DAILY DOSE of BEETHOVEN (May 7, 2020)
We promised to discuss the first three movements of the Ninth Symphony—and we shall take on the 1st movement tomorrow! First though, we will ask you to join us in a little fun.
Good humor involves having a sense of irony, and appreciation of ambiguities. Shakespeare's word plays, for example, are hilarious, and reveal both deeper and hidden meanings. Therefore, if the reader insist on having only one literal meaning for each word, not only will you not get those meanings,
you will likely only scowl..
Our modern, multicultural approach to achieving the equality of human beings through imposing representation of every ethnic, gender, religious, and physical difference as an "identity", can also easily
become too literal.
"What have you done here?"
"We created an orchestra that is the most identity-representative we have ever seen."
"Good. How well do they play?"
"Didn't ask. That would be too judgmental."
This type of thinking has led to a misunderstanding of Beethoven. His music is too often identified as characterized by anger or rage, even "omnicidal" (a relatively new term). People read anecdotes about him and literally think that they hear his legendary temper in his music!
So please join us in an easy, but fun and enlightening experiment. We have provided a recording of the 4th movement of Beethoven's String Quartet in F Major, Op. 135, by the Cypress Quartet. Please listen to the first minute of it. If it stopped there, how would you characterize it? It seems anguished, does it not?
In the opening of the 4th movement of his Ninth Symphony, Beethoven invited you into his creative workshop. He does the same here. The following line is placed at the beginning of the movement. It is not to be played, just comprehended:
"Der schwer gefasste Entschlusss"— can mean "The difficult decision", but it can also mean "The difficult resolution."
"Muss es sein?"—means “Must it be?”
"Es muss sein!"—means “It must be!”
Musically, Es muss sein is an inversion of Muss es sein. It turns the phrase upside down—creating a resolution. Grave means very slow and solemn. Allegro is a quick tempo. Beethoven is demonstrating that the movement is based on a process of inversion, but why the words? Let us again, address the problem of literalism. Adding the words reminds us that inversion is also a process in science, and in life. Sometimes, we solve a problem by standing it on its head!
This was Beethoven's last completed work, and many believe that Muss es sein? refers to the impending end of his life: Must it be? Yet, the inversion expresses joy—the joy of knowing that although he is not physically immortal, his music is! It will live on for centuries. It must be!
At about one minute in, the inversion changes the problems into a happy resolution. At 4:25 though, Muss es sein comes back, and it's even more intense, as in life. At 5:02 the inversion, Es muss sein, does not have so easy a time of it. It has to fight its way up from the morass. Again, as in life.
The result? The joy in resolving the problem is even greater. The ending is sublime. After a few slow and questioning repeats of Es muss sein, at 6:35, all four strings start playing pizzicato—plucking the strings, as though they were tip-toeing. If the movement is about how to resolve one's own immortality, then Beethoven faced death by overturning fear, even turning it into joy. If it does concern facing death, then we should all wish that when our time comes, we make our exit so harmonious and happily.
But, we don't know for sure that that is what it is all about. Beethoven never told us. He may not have known it would be his last major work. He may have been sitting back smiling, and enjoying watching us try to figure it out. Thus, we can never fully explain it. Your own interpretation is precious, although it must always follow reason.
One thing is certain: the music is not about rage, or any other fixated state. It is the transformation of our state of mind!