The Classical Principle Weekly
June 21, 2022
Humanity depends upon great leaders, who develop their creative powers of mind, and apply them for the benefit of humanity. It also depends on its citizens to live up to such standards. History shows that when such a leader is taken from us, it leaves a vacuum. Who could fill the shoes of Abraham Lincoln, or Franklin Roosevelt. Who could pick up the moral leadership of a Martin Luther King, a Joan of Arc (yes, she was a real person), a Patrice Lumumba or a Kwami Nkrumah?
Revisionist historians tend to downplay the role of great leaders— insisting that the ball is always picked up by somebody, and somehow we continue to muddle through. The truth is otherwise. Good people will try to fill the vacuum, but reactionary tendencies in society also tend to seize the opportunity to reverse progress made by great leaders during their lifetime.
The same is true in science and art. We have written over 200 essay about Beethoven—the product of over a century of sweeping progress in political freedom, artistic breakthroughs, human rights—and his compositions (see https://www.ffrcc.org/daily-dose-of-beethoven). Yet, he is still often described as the first “Romantic” composer. Although Beethoven carried music to dizzying new heights; Upon his death in 1827, the question was: "What do we do now?" Some sought to continue Beethoven's progress in the classical tradition further forward. Others, while praising Beethoven, sought to bury him, so that they would not have to be tested in the same arena. All saw the task as daunting.
In the next few episodes, we will examine the responses to the challenge, and hopefully progress beyond the amorphous nation of a "Romantic Period", and gain a finer insight into the differences between the Romantic movement, and those who wished to continue the classical tradition of Bach through Beethoven.
Before dealing with subsequent composers, we present the problem as bequeathed by Beethoven. In 1803, while composing his “Third Symphony—the Eroica”, Beethoven sketches out a dedication in the first moment to Napoleon, who had seem to be the valiant ambassador of the everyman, standing for freedom, equal rights and balance of power. However, when Napoleon declared himself Emperor, Beethoven scratched out the dedication, and dedicated it "to the memory of a great man." He did not mean Napoleon in his former days. He looked to the future, and leaders who have delivered humanity.
The second movement of Beethoven’s Third Symphony is a funeral. Who writes a funeral movement over 17 minutes long?—Longer than entire Haydn Symphonies! And why? We have accompanied the music with videos of funeral processions for great leaders- not to be morbid, but to identify what we have lost. Like any great musical funeral march, or elegy, it carries a happy moment of remembrance.
This movement presents a challenge that is musical, moral, and historical. How, if we follow Beethoven, is not just a musical challenge. It is a challenge in life!
https://drive.google.com/.../1bRws5RVnStdYMW63Oiy.../view...
The Man Who Took up the Challenge
The only concert Schubert ever organized of his own music was on March 26th, 1828, just seven months before his own death. Some accounts of the concert say that he staged it because he needed more publicity to get his works published. That may be true, but they are missing one thing: March 26, 1828 was the first anniversary of Beethoven's death.
Schubert did not know that he would only live for another half year. He felt it necessary to pick up the mantle of Beethoven, as terrifying a prospect as that might be. The concertwas his way of announcing that commitment. It was a shining moment for Schubert, but also an intimidating one.
The poet Rellstab had given several of his poems to Beethoven in the hopes that he would set them to music. When Beethoven became too ill to consider it, his secretary, Schindler, gave the poems to Schubert, who set several of them to music.
Schubert's concert was the world premier of his setting of one of the Rellstab poems, “Auf dem Strom, D943”, for voice, piano, and horn. In it, Schubert employs a direct quote from the funeral (2nd) movement of Beethoven's "Eroica (Heroic) Symphony", on the words:
Oh, in that dark desert
Far from any bright coast
Where no island to look
Oh, how trembling horror seizes me!
Beethoven had scratched out his original dedication to Napoleon, and rededicated it to "the memory of a great man." For Schubert, Beethoven clearly was that great man.
This short audio compares the passages: It comes from the Daily Dose of Beethoven, July 20th 2020.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1bRws5RVnStdYMW63OiyL_UQ1xpkb1_P_/view?usp=sharing