted several years ago, in every possible way preventing their marriage.

Well, in 1815, Kaspar left this world. The late Kaspar Karl, in his dying will, asked Ludwig, his older brother, to become the guardian of his son, a nine-year-old boy also named Karl.

This boy, as he grew up, caused his uncle, the great Beethoven, a huge amount of trouble.Moreover, immediately after the death of his brother, Ludwig had to “fight” with the child’s mother, Kaspar’s widow Johanna, whom he could not stand. For five years, Beethoven tried with all his might to deprive Johanna of parental rights, and in 1820 he finally achieved his goal.

Financial problems still haunted the composer, who struggled to earn money to feed his beloved nephew and continue to engage in creativity.

There was even a case when the British pianist Charles Neate, together with Ferdinand Rees, advised Beethoven to hold a concert in England. Beethoven's music was greatly appreciated in this country. The composer had an excellent reputation in England, which means that his performance at a recital would guarantee him an excellent income.

Beethoven understood this perfectly well, and, in general, he had long dreamed of going on tour to London, as one of his teachers, Joseph Haydn, did in his time. Moreover, the British Philharmonic sent Ludwig an official letter with conditions that were simply amazing for a composer who was swimming in everyday problems, partly related to poor financial condition.

But at the last minute, Beethoven changed his mind, or rather, was forced to refuse to go to England due to illness. Moreover, the composer felt that he could not leave his nephew for such for a long time, so he refused such a generous gift from fate.

We will not dwell on Beethoven’s nephew, because it will be dedicated to him. For now, let’s just note that the guy caused the composer a lot of everyday problems and emotional experiences, which affected Beethoven’s already “undermined” health for the worse.

But still, the composer madly loved his nephew and helped him in every possible way, despite all the bad sides of his character. After all, the composer understood that he would no longer have other heirs. Even in letters, the composer addressed his nephew as “Dear Son.”

The last "Academy" of a deaf composer

Beethoven continues to write his beautiful music, radically different from the works written in his youth. The composer is finishing his last piano sonatas, while simultaneously composing simple piano pieces And chamber music by order of publishers in order to provide income for himself and his nephew to survive.

One of the most important events of this period of Beethoven’s life is his last “Academy” held on May 7, 1824 in the famous Kärtnertor Theater.

There his famous “Solemn Mass” was performed, and also the famous “Ninth Symphony” was presented to the public for the first time - a unique work that breaks all ideas about the traditional classical symphony.

Viennese old-timers testified that at this event there was an ovation previously unheard of at any concert of any other musician. Even now there is no need to invent anything about the success of the Ninth Symphony, because a fragment of this particular work was used in the anthem of the European Union.

Well, that evening, when the completely deaf composer first presented this masterpiece to the Viennese public, the delight of the listeners was indescribable. Hats and scarves flew through the air. The applause was so loud that it simply hurt the ears. But only the completely deaf composer, unfortunately, did not see anything of this (for he stood with his back to the audience) and did not hear until Caroline Unger, one of the vocalists, turned Ludwig towards the applauding audience.

The ovation touched Beethoven so emotionally that the composer, who saw flying scarves and tears in the eyes of the applauding listeners, literally fainted.

At that moment, the hall simply exploded with applause, which subsided with renewed vigor. The emotions were so powerful that after some time the police were forced to intervene. It was a huge success. Well, in less than 2 weeks the performance will be repeated in the Redoubt Hall of the same Vienna.

True, the artistic success of the work still did not bring serious material benefits to Beethoven. Material side again let the composer down - both concerts turned out to be absolutely unprofitable and even unprofitable for Beethoven himself.

Of course, soon one reputable publishing house paid the composer both for the “Ninth Symphony” and for the “Solemn Mass” and several other works, but still the artistic success of the works was significantly higher than the material profit.

Beethoven was such a unique composer: all the dukes, barons, lords, kings and emperors of Europe knew his name. But until the end of his days he remained poor.

Progressive disease. Last months of life.

In 1826, Beethoven's health deteriorated further after twenty-year-old Karl, his favorite nephew, attempted suicide, possibly due to large gambling debts (however this is not confirmed).

After this reckless act of his nephew, Beethoven's health deteriorated so much that he would never recover, unlike Karl, who survived this moment and soon enlisted in the army.

Pneumonia, inflammation of the intestines, cirrhosis of the liver and subsequent dropsy, due to which the composer’s stomach was pierced several times - even in our age, the chances of recovery from such a set of diseases seem to be something supernatural.

In the last days of the sick Beethoven’s life, a variety of people visited: Cramolini and his bride, Hummel, Jenger, Schubert (although it is believed that he was unable to enter the composer’s room. And, in general, the fact of Schubert’s visit to Beethoven has not been proven) and other people who appreciated the composer’s work.

But most of the time with Beethoven was spent by the friends who looked after him - Schindler and another old friend - the same Stefan Breuning from Bonn, but now living nearby with his family.

Speaking about the Breuning family, it is worth noting that Stefan’s son, Gerhard, nicknamed “Ariel,” brought Beethoven especially much joy in these days darkened by illness. Beethoven simply adored this boy, who understood nothing and was constantly “shining,” and this love was mutual.

Even the stingy brother Johann began to spend a lot of time with the dying composer. And this, despite the fact that literally a few months before his death, Ludwig and his nephew (after his suicide attempt) came to Johann with some requests, and the latter treated his brother like a stranger - he took money from him and his nephew for an overnight stay , and also sent them home in an open carriage (after which Ludwig is believed to have contracted pneumonia).

The composer's material poverty in the last weeks of his stay was diluted by a good amount received from the London Philharmonic Society, and collected thanks to Moscheles, one of Beethoven's students.

Another joy for Ludwig was another truly valuable and for that time extremely rare gift sent from the English capital by Johann Stumpf (a harp maker) - it was the complete works of Handel, whom Beethoven considered almost the greatest composer.

Modest, but at the same time very pleasant gifts for the composer in the form of jars of compote, were sent by Baron Pascalati, in whose house Beethoven lived for some time. The publisher Schot also distinguished himself by sending the dying Beethoven famous Rhine wines. Only Beethoven himself noted with regret that this gift was a little late, although in his heart he was glad about this parcel.

And, of course, two weeks before his death, Ludwig was finally awarded the title of honorary member of the Vienna Society of Music Lovers of the Austrian Empire. Only this title remained only symbolic, since it was not supported by any material benefit.

It is also worth noting that until his death, Ludwig, despite his incurable illness, thought more than adequately. Even suspecting that he could die at any moment, Beethoven still continued to read the most complex philosophical and other literature on different languages, thereby continuing to enrich themselves intellectually.

Already on March 24, 1827, the composer signed a will, according to the contents of which, all his property would be inherited by his nephew, Karl. On the same day, Beethoven is visited by a priest.

The death of the great Beethoven occurred after three days of hellish torment - March 26, 1827. This happened in Vienna, in the very house where Beethoven lived recent months life. This house had an interesting name “Schwarzpanierhaus”, which translates as “House of the Black Spaniard”.

At the time of his death, the composer's friends, Breuning and Schindler, were not around. At that moment, foreseeing Ludwig’s imminent death, they went to negotiate a burial place (possibly with Ludwig’s brother, Johann), leaving a common friend, Anselm Hutenbrenner, next to the composer.

It was the latter, perhaps together with Therese (the wife of Johann, Ludwig's brother), who witnessed the death of the great Beethoven. He will then tell you how great Ludwig van Beethoven met his death by looking menacingly into her eyes and shaking his fist (literally) to the sound of thunder. It was Hutenbrenner who closed the eyes of the great composer, whose soul from that moment left this world.

Ludwig van Beethoven was buried on March 29. The scale of the ceremony is amazing: about 20 thousand people took part in the procession - this is almost a tenth of the entire population of Vienna at that time.And this is surprising, given the fact that compared to the funeral of Beethoven, the scale of the funeral of the older classics, Mozart and Haydn, was much less significant.

One of the torchbearers of the funeral ceremony was another great composer, Franz Schubert, who, by the way, will die literally next year.

A variety of people, from ordinary Viennese citizens to representatives of the imperial palace, came to send the great Beethoven on his last journey.

Encyclopedic YouTube

1 / 5

✪ Biography about the life of Ludwig van Beethoven

✪ Beethoven - Für Elise - Piano & Orchestra

✪ Ludwig van Beethoven: Late sonatas by Alexandre Tharaud

✪ Beethoven. Sonata No. 8 (“Pathetique”) in C minor. Alexander Lubyantsev

✪ Daniil Trifonov - Beethoven - Piano Sonata No 32 in C minor, Op 111

Subtitles

Biography

Origin

Ludwig van Beethoven was born in 1770 in Bonn on December 16, baptized on December 17, 1770 in Bonn.

His father, Johann Beethoven (1740-1792), was a singer and tenor in the court chapel. Mother, Mary Magdalene, was the daughter of a court chef in Koblenz before her marriage to Keverich (1748-1787). They married in 1767. Grandfather, Ludwig Beethoven (1712-1773), was from Mechelen (Southern Netherlands). He served in the same chapel as Johann, first as singer, bass, and then as conductor.

early years

The composer's father wanted to make a second Mozart out of his son and began teaching him to play the harpsichord and violin. The first performance took place in Cologne in 1778. However, Beethoven did not become a miracle child; his father entrusted the boy to his colleagues and friends. One taught Ludwig how to play the organ, the other taught him the violin.

In 1780, organist and composer Christian Gottlob Nefe arrived in Bonn. He became Beethoven's real teacher. Nefe immediately realized that the boy had talent. He introduced Ludwig to Bach's Well-Tempered Clavier and the works of Handel, as well as the music of his older contemporaries: F. E. Bach, Haydn and Mozart. Thanks to Nefa, Beethoven's first work was published - variations on the theme of Dressler's march. Beethoven was twelve years old at that time, and he was already working as an assistant to the court organist.

After my grandfather's death financial situation family has worsened. Ludwig had to leave school early, but he learned Latin, studied Italian and French, and read a lot. Having already become an adult, the composer admitted in one of his letters:

“There is no work that would be too learned for me; Without pretending in the slightest degree to be learned in the proper sense of the word, I have nevertheless, since childhood, striven to understand the essence of the best and wisest people of each era.”

Among Beethoven's favorite writers are the ancient Greek authors Homer and Plutarch, the English playwright Shakespeare, and the German poets Goethe and Schiller.

At this time, Beethoven began to compose music, but was in no hurry to publish his works. Much of what he wrote in Bonn was subsequently revised by him. Three children's sonatas and several songs are known from the composer's youthful works, including “The Marmot”.

Haydn soon left for England and handed over his student to the famous teacher and theorist Albrechtsberger. In the end, Beethoven chose his own mentor - Antonio Salieri.

Already in the first years of his life in Vienna, Beethoven gained fame as a virtuoso pianist. His performance amazed the audience.

Beethoven boldly contrasted the extreme registers (and at that time they played mostly in the middle), made extensive use of the pedal (it was also rarely used then), and used massive chord harmonies. In fact, it was he who created piano style, far from the exquisitely lacy manner of harpsichordists.

This style can be found in his piano sonatas No. 8 "Pathetique" (title given by the composer himself), No. 13 and No. 14. Both have the author's subtitle Sonata quasi una Fantasia(“in the spirit of fantasy”). The poet L. Relshtab subsequently called Sonata No. 14 “Moonlight,” and although this name fits only the first movement and not the finale, it stuck with the entire work.

Beethoven also stood out for his appearance among the ladies and gentlemen of that time. Almost always he was found carelessly dressed and unkempt.

Beethoven was extremely harsh. One day, while he was playing in a public place, one of the guests began to talk to the lady; Beethoven immediately interrupted the performance and added: “ I won't play with such pigs!" And no amount of apology or persuasion helped.

Another time, Beethoven was visiting Prince Likhnovsky. Likhnovsky had great respect for the composer and was a fan of his music. He wanted Beethoven to play in front of the crowd. The composer refused. Likhnovsky began to insist and even ordered to break down the door of the room where Beethoven had locked himself. The outraged composer left the estate and returned to Vienna. The next morning Beethoven sent a letter to Likhnowsky: “Prince! I owe what I am to myself. There are and will be thousands of princes, but there is only one Beethoven!”

However, despite such a stern character, Beethoven's friends considered him a rather kind person. For example, the composer never refused help from close friends. One of his quotes:

Beethoven's works began to be widely published and enjoyed success. During the first ten years spent in Vienna, twenty piano sonatas and three piano concertos, eight violin sonatas, quartets and other chamber works, the oratorio “Christ on the Mount of Olives”, the ballet “The Works of Prometheus”, the First and Second Symphonies were written.

In 1796, Beethoven begins to lose his hearing. He develops tinnitus - inflammation of the inner ear, leading to ringing in the ears. On the advice of doctors, he retires for a long time to small town Heiligenstadt. However, peace and quiet do not improve his well-being. Beethoven begins to understand that deafness is incurable. During these tragic days, he writes a letter that will later be called the Heiligenstadt will. The composer talks about his experiences, admits that he was close to suicide:

In Heiligenstadt, the composer begins work on a new Third Symphony, which he will call Heroic.

As a result of Beethoven's deafness, unique historical documents have been preserved: "conversation notebooks", where Beethoven's friends wrote down their remarks for him, to which he responded either orally or in a response note.

However, the musician Schindler, who had two notebooks with recordings of Beethoven's conversations, apparently burned them, since “they contained the most rude, bitter attacks against the emperor, as well as the crown prince and other high-ranking officials. This, unfortunately, was Beethoven's favorite theme; in conversation, Beethoven was constantly indignant at the powers that be, their laws and regulations.”

Later years (1802-1815)

When Beethoven was 34 years old, Napoleon disdained the ideals of the French Revolution and declared himself emperor. Therefore, Beethoven abandoned his intention to dedicate his Third Symphony to him: “This Napoleon is also an ordinary person. Now he will trample underfoot all human rights and become a tyrant.” On the title page of the manuscript “Pathetique” you can see the dedication crossed out by the author. At the same time, Beethoven called his Third Symphony “Eroic”.

In piano work own style The composer was already noticeable in his early sonatas, but in symphonic music maturity came to him later. According to Tchaikovsky, only in the third symphony “all the immense, amazing power of Beethoven’s creative genius was revealed for the first time.”

Due to deafness, Beethoven rarely leaves the house and is deprived of sound perception. He becomes gloomy and withdrawn. It was during these years that the composer created his most famous works one after another. During these same years, Beethoven worked on his only opera, Fidelio. This opera belongs to the genre of “horror and salvation” operas. Success for Fidelio came only in 1814, when the opera was staged first in Vienna, then in Prague, where it was conducted by the famous German composer Weber, and finally in Berlin.

Shortly before his death, the composer handed over the manuscript of “Fidelio” to his friend and secretary Schindler with the words: “This child of my spirit was born in greater torment than others, and caused me the greatest grief. That’s why it’s dearer to me than anyone else..."

Last years (1815-1827)

After 1812, the composer's creative activity declined for a while. However, after three years he begins to work with the same energy. At this time, piano sonatas from the 28th to the last, 32nd, two cello sonatas, quartets, and the vocal cycle “To a Distant Beloved” were created. A lot of time is spent on processing folk songs. Along with Scottish, Irish, Welsh, there are also Russians. But the main creations of recent years have been Beethoven's two most monumental works - “Solemn Mass” and Symphony No. 9 with choir.

The Ninth Symphony was performed in 1824. The audience gave the composer a standing ovation. It is known that Beethoven stood with his back to the audience and did not hear anything, then one of the singers took his hand and turned him to face the audience. People waved scarves, hats, and hands, greeting the composer. The ovation lasted so long that the police officials present demanded that it stop. Such greetings were allowed only in relation to the person of the emperor.

In Austria, after the defeat of Napoleon, a police regime was established. The government, frightened by the revolution, suppressed any “free thoughts.” Numerous secret agents penetrated all levels of society. In Beethoven's conversation books there are warnings every now and then: "Quiet! Be careful, there's a spy here! And, probably, after some particularly bold statement from the composer: “You will end up on the scaffold!”

However, Beethoven's popularity was so great that the government did not dare to touch him. Despite his deafness, the composer continues to keep abreast of not only political but also musical news. He reads (that is, listens with his inner ear) the scores of Rossini’s operas, looks through a collection of Schubert’s songs, and gets acquainted with the operas of the German composer Weber “The Magic Shooter” and “Euryanthe”. Arriving in Vienna, Weber visited Beethoven. They had breakfast together, and Beethoven, usually not given to ceremony, looked after his guest.

After the death of his younger brother, the composer took care of his son. Beethoven places his nephew in the best boarding schools and entrusts his student Karl Czerny to study music with him. The composer wanted the boy to become a scientist or artist, but he was attracted not by art, but by cards and billiards. Enmeshed in debt, he attempted suicide. This attempt did not cause much harm: the bullet only slightly scratched the skin on the head. Beethoven was very worried about this. His health deteriorated sharply. The composer develops a serious liver disease.

Ludwig van Beethoven died on March 26, 1827, at the age of 57. Over twenty thousand people followed his coffin. During the funeral, Beethoven's favorite funeral mass, Luigi Cherubini's Requiem in C minor, was performed. A speech was made at the grave, written by the poet Franz Grillparzer:

Causes of death

Ertman was famous for her performances of Beethoven's works. The composer dedicated Sonata No. 28 to her. Having learned that Dorothea’s child had died, Beethoven played for her for a long time.

At the end of 1801, Ferdinand Ries arrived in Vienna. Ferdinand was the son of the Bonn Kapellmeister, a friend of the Beethoven family. The composer accepted the young man. Like Beethoven's other students, Ries already mastered the instrument and also composed. One day Beethoven played him the Adagio he had just completed. The young man liked the music so much that he memorized it by heart. Going to Prince Likhnovsky, Rhys played a play. The prince learned the beginning and, coming to the composer, said that he wanted to play him his composition. Beethoven, who showed little ceremony with princes, categorically refused to listen. But Likhnovsky still started playing. Beethoven immediately realized what Ries had done and became terribly angry. He forbade the student to listen to his new compositions and indeed never played anything for him again. One day Rees played his own march, passing it off as Beethoven's. The listeners were delighted. The composer who appeared right there did not expose the student. He just told him:

One day Rhys had a chance to hear Beethoven's new creation. One day they got lost while walking and returned home in the evening. Along the way, Beethoven roared a stormy melody. Arriving home, he immediately sat down at the instrument and, carried away, completely forgot about the presence of the student. Thus was born the finale "Appassionata".

At the same time as Rees, Karl Czerny began studying with Beethoven. Karl was probably only child among Beethoven's students. He was only nine years old, but he was already performing in concerts. His first teacher was his father, the famous Czech teacher Wenzel Czerny. When Karl first got into Beethoven’s apartment, where, as always, there was chaos, and saw a man with a dark, unshaven face, wearing a vest made of coarse woolen fabric, he mistook him for Robinson Crusoe.

Czerny studied with Beethoven for five years, after which the composer gave him a document in which he noted “the exceptional success of the student and his amazing musical memory.” Cherny's memory was truly amazing: he knew by heart all of his teacher's piano works.

Czerny began his teaching career early and soon became one of the best teachers in Vienna. Among his students was Theodor Leschetizky, who can be called one of the founders of the Russian piano school. From 1858, Leshetitsky lived in St. Petersburg, and from 1862 to 1878 he taught at the newly opened conservatory. Here he studied with A. N. Esipova, later a professor of the same conservatory, V. I. Safonov, professor and director of the Moscow Conservatory, S. M. Maykapar.

In 1822, a father and a boy came to Czerny, who had come from the Hungarian town of Doboryan. The boy had no idea about the correct position or fingering, but the experienced teacher immediately realized that this was an extraordinary, gifted, perhaps a genius child. The boy's name was Franz Liszt. Liszt studied with Czerny for a year and a half. His success was so great that his teacher allowed him to speak in public. Beethoven was present at the concert. He guessed the boy's talent and kissed him. Liszt kept the memory of this kiss all his life.

It was not Rhys, not Czerny, but Liszt who inherited Beethoven's style of playing. Like Beethoven, Liszt interprets the piano as an orchestra. While touring Europe, he promoted Beethoven's work, performing not only his piano works, but also symphonies that he adapted for the piano. At that time, Beethoven's music, especially symphonic music, was still unknown to a wide audience. In 1839 Liszt arrived in Bonn. They had been planning to erect a monument to the composer here for several years, but progress was slow.

Liszt made up the shortfall with proceeds from his concerts. It was only thanks to these efforts that the monument to the composer was erected.

Students

• Rudolf Johann Joseph Rainer von Habsburg-Lorraine

Image in culture

In literature

Beethoven became the prototype for the main character - composer Jean Christophe - in the novel of the same name, one of the most famous works French author Romain Rolland. The novel was one of the works for which Rolland was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1915.

The story of the Czech writer Antonin Zgorz “Alone against Fate” is dedicated to the life and creative path of Beethoven. The book includes letters from Beethoven, written by him in different years life.

In cinema

• In film " Heroic Symphony» Beethoven was played by Jan Hart.
• In the Soviet-German film “Beethoven. Days in the Life of Beethoven played by Donatas Banionis.
• Rewriting Beethoven chronicles the last year of the composer's life (starring Ed Harris).
• Two-part Feature Film“The Life of Beethoven” (USSR, 1978, director B. Galanter) is based on the surviving memories of the composer from his close friends.
• Film "Lecture 21" (English) Russian(Italy, 2008), the film debut of the Italian writer and musicologist Alessandro Baricco, is dedicated to the Ninth Symphony.
• In the film by Bernard Rose (English) Russian"Immortal Beloved" the role of Beethoven was played by Gary Oldman.

In non-academic music

• American musician Chuck Berry wrote the song Roll Over Beethoven in 1956, which was included in the list of 500 greatest songs of all time according to Rolling Stone magazine.
• Split personality "of the group "Spleen".
• In 2000, the neoclassical metal band Trans-Siberian Orchestra released the rock opera Beethoven’s Last Night, dedicated to the composer’s last night.
• The song “Beethoven” from the album “Stranger” by the group “Picnic” is dedicated to the composer.

Works

Musical fragments

	Symphony No. 5 in C minor, movement 1 - Allegro con brio
Playback help

	Beethoven Ludwig Van - Sonata 8 for Phantom Pathétique in C minor, Op.
Playback help

13 - 2. Adagio cantabile

Memory Many monuments have been erected in Beethoven's honor around the world. The first monument to Beethoven was unveiled in the composer's homeland, Bonn, on August 12, 1845, on the occasion of the 75th anniversary of his birth. In 1880, a monument appeared in Vienna, a city closely associated with the musician’s work. Author of the book “Images of Beethoven” art critic Silke Bettermann ( Silke Bettermann

Biography) notes that he was able to count about a hundred monuments in 54 cities on all five continents. and episodes of life Ludwig van Beethoven. When born and died Ludwig van Beethoven, memorable places and dates of important events in his life. Composer quotes,

Photo and video.

Years of life of Ludwig van Beethoven:

born December 16, 1770, died March 26, 1827

Epitaph
"On the very day when your harmonies
Overcame the difficult world of work,
The light overpowered the light, a cloud passed through the cloud,
Thunder moved on thunder, a star entered the star.
And furiously overwhelmed by inspiration,
In the orchestras of thunderstorms and the thrill of thunder,
You climbed the cloudy steps
And touched the music of the worlds.”

From a poem by Nikolai Zabolotsky dedicated to Beethoven

Biography His own father did not see talent in him, and Haydn considered him too gloomy a composer, but when Beethoven died, twenty thousand people followed his coffin. Last years

During his lifetime, the composer was completely deaf, but this did not stop him from creating his most brilliant works at this time. Perhaps Beethoven really was not mistaken when he said that he created with God's help. Ludwig van Beethoven was born into a musical family. From childhood, the father worked with the boy and taught him to play various musical instruments . But the first performance little Beethoven

passed without much success, and the father decided that he had no talent and entrusted his son to other teachers. Beethoven, contrary to his father’s disappointing forecasts, already at the age of 12 received the position of assistant organist at court. And when his mother died, he took on the responsibilities of the breadwinner and supported his younger brothers by working in the orchestra. Beethoven's first fame was not brought to him, but a virtuoso performance. Soon the works of Beethoven himself began to be published. The period of Beethoven's life, which he lived in Vienna, was especially successful for the composer. Despite the fact that the composer had a rather harsh disposition, high self-esteem, and refused to bow down to officials and influential people, it was impossible not to recognize Beethoven’s genius. And yet the composer always had many friends - tough and proud in public, he was very generous and friendly towards his loved ones, ready to give them his last money or help them solve problems.

But Beethoven's main passion remained music. Perhaps that is why he never married, he was so passionate about himself and his ability to create. Only illness could prevent him from composing, and therefore the fact that genius composer I started losing my hearing at such a young age. But even this did not stop him, and his music became even more perfect and monumental.

In the last years of his life, Beethoven worked with particular zeal, creating one great work after another. But illness and worries about his nephew, whom Beethoven took into custody, significantly shortened his life. Beethoven's death occurred on March 26, 1827. Beethoven's funeral was held with great honors. Beethoven's grave is located in the Vienna Central Cemetery.

Life line

December 16, 1770 Date of birth of Ludwig van Beethoven.
1778 Beethoven's first public performance in Cologne.
1780 Start of lessons with organist and composer Christian Gottlob Nefe.
1782 Admission to the position of assistant court organist, publication of the young composer's first work - variations on a theme of Dressler's march.
1787 Applying for the position of violist in an orchestra.
1789 Attending lectures at the university.
1792-1802 The Viennese period in Beethoven's life - studies with Haydn, Salieri, Beethoven's fame as a virtuoso performer, publication of Beethoven's works.
1796 Beginning of hearing loss.
1801 Beethoven's writing of the Moonlight Sonata.
1803 Beethoven's writing of the Kreutzer Sonata.
1814 Production of Beethoven's only opera, Fidelio.
1824 Performance of Beethoven's Symphony No. 9.
March 26, 1827 Beethoven's date of death.
March 29, 1827 Beethoven's funeral.

Memorable places

1. Beethoven's house in Bonn, where he was born.
2. Beethoven's house-museum in Baden, where he lived and worked.
3. Theater an der Wien (“Theater on the Vienna River”), which hosted the premieres of such Beethoven works as the opera Fidelio, the Second, Third, Fifth and Sixth Symphonies, violin and Fourth piano concertos.
4. A memorial plaque to Beethoven on the house “At the Golden Unicorn” in Prague, where the composer stayed.
5. Monument to Beethoven in Bucharest.
6. Monument to Beethoven, Haydn and Mozart in Berlin.
7. Vienna Central Cemetery, where Beethoven is buried.

Episodes of life

Like Bach, Beethoven was sure that there was a divine element in his music. But if Bach believed that his talent was the merit of God, then Beethoven claimed that he communicated with God while writing music. He was known to have a slightly arrogant personality. One day a musician complained about a difficult and awkward passage in Beethoven's work, to which the composer indignantly replied: “When I wrote this, God Almighty guided me, do you really think that I could think about your little part when He spoke to me?”

Beethoven had many oddities. For example, before he began composing music, Beethoven lowered his head into a container of ice water, and at moments when difficulties arose in his work, he began to pour water on his hands. Very often he walked around the house in wet clothes, without even noticing it and lost in his thoughts. Beethoven's neighbors often complained about water pouring from the ceiling.

Once Beethoven was walking with the German poet Hermann Goethe, and he was indignant that he was tired of the endless greetings of passers-by. To which Beethoven condescendingly replied: “Don’t let that bother you, Your Excellency. Perhaps the greetings are meant for me.”

Covenant

“People create their own destiny!”

Biography of Ludwig van Beethoven in the Encyclopedia Project

Condolences

"Haydn and Mozart, creators of the new instrumental music, were the first to show us art in its unprecedented splendor, but only Beethoven peered at it with great love and penetrated into its essence.”
Ernst Theodor Amadeus Hoffmann, writer, composer, artist

“The real reason for the success of Beethoven’s music is that people study it not in concert halls, but at home, at the piano...”
Richard Wagner, composer

“Before the name of Beethoven, we must all bow down.”
Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi, composer

The message about Beethoven, briefly outlined in this article, will tell you about the great German composer, conductor and pianist, representative of Viennese classicism.

Report on Beethoven

Beethoven was born on December 16, 1770 (this is a speculative date, since it is only known for certain that he was baptized on December 17) into a musical family in the town of Bonn. From an early age, his parents instilled in their son a love of music, sending him to learn to play the harpsichord, flute, organ, and violin.

At the age of 12, he already worked as an assistant organist at court. The young man knew several foreign languages ​​and even tried to write music. In addition to music, Beethoven was fond of reading books, he especially liked the ancient Greek authors Plutarch and Homer, as well as Friedrich Schiller, Shakespeare and Goethe.

After Beethoven's mother died in 1787, he began to provide for his family on his own. Ludwig got a job playing in an orchestra and also attended university lectures. Having met Haydn, he began taking private lessons from him. For this purpose, the future musician moves to Vienna. One day the great composer Mozart heard his improvisations and predicted for him brilliant career and glory. Haydn, having given Ludwig several lessons, sends him to study with another mentor - Albrechtsberger. After some time, his teacher changed again: this time it was Antonio Salieri.

The beginning of a musical career

Ludwig Beethoven's first mentor noted that his music was too strange and dark. That is why he sent his student to another mentor. But this style of musical works brought Beethoven his first fame as a composer. Compared to other performers classical music they differed favorably. While in Vienna, the composer wrote his famous works - “Pathétique Sonata” and “ Moonlight Sonata" Then there were other brilliant works: “First Symphony”, “Second Symphony”, “Christ on the Mount of Olives”, “The Creation of Prometheus”.

Ludwig Beethoven's further work and life were overshadowed by sad events. The composer developed a disease of the ear, as a result of which he lost his hearing. The composer decides to retire to Heiligenstadt, where he works on the Third Symphony. Absolute deafness separated him from the outside world. But he did not stop composing music. Beethoven's opera Fidelio gained success in Berlin, Vienna and Prague.

The period 1802-1812 was particularly fruitful: the composer created a series of works for cello and piano, the Ninth Symphony and the Solemn Mass. Fame, popularity and recognition came to him.

• He was the third person in the family to bear the name Ludwig van Beethoven. The first bearer was the composer's grandfather, a famous Bonn musician, and the second was his 6-year older brother.
• Beethoven left school at age 11 without having learned division and multiplication.
• He loved coffee very much, brewing 64 beans each time, no more and no less.
• His character was not simple: grumpy and friendly, gloomy and good-natured. Some remember him as a person with an excellent sense of humor, others as an unpleasant person to talk to.
• He created the famous “Ninth Symphony” when he had completely lost his hearing.

We hope that the report on Beethoven helped you prepare for the lesson. You can leave your message about Beethoven using the comment form below.

My willingness to serve poor suffering humanity with my art has never, since childhood... needed any reward other than inner satisfaction...
L. Beethoven

Musical Europe was still full of rumors about the brilliant miracle child - W. A. ​​Mozart, when in Bonn, in the family of a tenorist court chapel, Ludwig van Beethoven was born. He was baptized on December 17, 1770, naming him in honor of his grandfather, a venerable bandmaster, a native of Flanders. Beethoven received his first musical knowledge from his father and his colleagues. His father wanted him to become a “second Mozart” and forced his son to practice even at night. Beethoven did not become a child prodigy, but he discovered his talent as a composer quite early. He was greatly influenced by K. Nefe, who taught him composition and playing the organ, a man of advanced aesthetic and political convictions. Due to the poverty of the family, Beethoven was forced to enter the service very early: at the age of 13 he was enrolled in the chapel as an assistant organist; later worked as accompanist at the Bonn National Theater. In 1787, he visited Vienna and met his idol, Mozart, who, after listening to the young man’s improvisation, said: “Pay attention to him; he will someday make the world talk about himself.” Beethoven failed to become Mozart's student: a serious illness and the death of his mother forced him to hastily return to Bonn. There Beethoven found moral support in the enlightened Breuning family and became close to the university environment, which shared the most progressive views. The ideas of the French Revolution were enthusiastically received by Beethoven's Bonn friends and had a strong influence on the formation of his democratic beliefs.

In Bonn, Beethoven wrote a number of large and small works: 2 cantatas for soloists, choir and orchestra, 3 piano quartets, several piano sonatas (now called sonatinas). It should be noted that the sonatinas known to all beginning pianists salt And F major, according to researchers, do not belong to Beethoven, but are only attributed, but another, truly Beethoven Sonatina in F major, discovered and published in 1909, remains, as it were, in the shadows and is not played by anyone. Most Bonn's creativity also includes variations and songs intended for amateur music-making. Among them are the familiar song “Groundhog”, the touching “Elegy for the Death of a Poodle”, the rebellious poster “Free Man”, the dreamy “Sigh of the Unloved and happy love", containing a prototype of the future theme of joy from the Ninth Symphony, "Sacrifice Song", which Beethoven loved so much that he returned to it 5 times ( latest edition- 1824). Despite the freshness and brightness of his youthful compositions, Beethoven understood that he needed to study seriously.

In November 1792, he finally left Bonn and moved to Vienna, the largest musical center in Europe. Here he studied counterpoint and composition with J. Haydn, J. Schenk, J. Albrechtsberger and A. Salieri. Although the student was obstinate, he studied zealously and subsequently spoke with gratitude of all his teachers. At the same time, Beethoven began performing as a pianist and soon gained fame as an unsurpassed improviser and a brilliant virtuoso. On his first and last long tour (1796), he captivated the audiences of Prague, Berlin, Dresden, and Bratislava. The young virtuoso was patronized by many distinguished music lovers - K. Likhnovsky, F. Lobkowitz, F. Kinsky, Russian Ambassador A. Razumovsky and others; Beethoven's sonatas, trios, quartets, and later even symphonies were first heard in their salons. Their names can be found in the dedications of many of the composer's works. However, Beethoven's manner of dealing with his patrons was almost unheard of at the time. Proud and independent, he did not forgive anyone for trying to humiliate his dignity. The legendary words uttered by the composer to the patron of the arts who insulted him are known: “There have been and will be thousands of princes, but there is only one Beethoven.” Of the many aristocratic women who were Beethoven's students, Ertman, the sisters T. and J. Bruns, and M. Erdedi became his constant friends and promoters of his music. Although he did not like to teach, Beethoven was nevertheless the teacher of K. Czerny and F. Ries in piano (both of them later won European fame) and the Archduke Rudolf of Austria in composition.

In the first Viennese decade, Beethoven wrote mainly piano and chamber music. In 1792-1802 3 piano concertos and 2 dozen sonatas were created. Of these, only Sonata No. 8 (“ Pathetic") has the author's title. Sonata No. 14, which bears the subtitle of a fantasy sonata, was called “Moonlight” by the romantic poet L. Relshtab. Stable names were also established for sonatas No. 12 (“With Funeral March”), No. 17 (“With Recitatives”) and later ones: No. 21 (“Aurora”) and No. 23 (“Appassionata”). The first Viennese period includes, in addition to the piano ones, 9 (out of 10) violin sonatas (including No. 5 - “Spring”, No. 9 - “Kreutzer”; both titles are also not the author’s); 2 cello sonatas, 6 string quartets, a number of ensembles for various instruments (including the cheerfully gallant Septet).

Since the beginning of the 19th century. Beethoven also began as a symphonist: in 1800 he completed his First Symphony, and in 1802 his Second. At the same time, his only oratorio, “Christ on the Mount of Olives,” was written. The first signs of an incurable disease - progressive deafness - that appeared in 1797 and the realization of the hopelessness of all attempts to treat the disease led Beethoven to a mental crisis in 1802, which was reflected in the famous document - the “Heiligenstadt Testament”. The way out of the crisis was creativity: “... A little was missing for me to commit suicide,” the composer wrote. - “It was only art that held me back.”

1802-12 - the time of the brilliant flowering of Beethoven's genius. His deeply developed ideas of overcoming suffering through the power of spirit and the victory of light over darkness after a fierce struggle turned out to be consonant with the basic ideas of the French Revolution and the liberation movements of the early 19th century. These ideas were embodied in the Third (“Eroic”) and Fifth Symphonies, in the tyrannical opera “Fidelio”, in the music for the tragedy of J. V. Goethe “Egmont”, in Sonata No. 23 (“Appassionata”). The composer was also inspired by the philosophical and ethical ideas of the Enlightenment, which he perceived in his youth. The natural world appears full of dynamic harmony in the Sixth (“Pastoral”) Symphony, in the Violin Concerto, in the piano (No. 21) and violin (No. 10) sonatas. Folk or close to folk melodies are heard in the Seventh Symphony and in quartets Nos. 7-9 (the so-called “Russian” ones - they are dedicated to A. Razumovsky; Quartet No. 8 contains 2 melodies of Russian folk songs: used much later also by N. Rimsky-Korsakov “Glory” and “Oh, my talent, my talent”). The Fourth Symphony is full of powerful optimism, the Eighth Symphony is permeated with humor and slightly ironic nostalgia for the times of Haydn and Mozart. The virtuoso genre is treated epically and monumentally in the Fourth and Fifth piano concerts, as well as in the Triple Concerto for violin, cello and piano and orchestra. In all these works, the style of Viennese classicism with its life-affirming belief in reason, goodness and justice, expressed at the conceptual level as a movement “through suffering to joy” (from Beethoven’s letter to M. Erdedi), and at the compositional level, found the most complete and final embodiment of the style of Viennese classicism - as a balance between unity and diversity and adherence to strict proportions at the largest scale of the composition.

1812-15 - turning points in the political and spiritual life of Europe. The period of the Napoleonic wars and the rise of the liberation movement was followed by the Congress of Vienna (1814-15), after which in domestic and foreign policy European countries Reactionary-monarchist tendencies intensified. The style of heroic classicism, expressing the spirit of revolutionary renewal at the end of the 18th century. and patriotic sentiments of the beginning of the 19th century, should inevitably either turn into pompous and official art, or give way to romanticism, which became the leading trend in literature and managed to make itself known in music (F. Schubert). Beethoven also had to solve these complex spiritual problems. He paid tribute to the victorious jubilation by creating the spectacular symphonic fantasy “The Battle of Vittoria” and the cantata “Happy Moment”, the premieres of which were timed to coincide with the Vienna Congress and brought Beethoven unprecedented success. However, in other works of 1813-17. reflected a persistent and sometimes painful search for new paths. At this time, cello (Nos. 4, 5) and piano (Nos. 27, 28) sonatas, several dozen arrangements of songs were written different nations for voice and ensemble, the first vocal cycle in the history of the genre “To a Distant Beloved” (1815). The style of these works is, as it were, experimental, with many ingenious discoveries, but not always as integral as in the period of “revolutionary classicism.”

The last decade of Beethoven's life was marred both by the general oppressive political and spiritual atmosphere in Metternich's Austria and by personal adversity and upheaval. The composer's deafness became complete; from 1818, he was forced to use “conversational notebooks” in which his interlocutors wrote questions addressed to him. Having lost hope for personal happiness (the name of the “immortal beloved” to whom Beethoven’s farewell letter dated July 6-7, 1812 was addressed remains unknown; some researchers consider her to be J. Brunswick-Dame, others - A. Brentano), Beethoven accepted took care of raising his nephew Karl, the son of his younger brother who died in 1815. This led to a long-term (1815-20) legal battle with the boy's mother over the rights to sole custody. A capable but frivolous nephew caused Beethoven a lot of grief. The contrast between sad and sometimes tragic life circumstances and the ideal beauty of the works created is a manifestation of the spiritual feat that made Beethoven one of the heroes European culture New time.

Creativity 1817-26 marked a new rise in Beethoven's genius and at the same time became an epilogue to the era of musical classicism. Before last days Remaining faithful to classical ideals, the composer found new forms and means of their implementation, bordering on romantic ones, but not turning into them. Beethoven's late style is a unique aesthetic phenomenon. The idea of ​​the dialectical relationship of contrasts, the struggle between light and darkness, central to Beethoven, acquires an emphatically philosophical sound in his late work. Victory over suffering is no longer achieved through heroic action, but through the movement of spirit and thought. Great master sonata form, in which they previously developed dramatic conflicts, Beethoven in his later works often turns to the form of fugue, which is most suitable for embodying the gradual formation of a generalized philosophical idea. The last 5 piano sonatas (Nos. 28-32) and the last 5 quartets (Nos. 12-16) are distinguished by a particularly complex and sophisticated musical language, requiring the greatest skill from the performers, and soulful perception from the listeners. 33 variations on the Waltz of Diabelli and Bagateli op. 126 are also true masterpieces, despite the difference in scale. Beethoven's later work has long been controversial. Of his contemporaries, only a few were able to understand and appreciate his latest works. One of these people was N. Golitsyn, on whose order the quartets No. , and . The overture “Consecration of the House” (1822) is dedicated to him.

In 1823, Beethoven completed the “Solemn Mass,” which he considered his greatest work. This mass, intended for concert rather than religious performance, became one of the landmark phenomena in the German oratorio tradition (G. Schütz, J. S. Bach, G. F. Handel, W. A. ​​Mozart, I. Haydn). The first mass (1807) was not inferior to the masses of Haydn and Mozart, but did not become a new word in the history of the genre, like the “Solemn”, which embodied all the skill of Beethoven as a symphonist and playwright. Turning to the canonical Latin text, Beethoven highlighted in it the idea of ​​self-sacrifice in the name of the happiness of people and introduced into the final plea for peace the passionate pathos of the denial of war as the greatest evil. With the assistance of Golitsyn, the “Solemn Mass” was first performed on April 7, 1824 in St. Petersburg. A month later, Beethoven’s last benefit concert took place in Vienna, in which, in addition to parts from the mass, his final Ninth Symphony was performed with a final chorus based on the words of “Ode to Joy” by F. Schiller. The idea of ​​overcoming suffering and the triumph of light is consistently carried through the entire symphony and is expressed with utmost clarity at the end thanks to the introduction poetic text, which Beethoven dreamed of setting to music back in Bonn. The Ninth Symphony with its final call - “Embrace, millions!” - became Beethoven’s ideological testament to humanity and had a strong influence on symphony in the 19th and 20th centuries.

Beethoven's traditions were adopted and one way or another continued by G. Berlioz, F. Liszt, J. Brahms, A. Bruckner, G. Mahler, S. Prokofiev, D. Shostakovich. Beethoven was also revered as a teacher by the composers of the New Viennese school - the “father of dodecaphony” A. Schoenberg, the passionate humanist A. Berg, the innovator and lyricist A. Webern. In December 1911, Webern wrote to Berg: “Few things are as wonderful as the holiday of Christmas. ... Isn’t this how we should celebrate Beethoven’s birthday?” Many musicians and music lovers would agree with this proposal, because for thousands (and perhaps millions) of people, Beethoven remains not only one of the greatest geniuses of all times and peoples, but also the personification of an unfading ethical ideal, an inspirer of the oppressed, a consoler of the suffering, true friend in sorrow and joy.

L. Kirillina

Beethoven is one of the greatest phenomena of world culture. His work ranks alongside the art of such titans of artistic thought as Tolstoy, Rembrandt, and Shakespeare. In terms of philosophical depth, democratic orientation, and courage of innovation, Beethoven has no equal in the musical art of Europe of past centuries.

Beethoven's work captured the great awakening of peoples, the heroism and drama of the revolutionary era. Addressed to all progressive humanity, his music was a bold challenge to the aesthetics of the feudal aristocracy.

Beethoven's worldview was formed under the influence of the revolutionary movement that spread in the advanced circles of society at the turn of the 18th century. XIX centuries. As its unique reflection on German soil, the bourgeois-democratic Enlightenment took shape in Germany. Protest against social oppression and despotism determined the leading directions German philosophy, literature, poetry, theater and music.

Lessing raised the banner of the struggle for the ideals of humanism, reason and freedom. The works of Schiller and young Goethe were imbued with a civic feeling. The playwrights of the Sturm und Drang movement rebelled against the petty morality of feudal-bourgeois society. The challenge to the reactionary nobility is heard in Lessing’s “Nathan the Wise,” in Goethe’s “Götz von Berlichingen,” and in Schiller’s “The Robbers” and “Cunning and Love.” The ideas of the struggle for civil liberties permeate Schiller's Don Carlos and William Tell. The tension of social contradictions was also reflected in the image of Goethe’s Werther, the “rebellious martyr,” as Pushkin put it. The spirit of challenge marked every outstanding work of art of that era created on German soil. Beethoven's work was the most general and artistically perfect expression in the art of popular movements in Germany at the turn of the 18th and 19th centuries.

The great social upheaval in France had a direct and powerful impact on Beethoven. This brilliant musician, a contemporary of the revolution, was born in an era that perfectly suited his talent and his titanic nature. With rare creative power and emotional acuity, Beethoven sang the majesty and tension of his time, its stormy drama, the joys and sorrows of the gigantic masses. To this day, Beethoven's art remains unsurpassed as an artistic expression of feelings of civic heroism.

The revolutionary theme in no way exhausts Beethoven's legacy. Undoubtedly, the most outstanding Beethoven works belong to the art of heroic-dramatic nature. The main features of his aesthetics are most clearly embodied in works that reflect the theme of struggle and victory, glorifying the universal democratic principle of life and the desire for freedom. “Eroica”, Fifth and Ninth Symphonies, overtures “Coriolanus”, “Egmont”, “Leonore”, “Sonata Pathétique” and “Appassionata” - it was this circle of works that almost immediately won Beethoven the widest world recognition. And in fact, Beethoven’s music differs from the structure of thought and manner of expression of its predecessors primarily in its effectiveness, tragic power, and grandiose scale. It is not surprising that his innovation in the heroic-tragic sphere, earlier than in others, attracted general attention; mainly based on dramatic works Beethoven was judged on his work as a whole by both his contemporaries and the generations immediately following them.

However, the world of Beethoven's music is staggeringly diverse. There are other fundamentally important aspects to his art, outside of which his perception will inevitably be one-sided, narrow and therefore distorted. And above all, this depth and complexity of the intellectual principle inherent in it.

The psychology of the new man, freed from feudal shackles, is revealed in Beethoven not only in terms of conflict and tragedy, but also through the sphere of high inspired thought. His hero, possessing indomitable courage and passion, is also endowed with rich, subtly developed intellect. He is not only a fighter, but also a thinker; Along with action, he is characterized by a tendency to concentrated thinking. No secular composer before Beethoven achieved such philosophical depth and breadth of thought. Beethoven's glorification of real life in its multifaceted aspects was intertwined with the idea of ​​the cosmic greatness of the universe. Moments of inspired contemplation coexist in his music with heroic and tragic images, illuminating them in a unique way. Through the prism of sublime and deep intellect, life in all its diversity is refracted in Beethoven’s music - violent passions and detached daydreaming, theatrical dramatic pathos and lyrical confession, pictures of nature and scenes of everyday life...

Finally, compared to the work of his predecessors, Beethoven's music stands out for its individualization of the image, which is associated with the psychological principle in art.

Not as a representative of a class, but as an individual with his own wealth inner world, realized himself as a man of a new, post-revolutionary society. It was in this spirit that Beethoven interpreted his hero. He is always significant and unique, every page of his life is an independent spiritual value. Even motives that are related to each other in type acquire in Beethoven’s music such a richness of shades in conveying mood that each of them is perceived as unique. Given the unconditional commonality of ideas that permeate all of his work, with the deep imprint of a powerful creative individuality lying on all Beethoven’s works, each of his opuses is an artistic surprise.

Perhaps it is precisely this undying desire to reveal the unique essence of each image that makes the problem of Beethoven's style so complex.

Beethoven is usually spoken of as a composer who, on the one hand, completes the classicist (In Russian theater studies and foreign musicological literature, the term “classicist” has been established in relation to the art of classicism. Thus, the confusion that inevitably arises when the single word “classical” is used to characterize the peak, “eternal” phenomena of any art, and to define one stylistic category. We, by inertia, continue to use the term “classical” in relation to the musical style. XVIII century, and to classical examples in music of other styles (for example, romanticism, baroque, impressionism, etc.) era in music, on the other hand, opens the way to the “romantic age”. From a broad historical perspective, this formulation is not objectionable. However, it gives little insight into the essence of Beethoven's style itself. For, while in some respects at certain stages of evolution it comes into contact with the work of the classicists of the 18th century and the romantics of the next generation, Beethoven’s music does not actually coincide in some important, decisive ways with the requirements of either style. Moreover, it is generally difficult to characterize it using stylistic concepts developed on the basis of studying the work of other artists. Beethoven is inimitably individual. Moreover, he is so many-sided and multifaceted that no familiar stylistic categories cover all the diversity of his appearance.

With a greater or lesser degree of certainty, we can only talk about a certain sequence of stages in the composer’s quest. Throughout his career, Beethoven continuously expanded the expressive boundaries of his art, constantly leaving behind not only his predecessors and contemporaries, but also his own achievements more early period. Nowadays, it is customary to be amazed at the versatility of Stravinsky or Picasso, seeing in this a sign of the special intensity of the evolution of artistic thought characteristic of the 20th century. But Beethoven in this sense is in no way inferior to the above-mentioned luminaries. It is enough to compare almost any randomly selected works of Beethoven to be convinced of the incredible versatility of his style. Is it easy to believe that the elegant septet in the style of the Viennese divertissement, the monumental dramatic “Eroic Symphony” and the deeply philosophical quartets op. 59 belong to the same pen? Moreover, they were all created within one, six-year period.

None of Beethoven's sonatas can be singled out as the most characteristic of the composer's style in the field piano music. Not a single work typifies his quest in the symphonic sphere. Sometimes in the same year Beethoven releases works that are so contrasting with each other that at first glance it is difficult to recognize the common features between them. Let us at least recall the well-known Fifth and Sixth Symphonies. Every detail of thematicity, every formative technique in them is as sharply opposed to each other as the general artistic concepts of these symphonies - the acutely tragic Fifth and the idyllically pastoral Sixth - are incompatible. If we compare works created at different, relatively distant stages of the creative path - for example, the First Symphony and the “Solemn Mass”, quartets op. 18 and the last quartets, the Sixth and Twenty-ninth piano sonatas, etc., etc., then we will see creations so strikingly different from each other that at first impression they are unconditionally perceived as the product of not only different intellects, but also different artistic eras. Moreover, each of the mentioned opuses in highest degree characteristic of Beethoven, each is a miracle of stylistic completeness.

About one thing artistic principle, which characterizes Beethoven’s works, can only be spoken in the most general terms: throughout his entire career, the composer’s style evolved as a result of the search for a truthful embodiment of life. The powerful embrace of reality, the richness and dynamics in the transmission of thoughts and feelings, and finally, a new understanding of beauty compared to its predecessors led to such multifaceted, original and artistically timeless forms of expression that can only be summarized by the concept of the unique “Beethoven style.”

According to Serov's definition, Beethoven understood beauty as an expression of high ideology. Hedonistic, gracefully diversified side musical expressiveness was consciously overcome in Beethoven's mature work.

Just as Lessing advocated precise and meager speech against the artificial, decorative style of salon poetry, saturated with elegant allegories and mythological attributes, so Beethoven rejected everything decorative and conventionally idyllic.

In his music, not only the exquisite ornamentation, inseparable from the style of expression of the 18th century, disappeared. Balance and symmetry musical language, smooth rhythm, chamber transparency of sound - these stylistic features, characteristic of all of Beethoven’s Viennese predecessors without exception, were also gradually crowded out of his musical speech. Beethoven's idea of ​​beauty required emphasized nakedness of feelings. He was looking for different intonations - dynamic and restless, sharp and persistent. The sound of his music became rich, dense, and dramatically contrasting; his themes acquired hitherto unprecedented laconicism and stern simplicity. To people brought up on the musical classicism of the 18th century, Beethoven’s manner of expression seemed so unusual, “unsmoothed,” and sometimes even ugly, that the composer was repeatedly reproached for striving to be original, and they saw in his new expressive techniques a search for strange, deliberately dissonant sounds that grate the ear.

And, however, with all the originality, courage and novelty, Beethoven’s music is inextricably linked with the previous culture and with the classicist system of thought.

Advanced schools of the 18th century, covering several artistic generations, prepared Beethoven's work. Some of them received a generalization and final form in it; the influences of others are revealed in a new original refraction.

Beethoven's work is most closely connected with the art of Germany and Austria.

First of all, there is a noticeable continuity with Viennese classicism of the 18th century. It is no coincidence that Beethoven entered the history of Culture as the last representative of this school. He began on the path paved by his immediate predecessors Haydn and Mozart. Beethoven also deeply perceived the structure of heroic-tragic images of Gluck's musical drama, partly through the works of Mozart, which in their own way refracted this figurative principle, and partly directly from Gluck's lyrical tragedies. Beethoven is equally clearly perceived as Handel's spiritual heir. The triumphant, lightly heroic images of Handel’s oratorios began a new life on an instrumental basis in Beethoven’s sonatas and symphonies. Finally, clear successive threads connect Beethoven with that philosophical and contemplative line in musical art, which has long been developed in the choral and organ schools of Germany, becoming its typical national principle and reaching its peak expression in the art of Bach. The influence of Bach's philosophical lyrics on the entire structure of Beethoven's music is deep and undeniable and can be traced from the First Piano Sonata to the Ninth Symphony and the last quartets, created shortly before his death.

Protestant chorale and traditional everyday German song, democratic Singspiel and Viennese street serenades - these and many other types national art also uniquely embodied in Beethoven’s work. It recognizes both the historically established forms of peasant songwriting and the intonations of modern urban folklore. Essentially everything organically national in the culture of Germany and Austria was reflected in the sonata-symphonic work of Beethoven.

The art of other countries, especially France, also contributed to the formation of his multifaceted genius. In Beethoven's music one can hear echoes of Rousseauian motifs, which were embodied in the 18th century in French comic opera, starting with "The Village Sorcerer" by Rousseau himself and ending with the classical works in this genre by Grétry. The poster-like, sternly solemn character of the mass revolutionary genres in France left an indelible mark on it, marking a break with the chamber art of the 18th century. Cherubini's operas introduced acute pathos, spontaneity and dynamics of passions, close to the emotional structure of Beethoven's style.

Just as Bach’s work absorbed and generalized to the highest artistic level all any significant schools of the previous era, so the horizons of the brilliant symphonist of the 19th century embraced all the viable musical movements of the previous century. But Beethoven's new understanding of musical beauty reworked these origins into such an original form that in the context of his works they are not always easily recognizable.

In exactly the same way, the classicist system of thought is refracted in Beethoven’s work in a new form, far from the style of expression of Gluck, Haydn, and Mozart. This is a special, purely Beethovenian type of classicism, which has no prototypes in any artist. The composers of the 18th century did not even think about the very possibility of such grandiose constructions as became typical for Beethoven, like freedom development within the framework of sonata formation, about such diverse types of musical thematics, and the complexity and richness of the very texture of Beethoven’s music should have been perceived by them as an unconditional step back to the rejected manner of Bach’s generation. And yet, Beethoven’s belonging to the classicist system of thought clearly appears against the background of those new aesthetic principles that began to unconditionally dominate in the music of the post-Beethoven era.