Beethoven, Mozart, and Italian Opera: “Ah! perfido”

DAILY DOSE of BEETHOVEN (November 9, 2020)

A myth has long prevailed that Beethoven did not know how to compose for the human voice. That myth should be given short shrift by his Concert Aria for soprano and orchestra—“Ah! perfido" (Ah! Deceiver), Op. 65–composed in 1796, but not published until 1805.

Beethoven was immersed in Italian opera as a boy in his native Bonn. He often played the continuo for visiting opera troops, and composed themes and variations for piano based on famous opera arias, such as Paisiello's "Nel Cor piu mi Sento."

The text for Beethoven’s concert Aria comes from "Achille in Sciro", by the poet Metastasio. The protagonist is Princess Deidamia of Skyros, who is angry with Achilles for leaving her "with child" while going off to fight in the Trojan War. Her vengeful wrath is softened by love several times. Here is the text:

Ah! perfido, spergiuro,
barbaro traditor, tu parti?
e son questi gl'ultimi tuoi congedi?
ove s'intese tirannia più crudel?
Va, scelerato! va, pur fuggi da me,
l'ira de' Numi non fuggirai!
Se v'è giustizia in Ciel, se v'è pietà,
congiureranno a gara tutti a punirti!
Ombra seguace! presente, ovunque vai,
vedrò le mie vendette;
io già le godo immaginando;
i fulmini ti veggo già balenar d'intorno.
Ah no! ah no! fermate, vindici Dei!
risparmiate quel cor, ferite il mio!
s'ei non è più qual era son'io qual fui,
per lui vivea, voglio morir per lui!

Per pietà, non dirmi addio,
di te priva che farò?
tu lo sai, bell'idol mio!
io d'affanno morirò.

Ah crudel! tu vuoi ch'io mora!
tu non hai pietà di me?
perchè rendi a chi t'adora
così barbara mercè?
Dite voi, se in tanto affanno
non son degna di pietà?

(Ah! Faithless one, perjured,
barbarous betrayer, do you leave?
And are these your last farewells?
Who ever suffered such cruel tyranny?
Go, wicked man! Go, run from me,
The wrath of the Gods you shall not escape!
If there is justice in Heaven, if there is mercy,
They will join together to punish you!
Pursuing shade, present wherever you go,
I shall see my vengeance;
I already enjoy it in my mind;
I see already lightning flashing about you.
Ah no, ah no, stop, Gods of vengeance!
Spare that heart, strike mine!
Though he has changed, I am what I was,
Through him I lived, I would die for him!

(For pity, do not bid me farewell,
What shall I do without you?
You know, fair beloved,
I shall die troubled.

(Ah, cruel one, you would that I die!
Have you no pity for me?
Why do you treat one who adores you
With such barbarous reward?
Tell me if in such trouble
Am I not worthy of pity?)

https://youtu.be/4ny5cSEDDc4

IN MOZART’S FOOTSTEPS

Beethoven composed “Ah! perfido” for a soprano, a friend of Mozart, whose name is Josepha Duschek, who is famous for the range and flexibility of her voice; for her musicianship, and superb execution of both bravura arias and recitatives. In places, it reminds us of another Concert Aria written for her, this one by Mozart in 1787, set to the text of "Belle mia Fiamma, addio," by Michele Sarcone.

Mozart's son tells an hilarious story of how the work was composed:

“Petranka [sic] is well-known as the villa in which Mozart enjoyed staying with his musician friends, the Duscheks, during his visit to Prague, and where he composed several numbers for his "Don Juan" [Don Giovanni]. On the summit of a hill near the villa stands a pavilion. In it, one day, Frau Duschek slyly imprisoned the great Mozart, after having provided ink, pen, and notepaper, and told him that he was not to regain his freedom until he had written an aria he had promised her to the words “bella mia fiamma addio”. Mozart submitted himself to the necessary; but to avenge himself for the trick Frau Duschek had played on him, he used various difficult-to-sing passages in the aria, and threatened his despotic friend that he would immediately destroy the aria if she could not succeed in performing it at sight without mistakes.”

Anyone but Mozart would have starved before writing this! Anybody but Duschek would have choked! Here’s a performance of Mozart’s concert Aria, which features the score:

https://youtu.be/_1URYAdDx_U

TEXT:
Bella mia fiamma, addio!
Bella mia fiamma, addio!
Non piacque al cielo di renderci felici.
Ecco reciso, prima d'esser compito,
quel purissimo nodo, che strinsero
fra lor gl'animi nostri con il solo voler.
Vivi: Cedi al destin, cedi al dovere.
Della giurata fede la mia morte t'assolve.
A più degno consorte ... O pene!
unita vivi più lieta e più felice vita.
Ricordati di me, ma non mai turbi
d'un felice sposo la rara
rimembranza il tuo riposo.

Regina, io vado ad ubbidirti
Ah, tutto finisca il mio furor col morir mio.
Cerere, Alfeo, diletta sposa, addio!

Resta, o cara, acerba morte mi separa
Oh Dio..... da te!

Prendi cura di sua sorte,
consolarla almen procura.

Vado . . . ahi lasso!
Addio, addio per sempre.
Quest'affanno, questo passo
è terribile per me.
Ah! Dov'è il tempio, dov'è l'ara?
Vieni, affretta la vendetta!

Questa vita così amara
più soffribile non è

(Light of my life, farewell!
Light of my life, farewell!
Heaven did not intend our happiness.
Before the knot was tied,
those pure strands were severed that bound
our spirits in a single will.
Live: Yield to fate and to your duty.
My death absolves you from your promise.
O grief! United to a more worthy consort
you will have a happier, more joyous life.
Remember me, but never let stray
thoughts of an unhappy lover
disturb your rest.

(Majesty, I go in obedience to your will...
Ah, let death put an end to my raving.
Ceres, Alpheus, beloved heart, farewell!

(Stay, dear heart, cruel death tears me away
O God....from you!

(Look after her,
comfort her at last.

(I go ... alas!
Farewell, farewell for evermore.
This anguish, this step
is hard for me to bear.
Ah! Where is the temple, where is the altar?
Dear heart, farewell forever!

(A life as bitter as this
can be borne no longer!)

In 1796, Beethoven was a new composer on the scene in Vienna, and Mozart, who had only died five years earlier, cast a very long shadow. Both works progress from a long recitative, to a slow reverend song, to a spectacular allegro.

Beethoven followed the same model for the arias of Leonore and Florestan in his only opera, “Fidelio”, which premiered in 1814.

Beethoven's Revolutionary 7th Symphony: 3rd movement

DAILY DOSE of BEETHOVEN (November 6, 2020)

The third movement of this symphony is a scherzo (meaning musical joke).

The indication for the movement is “presto”—meaning "as fast as possible”, which today is often taken at tempo indication. Actually, the word means soon, or suddenly, as in "suddenly appearing, as if by magic." Thus, it may sometimes indicate more of an effect than a tempo.

The movement certainly starts that way, no matter what tempo you take. Here is a typically fast version by Paavo Jarvi:

https://youtu.be/AigCY0MQb5c

FOLK SONG INFLUENCE

We discussed in two recent posts Beethoven's work with other national cultures. He wrote 112 Scottish, Welsh and Irish folk songs, which were published with great personal difficulty (during the Napoleonic Wars, he had to send three copies to Scotland, by different routes, just to make sure they arrived. Ironically, he found that the most secure route was through Paris!). Monetary compensation is doubtful his main motivation. He also composed songs of different nationalities, including Polish, Russian, Danish, Portugeuse, Spanish and Ukraininan. The fourth movement of this symphony clearly derives from one of his Irish song settings.

The great scientist, Alexander von Humboldt (1769-1859), returned from his voyages to South America with voluminous scientific reports, including songs from Mexico, where he visited in 1804. If this scherzo is performed slower, striking similarities to Mexican music, including the famous "hat dance" can be heard. We have no proof of a Mexican connection, but we thought you might like to hear it.

If you move to 22:29 in this recording on the entire symphony by Pablo Casals, you will hear it. Even though it’s slower, it still bursts onto the scene, "presto."

https://youtu.be/kSBUNY5PrsE

Every scherzo has a " trio" section, deriving from the Sherzo's ancestor, the “Minuet”. In 17th century French music, it actually was a trio—three instruments. Although they no longer held to that limitation, the trios of Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven all feature reduced orchestration, with exceptions. The trio begins at 2:17, and reappears at 5:37 in the Jaavi recording; at 25:07, reappearing at 29:10, in the Casals recording. It is reported to be based on an Austrian pilgrim's hymn. What relation that song bears to the main theme we know not.

Beethoven’s 7th Symphony—Movement 2: Beethoven's Tribute to Soldiers

DAILY DOSE of BEETHOVEN (November 5, 2020)

The second movement of Symphony No. 7 had to be repeated during the world premier, and it remains one of the most beloved moments in music until this day.

Much speculation has taken place over what personal agony it reflects in Beethoven’s life, especially since sketches for the movement predate the symphony by several years. Beethoven, who conducted the premier in December of 1813 for the veterans of the Battle of Hanau, made an address to these veterans, saying:

"We are moved by nothing but pure patriotism and the joyful sacrifice of our powers for those who have sacrificed so much for us."

We find no reason to believe that the deep emotion of this movement was founded on anything but what he said it was. His sentiment had existed long before 1813, as had the wars! Napoleon was being repelled, and the symphony is overall joyous. However, Beethoven was not the kind of man to casually dismiss sacrifice, and the concert was dedicated to veterans. We believe that this movement celebrates those veterans.

The movement begins and ends on a harmony that theory demands has to be resolved, a 6/4 chord. Beethoven does not resolve it. He leaves it open, as a question mark. Poetic literacy was high enough in the early 19th century, that a romantic composer, Hector Berlioz, made an important point:

“A simple rhythm is again the principal cause of the extraordinary effect produced by the Allegretto. The rhythmic pattern consists merely of a dactyl followed by a spondee played relentlessly.”

In Greek poetry, a long syllable lasted for twice as long as a short one, and thus a "foot" in poetry functioned much like a measure in music. Thus, any feet that added up to the equivalent of four short syllables, could be used in the same line of poetry. This included the “dactyl”—a long and two shorts; the “spondee”—two longs; as well as the “caesura”—a single syllable filling an entire foot.

The rhythm of the 2nd movement is processional, like a funeral march, and is organized like verses, or stanzas, of poetry. In this representation, L is for long, s for short, and C for caesura. If it seems complex, just try singing, or listening to the opening lines against this chart.

L ss/ L L / L ss/L L
L ss L L / L ss/ C...
L ss L L / L ss/ L L
L ss L L / L ss/ C...

L ss L L / L ss/ L L
L ss L L / L ss/ C...

It is a march, but it also corresponds to the old dance form, the Pavane, which is in duple time, and stresses the third beat of the measure. Here is an example.

https://youtu.be/8Y-tB3Vm3Is

The 2nd movement of the symphony is also in duple time (2/2), and stresses the third beat:
>
L ss/ L L

https://youtu.be/AUTtbfCW4Oo

The melody is also austere. It repeats the note D 16 times before moving on.

THE INTRODUCTION OF SOMETHING NEW

The first variation on the theme (0:58 in this recording), introduces a bel-canto singing melody in the violas and cellos—a lament. It is as though the ancient and rigid sense of duty has been joined by a more modern sentiment, that allows the soldiers and society to grieve over fallen comrades. In the second variation (beginning 1:55), this new singing idea grows. In the third variation (beginning 2:42), the interaction of the two ideas is intensified, with kettle drums pounding, until it dies down.

At 3:38 a second theme enters, like a happy memory, in canon. At 4:08 the characteristic rhythm reappears, as the music explores different ways to resolve the double lydian paradox (4:20-4:50).

At 5:13 the theme pair reappears, in animation. At 6: 20 this becomes a “fugato”, based on the "feet" identified by Berlioz.

The second theme reappears at 7:40, and is followed by a return to the main idea, but fragmented, like fading memories.

The second movement is marked “allegretto”. Beethoven was concerned that the tempo could be taken too fast, and said later on, that he wished the tempo to be changed to “Andante quasi Allegretto”.

We urge our readers to study this movement and gain an idea of how Beethoven is not moving us through notes, but using the notes to move our souls, through ideas.

You can follow this with the score in this video. The second movement starts at 11:24:

https://youtu.be/JMrm9jEo_Pk

Beethoven's Revolutionary 7th Symphony: 1st movement

DAILY DOSE of BEETHOVEN (November 4, 2020)

From the very beginning, Beethoven composed his music with an eye towards bring positive change through it. In the case of his Symphony No. 7, in A major, Op. 92, he took that change to a new level: as the actual subject of musical composition.

The symphony was premiered in Vienna on December 8th, 1813, with Beethoven conducting, at a charity concert for wounded soldiers from the Battle of Hanau, fought from October 30-31, 1813, between Karl Philipp von Wrede's Austro-Bavarian corps and Napoleon's retreating French during the War of the Sixth Coalition. Although Austria lost in this minor battle, it was fought against a fleeing and defeated French army. Beethoven, who had earlier admired Napoleon, rejected him intensely after he declared himself emperor in 1804. Beethoven is reported to have once said that if he knew as much about war as he did about music, he could, and would have defeated Napoleon.

The 7th Symphony has an exuberant and victorious quality to it that is noticed by all. Even though the final defeat of Napoleon still laid ahead, the tide began to turn in 1812, with Napoleon's failed invasion of Russia, and the decimation of his Grand Armee. That may have influenced Beethoven, as he composed the symphony in 1811-1812.

The orchestra included the famous (at the time) musicians and composers Ignaz Schuppanzigh, Louis Spohr, Johann Nepomuk Hummel, Antonio Salieri, Anton Romberg, a young Ignaz Moscheles, and double bassist Domenico Dragonetti. Italian guitar virtuoso Giuliani played cello.

Many eminent composers were puzzled by the composition. Carl Maria von Weber is reported to have claimed that Beethoven was ready for the madhouse (although there is no substantiation of him actually saying that, his earlier scathing critiques of Beethoven's Fourth Symphony suggests that it may be accurate). Louis Spohr described Beethoven's conducting:
"as a sforzando occurred, he tore his arms with a great vehemence asunder ... at the entrance of a forte he jumped in the air."

At a later performance in Leipzig, Clara Schumann's father Friedrich Wieck, a fan of Beethoven’s, questioned whether the composer was drunk when he composed the last movement. The second movement alone, was an instant success and had to be repeated.

THE FIRST MOVEMENT

This symphony really is revolutionary. It does not start with a theme. If you think it does, we challenge you to hum it from memory. It starts with a geometric construction in music. We established earlier, in the opening of the Ninth Symphony, the role of the interval of the fifth, and its inversion—the fourth, in establishing and changing keys (May 5, 2020 post). Beethoven's introduction for Symphony No. 7 starts with a series of four-note descending phrases, based on the fifth, passed from one woodwind instrument to another, accompanied by upward-rushing two-octave scales. If you can play a simple line on any instrument, please play the following abstract of descending tones:

A E A -, E B E -, D A D -, G D G -, C G C -, F C F.

The introduction to the movement goes through the keys of A major, D major, C major, and F major, which are not considered closely related keys. However, the above succession of fifths leads you through all of those keys. It is important to note that even as we point out the geometric construction of the introduction, Beethoven’s primary motive here is not the development of a theme, but rather, a process of change itself.

Now, listen to the opening of the movement:

https://youtu.be/JMrm9jEo_Pk

It begins in A, goes through these changes, and it is only at 1:15 in this recording, that we finally hear a theme: an elegant dance-like theme, in C major (which soon repeats in F).

We are still in the introduction though! The movement proper does not start until about 3:45, in a new time signature of 6/8. It is preceded by the most unusual thing: a single note E (the dominant), is bounced around and repeated over 60 times for 10 measures (starting about 3:05 in this recording).

When Beethoven introduces a major change, he does not want you to miss it!

After what is the longest introduction ever composed for a symphony up until that point, the main body of the movement begins with a dotted-note rhythm, starting at 3:45, and goes through rapid changes, including the same keys of A, D, C and F major, including dynamic contrasts from very quiet to explosive, often at the same time as key changes, with tympani (kettle drums) rolling and singing as they never have.

What holds it together though, is the relentless dotted rhythm. Many have noticed the dance-like quality of the symphony, (although most don't go as far as Richard Wagner who danced all the way through it, and called it "the apotheosis of the dance.") Such dance-like rhythms lend a celebratory quality to the symphony, and a sense of unity.

The key to the symphony's optimism though, is not dance, but CHANGE! Perhaps Beethoven’s sense of possibility and change with the impending defeat of Napoleon, informed this symphony. It is unique.

The Coda (tail) builds tension in a famous passage of 21-measures, which repeats a two-bar passage 10-times over a single pedal point of, again, the note E, covering four octaves, starting at 10:20 (much later Tchaikovsky wrote that only Beethoven could have made that work.)

Today we are used to Beethoven, and we sometimes do not hear the surprises. We hope that this post’s short guide gives our readers an idea of just how revolutionary this symphony was, and why even very competent musicians found it so challenging.

Platonic Love in Art: Socrates, Plato, Schiller, Beethoven, Schumann, and Brahms

DAILY DOSE of BEETHOVEN (November 3, 2020)

Platonic love gets a bad rap these days. A girl tells her boyfriend that they are going to have a "Platonic relationship", and he gets ready for a life of cold showers. That is not what it is about. Plato lived in an age, much like ours. He was not against sexual relations, but insisted that love had to begin with the love for the other person's mind: for their creative capacities, which make each person unique and precious.

“Platonic love” resonates with “agapic love”—the highest form of love: the love of the Creator and the love for our fellow human beings as made in the image of that Creator.

Plato's dialogue, "The Symposium" recounts his mentor Socrates' discussion of how he learned about love from the Goddess Diotima. From her, he learned how we are granted immortality by passing down our ideas, knowledge, morals, discoveries, and creations to future generations, so that they might replicate them, and improve upon them; thus keeping those ideas, and our own spirits, alive.

Such Platonic Love is to be found between Robert Schumann and Johannes Brahms, and here we cite a specific case, which is rooted in Beethoven and Schiller.

BRAHMS AND THE SCHUMANNS

In late September 1853, an unknown 20-year old showed up at the door of Robert and Clara Schumann. Among the pieces that he played for them was his Piano Sonata No. 1 in C Major, which directly quotes one of Beethoven’s late sonatas—Piano Sonata No. 29, Op. 106, the "Hammerklavier." Clara and Robert Schumann were so inspired that Robert wrote an article pronouncing Brahms "The Young Eagle", who would carry the tradition of Bach, Beethoven, and themselves into the future, much in the way that Plato discussed in his "Symposium."

A month later in October, Robert also responded by composing "Gesange der Fruhe", the "Song of the Dawn." For him, Brahms clearly was that dawn. Schumann dedicated the work "to Diotima." Some modern scholars insists that: "surely he could not have meant THAT Diotima. It must be a female friend." We disagree.

Schumann's father was a publisher, whose publications include the complete works of Plato. Robert Schumann planned to produce a work called "The Poet's Garden", citing the historical and epistemological basis of music. Half of his quotes came from Plato. We submit that he meant exactly that Diotima.

Yet, the work is darkened by the simultaneous onset of his dementia. Listen to the first movement:

https://youtu.be/9bp6dhS12Ok

The opening intervals reflect the opening of Beethoven's Cello Sonata No.3, Op. 69. (We prepared an audio showing the necessary connections.)

When Schumann died in 1856, Brahms was chosen to lead the funeral procession, even though he was much younger than most of Schumann's associates. He and Clara Schumann remained close for the rest of their lives. Much idle speculation has been wasted on whether they shared an intimate romantic relationship. Though we would find no fault if they did, we suspect they did not: The reason—their mutual love of Robert Schumann! Clara once wrote to her children: "I love Johannes Brahms. The nature of that love, is something my critics either cannot, or will not understand."

While confined to a sanitorium in Bonn Germany, Robert Schumann would visit the statue of Beethoven every day. In 1880, the city of Bonn decided to turn Schumann's grave into a monument, by erecting a new headstone. Brahms was commissioned to compose the music for the dedication of that headstone. The piece he wrote is called "Dem Dunkeln Schoss”:
https://youtu.be/-eX0cKY5waE

If you listen closely, you will hear an eerie correspondence between this work, and the first movement of Schumann's "Gesange der Fruhe," but with the sadness and darkness gone. The key to understanding it comes from the poetry Brahms chose, from Schiller's "Song of the Bell" (the same Schiller whose poetry was the basis of Beethoven's 9th Symphony).

Dem dunkeln Schoß der heilgen Erde
Vertrauen wir der Hände Tat,
Vertraut der Sämann seine Saat (line omitted)
Und hofft, daß sie entkeimen werde
Zum Segen, nach des Himmels Rat.
Noch köstlicheren Samen bergen
Wir traurend in der Erde Schoß
Und hoffen, daß er aus den Särgen
Erblühen soll zu schönerm Los.

(To the dark womb of the sacred Earth
We trust the deeds of our hands,
As the sower trusts his seed
And hopes that it may sprout into
a blessing, as willed by Heaven.
Even more precious seed we store
With grief, into the womb of the Earth
And hope, that out of the coffin will
Bloom a more beautiful destiny.)

What is Schiller saying here? When the farmer plants seeds into the ground, he counts, that if he nurtures them, God will do the rest. When we bury a loved one, it is not so automatic. We, as the next generation, must provide that more beautiful destiny.

One gets a sense of Brahms not quoting Schumann, so much as recomposing his work. as though reaching into the grave, grabbing him by the hand, and saying: "My dear friend, I shall help you realize what I know you could have done in your better days." Thus, Brahms becomes that better destiny, and fulfills Diotima's idea of immortality.

The next year, 1881, Brahms composed one of the most perfect works ever written, his setting of Schiller's “Nanie” (Op. 82), using the same intervals.

This is love, at the highest level.

This two-minute audio makes the connections: https://soundcloud.com/user-216951281/bsb

The photo below is of the Schumann monument in Bonn.

Beethoven as "Citizen of the World" -Part 2: 23 Songs of Different Nationalities

DAILY DOSE of BEETHOVEN (October 2, 2020)

No one is quite sure of the origin of Beethoven's 23 Folk Songs of Different Nationalities, WoO 158a. They are similar to the Scottish and Irish songs in that they are set for piano, cello, 2 violins, and various vocal combinations. However, the vocal parts are written in the original languages, with German translation underneath, and they cover an amazing array of German, Danish, Tyrolian, Polish, Spanish, Portuguese, Russian, Ukrainian, Swedish, Swiss, Venetian and Hungarian.

This video provides the score and text. If you click on "show more" you will see the starting times.

https://youtu.be/S3MNhSUjJOs

The only song that is presented in German only, is the Ukrainian song “Schone Minke”, so here is the Ukrainian version of Beethoven's setting:

https://youtu.be/9Axjg3khQGI

Beethoven also composed two sets of “Variations on National Airs, for flute and piano”, Op. 105 and 107. They are amazing in that not only the theme, but the variations maintain the national character. In this video of Op. 107, the variations on “Schone Minke” begin at 30:31.

https://youtu.be/OO99hRqT4ew

We begin to sense a type of composition emerging that is both universal, and yet, proudly patriotic!

For more Daily Dose, go to our previous posts, or to www.ffrcc.org. You will find the index of past posts on https://www.ffrcc.org/daily-dose-of-beethoven

Beethoven as "Citizen of the World": Part 1- Scottish and Irish Songs.

DAILY DOSE of BEETHOVEN (October 30, 2020)

Beethoven's settings of Scottish and Irish folk songs were presented in the posting of September 11, 2020. But let us recapitulate, and add a few more discoveries, concentrating, for now, on Scotland. One cannot separate the music from the great sorrow visited upon the people.

Classical music began to grow in Scotland in the late 18th century as visiting Italian opera singers performed bel-canto versions of Scottish songs and airs, drawing attention to the true value and beauty of such songs. Scotland began to develop its own classical composers, such as Thomas Erskine (1732-81), who had studied in Germany. Here is a work by Erskine:

https://youtu.be/Y227jV7wmk8

In 1786, Scotland's national poet Robert Burns, collaborated with James Johnson to create the "Scots Musical Museum", which by 1803 grew to 600 folk songs—about a third of them contributed by Burns, who also edited the collection.

This growth did not take place in a political vacuum. After the crushing of the Jacobin uprising at Culloden in 1746, a long process known as the "Highland Clearances" was set into motion that lasted well into the 1800's. Land was expropriated from the highlanders for the more lucrative practice of sheep-grazing; entire villages were burnt down, and the highlands were depopulated, as many emigrated. There is a sadness to many of the songs, whose origin must be acknowledged.

The largest number of emigrants went to Cape Breton Island, in Canada's province of Nova Scotia. They felt it incumbent on them to keep highland traditions alive, including Gaelic and fiddling. Here is a video of Cape Breton Island's Jerry Holland playing traditional Scottish highland music. It features the rhythmic "Scottish snap" which Antonin Dvorak found so useful in composing his New World Symphony. Dvorak found that African-American music, and Native-American music both utilized it:

https://youtu.be/cI06gmU4t_U

Our purpose here though, is not only to discuss the origin and beauty folk music, but to also classical music's role in uplifting honest folk music to a higher level of thought, emotion, and morality.

Here is an example in poetry: Frank McNies' poem on the “Highland Clearances” expresses rage and anger:

The Highland Clearance

The rain that makes our Highlands green
tears from broken hearts
torn from life that's always been
forced to foreign parts
the highland soul from homeland wrenched
blind loyalty betrayed
the thirst for money must be quenched
decency forbade
of what importance a family's home
that stands in rich man's way
when he needs the fields for sheep to roam
and his tenants cannot pay
forsaken is the chieftains pledge
to hold his clansmen true
force them to the waters edge
to a life they never knew ...

As justified as such rage and anger might be, it changes nothing. Historian Richard Sanders has suggested that Burn's poem "To a Field Mouse" is not about a mouse at all, but about the clearances. Mice have no concept of theft, and theft of food by starving people was punished harshly, even though the theft was minor.

Burns provides something that might move all hearts:

I doubt not, sometimes, that you may steal;
What then? Poor beast, you must live!
An odd ear in twenty-four sheaves
Is a small request;
I will get a blessing with what is left,
And never miss it.

Entire villages were burnt down during the highland clearances.

Your small house, too, in ruin!
Its feeble walls the winds are scattering!
And nothing now, to build a new one,
Of coarse green foliage!
And bleak December's winds ensuing,
Both bitter and piercing!

You saw the fields laid bare and empty,
And weary winter coming fast,
And cozy here, beneath the blast,
You thought to dwell,
Till crash! The cruel plough passed
Out through your cell.

Burns also collaborated with publisher and music collector George Thompson, on “A Select Collection of Original Scottish Airs”, published from 1793 to 1818, which adapted Scottish folk-songs with classical arrangements. Although Erskine and others were launching a Scottish school of composition, Thompson reached out to the very highest, including Joseph Haydn. In 1809, Beethoven began to compose many of these classical arrangements for Thompson, and continued to do so for over a decade. Thompson ended up publishing 125 of them.

Robbie Burns must have certainly been aware of Beethoven, as he was of George Washington. From his Ode on General Washington's Birthday (which got him into a lot of trouble in Britain):

Ode For General Washington's Birthday 1794

No Spartan tube, no Attic shell,
No lyre Aeolian I awake;
'Tis liberty's bold note I swell,
Thy harp, Columbia, let me take!
See gathering thousands, while I sing,
A broken chain exulting bring,
And dash it in a tyrant's face,
And dare him to his very beard,
And tell him he no more is feared-
No more the despot of Columbia's race!...

Beethoven complained that Thompson had not familiarized him enough with the sentiments of his native land, and indeed, it would seem that in many cases, Thompson had Beethoven arrange the melody, and provided the words later. That would have put Beethoven at a severe disadvantage. Nevertheless, his genius shines through.

Good performances of these works are hard to find, perhaps because of these problems. We present here, performances that capture some of their true depth.

Click on " show more", and you will see the titles, and starting times.

https://youtu.be/S3MNhSUjJOs

Beethoven and the Tragic

DAILY DOSE of BEETHOVEN (October 28, 2020)

We addressed the subject of the Tragic before, in the “Coriolan Overture” (May 29, 2020 post); the reference to the Tomb Scene in “Romeo and Juliet” in String Quartet Op. 18 No. 1, 2nd movement; and in the 2nd movement of Piano Concerto No. 4’s reference to Orpheus and Euridice (June 21 and 23, 2020 posts). Now we add the slow (2nd) movement of Piano Sonata No. 7 in D Major’s second movement.

https://youtu.be/I66Oh1uhicM

Beethoven was careful to differentiate between poetic inspiration and picture painting, which he felt was inadequate. While we have no specific literary reference for this movement of piano sonata 7, we sense one.

Next listen to movement 3. How does this follow? How does one explain such an emotional shifting of gears?

https://youtu.be/Ezu5M7W0U1c

Then listen to the fourth movement:

https://youtu.be/RQ32lewvV4E

and finally the entire 4-movement sonata:

https://youtu.be/jO0LoT6VEyE

There is much more to a sonata than one might expect!

The different movements of a sonata address the different psychological states of mind in life, and it tries to integrate them as a process of change. The final movement often poses a triumphant solution, as a transformation of what has come before. Beethoven takes this transformational process further than anyone.

Handel's Messiah: Mozart, Beethoven, and Mendelssohn

DAILY DOSE of BEETHOVEN (October 28, 2020)

Although Beethoven was very clear about his love for J.S. Bach, whom he called “the father of all harmony”, and joked that his name should rather be ocean (Meer) rather than brooklet (Bach); he more than once reported that he found George Frederic Handel (1695-1759) to be the greatest of all composers.

"To him, I bow the knee." Why?

Mozart studied both Bach and Handel in 1782 at the salon of Baron van Swieten, and in 1789, he reorchestrated Handel’s “Messiah", utilizing advances made in instruments since the time (when asked about Mozart's version of Handel’s "Messiah" though, Beethoven remarked that it would have lived without Mozart's improvements).

Mozart said of Handel: “Handel understands effect, better than any of us— when he chooses he strikes like a thunderbolt.”

This dramatic capability of Handel's was addressed in yesterday’s discussion of his aria: "Total Eclipse." Mozart quotes Handel's Messiah directly in his Requiem. The fugal opening of the Kyrie, is a direct quote from “And with his Stripes" in the Messiah.

Beethoven quotes the “Hallelujah” chorus in the Agnus Dei movement of his Missa Solemnis, and the 16 year-old Felix Mendelssohn quoted the same passage in his Octet.

We provide a six-minute audio report, to make the references clear.

https://drive.google.com/…/11hNEw-QXyo_errkoR1RrEjKyTn…/view

Beethoven’s Favorite Composer—Handel’s “Total Eclipse”

DAILY DOSE of BEETHOVEN (October 27, 2020)

Beethoven’s deafness is well chronicled. But perhaps less well known is the infirmity of one of Beethoven’s most admired composer, George Frederic Handel.

Beethoven more than once was reported to have said that he found Handel (1695-1759) to be the greatest of all composers. "To him, I bow the knee." Even on his death bed, Beethoven had in his hands a copy of Handel's works, and is reported to have said, "There is the truth."

HANDEL

George Frederic Handel, most well know for his “Messiah”, probably started losing his eyesight starting in the 1740s, especially after a failed cataract surgery by Chevalier John Taylor—the “poster child for 18th century quackery," according to Dr. Daniel Albert, the author of "Men of Vision," a history of ophthalmology. (JS Bach also went to Taylor for eye surgery and supposedly died of infection from it). It was reported that Handel was completely blind by 1751. He called his condition “worse than beggary, old age or chains.” However, Handel had an amazing memory and could still perform music based on his memory.

In September of 1741, amid his deteriorating eye conditions and immediately after the completion of the “Messiah”, Handel begin composing “Samson”, HWV 57, which became one of his finest work. The oratorio uses a libretto by Newburgh Hamilton, which is based on Milton's “Samson Agonistes”. Handel premiered “Samson” in Covent Garden, London, on 18 February 1743.

SAMSON

John Milton (1608-1674) wrote “Samson Agonistes” in 1671 when he had gone blind, echoing the historical Samson. It was published along with his “Paradise Regained”. Samson’s story begins in medias res. Samson has been captured by the Philistines and betrayed by his Philistine wife, Delilah, who cut off his hair—the container of his strength, and cut out his eyes. Samson is "Blind among enemies, O worse than chains".

The “Total Eclipse” of Handel’s “Samson”, is an aria for tenor. The aria highlights the moment of Samson’s anguished lament at losing his eye sight. In “Total Eclipse”, we hear the stinging humiliation of Samson’s fall, and perhaps his feelings of self-betrayal. Stripped of his powers, he is rendered emotionally naked. Not surprisingly, this aria is said to have moved Handel to tears in the final years of his life.

Here’s is a performance of "Total Eclipse”, by the late great Canadan tenor Jon Vickers:

https://youtu.be/qZInuf_chfc

Beethoven Rarities: Contrapuntal Studies with Albechtsberger

DAILY DOSE of BEETHOVEN (October 26, 2020)

When Joseph Haydn's busy schedule did not permit him to teach his student Beethoven any longer, he recommended him to a famous teacher, JG Albrechtsberger (1736-1809), who taught many of the leading composers of the day. Haydn knew how talented Beethoven was and wrote to his new teacher, "Six months of counterpoint and he will be ready."

Beethoven studied with Albrechtsbeger from 1794-95, and in 1795 produced his first published works, the 3 Trios, Opus 1, with Haydn's support.

Albrechtsberger put Beethoven through the paces, teaching him every aspect of counterpoint, including double counterpoint and tripe fugues. There are some 300 surviving studies by Beethoven from the time, which include corrections by his teacher.

When his studies were completed Beethoven remarked: "Patience, diligence, persistence, and sincerity will lead to success,"

We present here a few short studies Beethoven composed during this apprenticeship.

Prelude and Fugue in C Major, played by string orchestra:
https://youtu.be/8QxrtDQn09E

Fugue in E Minor for string quartet:
https://youtu.be/X7s6omMv3Jk

Two triple Fugues for Four Voices, played on piano:
https://youtu.be/SpzXb0iyI6g

Dona Nobis Pacem:
https://youtu.be/6hn8hDR8CpQ

Although little of Albrechtsberger's music is seldom played today, he must have had a sense of humor, because he composed 7 concerti for Jew's Harp (Jaw harp). Here is the first movement of a concerto for Jew's Harp and Mandora. It sounds somewhat nondescript until the soloist enters at 1:00. See if it doesn't bring a smile 😃:

https://youtu.be/L48oOAA8FoY

Creativity and Love: Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven—Part 3

DAILY DOSE of BEETHOVEN (October 23, 2020)

Beethoven immersed himself in Mozart's music. He once wrote:

“I have always counted myself amongst the greatest admirers of Mozart and shall remain so until my last breath.”

We have reported before on Beethoven's remarkable childhood in Bonn. His patrons in Bonn were eager for him to become a student of Mozart, so they sent him to Vienna to meet the famous composer.

The story of their encounter was told by Otto Jahn (1813-1859), an archeologist, philologist, and writer on art and music. In his biography of Mozart he recounted the story of their meeting, which goes something like this:

In 1787, when he was 17, Beethoven left Bonn on six months' leave of absence from the court orchestra. Armed with a letter of introduction from Max Franz, (brother of Emperor Joseph II), he gained entry into Mozart's home and was ushered into the music room to meet him.

"Play something," Mozart said to Beethoven. Beethoven played the opening of Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 24 in C minor. "Not that," said Mozart. "Anybody can play that. Play something of your own." So Beethoven did.

When the young man had finished, Mozart walked into the adjoining room where his wife Constanze was entertaining friends.

"Stanzi, Stanzi," he said, pointing back into the music room, "Watch out for that boy. One day he will give the world something to talk about."

Mozart agreed to take Beethoven on as a pupil. But when Beethoven returned to his lodging, there was an urgent letter from his father telling him to return to Bonn by the next stage – his mother was seriously ill with consumption and doctors feared for her life.

Beethoven had no choice but to leave. Less than two weeks after arriving in Vienna for what promised to be a trip that would change his life, he left for Bonn without ever achieving his ambition of taking lessons with Mozart.

That is the way the story goes. Although Otto Jahn is respected for his scholarship, because he said that he got this story on "good authority", and there is no documentation of the meeting, our modern scholars deny that it ever happened. By the time Beethoven returned to Vienna in 1792, Mozart was dead, and Haydn took him on as a student.

Haydn was 60, and the world's most famous composer at the time. Teaching a 22 year old may not have been his top priority, but evidence supports that reports of animosity between them are exaggerated. Haydn even considered taking Beethoven to London with him, and helped him publish his Op. 1 Trio. Beethoven in turn, studied what he called the inimitable Masses of Haydn, and talked of how such a great man could have come from such humble origins.

OPUS 18

Between 1798 and 1800, Beethoven wrote his first string quartets, which is also a set of six compositions. To prepare himself for the effort, he composed three string trios, and copied out Mozart's String Quartet in A Major (from his quartets dedicated to Haydn) by hand, just as Mozart had done with Haydn's Symphony No. 42, roughly 28 years earlier. He is reported to have remarked:

“What Mozart might have shown the world, if only the world had been ready for him."

Here is Mozart's String Quartet in A Major, No. 5 of his quartets dedicated to Haydn.

https://youtu.be/QM4ypK3SZHw

and here is Beethoven's String Quartet in A Major, Op. 18:

https://youtu.be/p9n4CpSYM6o

Mozart's quartet in A was the model for Beethoven's. That is the most clear in the Andante movements (2nd movement in Mozart, and 3rd in Beethoven). Both are a “Theme and Variations” form, in the key of D. (In both videos, if you click on "show more", you will see the highlighted starting times of each movement.)

Even in 1801, as Op 18 was being published, Beethoven was making changes to the scores. He told the violinist Karl Amenda, "Only now am I learning how to properly write string quartets."

Like Mozart, who spoke of the "arduous labor" involved, it took Beethoven three years to complete six quartets. But what an explosion of creativity in the mere thirty years from 1771-1801, and Beethoven was just getting started!

Creativity and Love: Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven—Part 2

DAILY DOSE of BEETHOVEN (October 22, 2020)

Mozart moved to Vienna in 1781, the same year that Haydn stated that he found an entirely new way of composing String Quartets, with his Six String Quartets, Op. 33. Part of that new way of composing was what is known as the "Motivfuhrung" or motif-leading. A “motif” is a short phrase of only a few notes. Haydn evolved the science of developing an entire movement out of the kernel of such motifs. This gave the movement much more unity and inner cohesion.

Here is Op. 33 No. 2 in Eb. If you listen to the very opening, you will hear that after the theme is first stated, the short motifs which make it up, are isolated and developed without a full statement of the theme.

https://youtu.be/u5hRL0zQFUM

The quartet is called "The Joke", and the joke is in the last movement which starts at 15:13 in this recording. The movement is a Rondo, where the main theme keeps returning (although in Haydn's hands, it is never predictable.) Towards the end, long pauses are introduced, as if the players had lost their place.

MOZART'S RESPONSE

Mozart studied these quartets of Haydn, and between 1782-85, wrote his own set of six, which he dedicated to Haydn. His dedication page for these quartets is quite touching:

“To my dear friend Haydn.

“A father who had decided to send out his sons into the great world, thought it his duty to entrust them to the protection and guidance of a man who was very celebrated at the time and who, moreover, happened to be his best friend.

“In like manner I send my six sons to you, most celebrated and very dear friend. They are, indeed, the fruit of a long and laborious study; but the hope which many friends have given me that this toil will be in some degree rewarded, encourages me and flatters me with the thought that these children may one day prove a source of consolation to me.

“During your last stay in this capital you yourself, my very dear friend, expressed to me your approval of these compositions. Your good opinion encourages me to offer them to you and leads me to hope that you will not consider them wholly unworthy of your favour. Please then receive them kindly and be to them a father, guide and friend! From this moment I surrender to you all my rights over them. I entreat you, however, to be indulgent to these faults which may have escaped a father’s partial eye, and, in spite of them, to continue your generous friendship towards one who so highly appreciates it. Meanwhile, I remain with all my heart, dearest friend, your most sincere friend.

W.A. Mozart”

After hearing all six of them performed, Haydn remarked to Mozart's father Leopold:

“I tell you before God, and as an honest man, your son is the greatest composer known to me by person and repute, he has taste and what is more the greatest skill in composition.”

Here is Mozart's Quartet No. 16, the fourth of the set dedicated to Haydn, also in Eb major. You can hear both what Mozart owes to Haydn, but also how different and advanced it is. For one thing, it is twice as long.
https://youtu.be/bkNWCx-2AbU

After Mozart's death at the young age of 35 in 1791, one could not mention his name to Haydn without the older man bursting into tears at the loss of such a dear friend and great artist.

Tomorrow Beethoven picks up the baton.

For more Daily Dose, go to our previous posts, or to www.ffrcc.org. You will find the index of past posts on https://www.ffrcc.org/daily-dose-of-beethoven

Creativity and Love: Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven—Part 1

DAILY DOSE of BEETHOVEN (October 21, 2020)

In this series, we will examine an explosion in creativity over a period of only 30 years (1771-1801), and the agapic love between creative minds which made it possible. The three composers cited are from three different generations. Their birth years are as follows:

Haydn 1732
Mozart 1756
Beethoven 1770

Mozart called Haydn "Papa Haydn", and indeed it was like a father-son relationship. In 1771, at the age of fifteen, Mozart took a new Symphony by Haydn, Symphony No. 42 in D Major, and wrote it out note by note in order to learn from it. He then proceeded to compose his own Symphony No. 20 in D major, in 1772.

Why did he study this work in particular? A leading Haydn scholar, the late H.D. Robbins Landon, reports that Haydn made a breakthrough in 1771, and suggested comparing the slow movement of this symphony, which sings beautifully, to any earlier one, which he proposed would sound more "stiff". Here is the slow movement from Symphony No. 42, which really does sing:

https://youtu.be/PVTGkN3yqPM…

and here is the Andante from Symphony No. 39, of only a couple of years earlier, which does seem a bit more "stiff."

https://youtu.be/Rkn5Ao4wk_c…

What accounts for this transformation? Mr. Robbins-Landon tells us that Haydn composed an Italian opera in between! Symphony No. 42 shows the influence of Italian bel-canto singing, even in an instrumental form. It was not Haydn's first exposure to Italian bel-canto though. Earlier, he had studied with the renowned Italian opera composer, Nicola Porpora.

Not every previous work of Haydn sounds “stiff”, but we do hear a big change with this work, as well with the set of six string quartets Op. 20, which he also composed in 1771.

Here is the complete Symphony No. 20 of Mozart. If you wish to compare slow movements, the Andante begins at 7:55.

https://youtu.be/ot0pSBGS4Ww

THEIR FRIENDSHIP

When Mozart moved to Vienna in 1781, he and Haydn became fast friends. And, although Haydn was still a mentor of sorts to Mozart, the then 25-year-old Mozart soared, especially after discovering the works of J.S. Bach and Handel in 1782.

There was no competition or jealousy between them. They played in quartets together, and Haydn wrote about Mozart in 1787:

“If I could only impress on the soul of every friend of music, and on high personages in particular, how inimitable are Mozart’s works, how profound, how musically intelligent, how extraordinarily sensitive! (for this is how I understand them, how I feel them) — why then the nations would vie with each other to possess such a jewel within their frontiers… but should reward him, too: for without this, the history of great geniuses is sad indeed, and gives but little encouragement to posterity to further exertions… It enrages me to think that this incomparable Mozart is not yet engaged in some imperial or royal court! Forgive me if I lose my head. But I love this man so dearly.”

Beethoven’s predecessors—KEPLER AND BACH

DAILY DOSE of BEETHOVEN (October 20, 2020)

Recently, we traced some of the developments in the Medici salon in Florence Italy, that led directly into, among other things, the breakthroughs of J.S. Bach. One area of study that went on at the Medici Salon was the science of music, including Johannes Kepler's "Harmonies of the World." (Please review the posting on the C Minor series and Kepler, June 30, 2020). We also established that Bach followed these Italian developments closely.

At the same time, Bach's own part of Germany was undergoing a revolution especially in organ playing, that also drew on the work of Kepler. Many German organists trained in Amsterdam within the great Dutch organist Jan Pieterzoon Sweelinck (known as the "maker of organists"), then came back to Germany to lead the music in the great churches and cathedrals. Beautiful organs were built in Germany in those churches, first by Arp Schnittger and son, and later by Gottfried Silbermann, and his brother Andreas. They are still regarded as some of the most beautiful in tone and appearance today (see photos below).

The most famous organist of the 17th century was the Dane, Dieterich Buxtehude, who played at the Marienkirche in Lubeck. The then 20-year-old J.S. Bach thought enough of him to walk 250 miles to study with him, and overstayed his visit by four months! To get an idea of how Bach learned from Buxtehude, but also by how much he surpassed him, compare Buxtehude's “Ciacona in C Minor” played here on a Schnittger organ:

https://youtu.be/73IgEb25i94

with Bach's “Passacaglia”, in the same key, played here on a Silbermann organ:

https://youtu.be/3i1R312YXlE

The challenge of the Ciacona/Passacaglia is to generate freedom and creativity out of the most restrictive form. Both feature a short bass line that repeats over and over. The composer has to create beautiful variations above that bass. In Buxtehude's work, the bass line is only 8 notes: C Ab G B C Eb D G. The Schnittger organ reveals some marvellous tone colors and combinations.

Bach's bass line is longer, 15 notes, and it begins with just the pedals: C G Eb F G Ab F G, D Eb B C F G C. At a certain point Bach marks "fugued". He takes the first half of the bass line and makes a fugue out of it. You can hear that change at 7:56 in this recording.

THE WELL-TEMPERED SYSTEM

The need to divide the octave into twelve half tones had been known to the Greeks since the fourth century B.C. Music was held back for centuries by false assumptions that mathematics was the cause of musical intervals, and that the ratios of intervals had to correspond to rational numbers. It was Kepler who finally freed music from those chains, but music still awaited a champion who could implement it by composing in all twelve tonalities (24 if you count both major and minor keys). In 1722, Bach composed preludes and fugues in all 24-keys and called it “the Well-Tempered Clavier” (keyboard). He tuned his clavier, so that it could play all of these works in tune (previous non-tempered tunings, based on rational numbers, would go out of tune as more sharps or flats were added.)

Bach's breakthrough was not just to be able to play in all the keys on the same keyboard, but to HAVE 24-keys (which had never really existed before), be able to COMPOSE in them all, and move freely from one to another WITHIN a piece.

Although there is reason to suspect that Bach was familiar with Kepler, there is no direct evidence. There is little doubt though, that Buxtehude did know Kepler, and would likely have passed the knowledge on to his students. Buxtehude was close friends with Andreas Werckmeister, who first coined the term " Well Tempered Clavier." Werckmeister wrote a book describing Buxtehude's new methods in counterpoint, and Buxtehude repaid Werckmeister with this poem., which twice puns on the meaning of Werckmeister (work master):

POEM
Wer ein Kunst-Werck recht betrachtet,
Es nicht unerkannt verachtet,
Redet frey ohn’ arge List,
Christlich, wie es billig ist;
Kömmt es denn auch auf die Proben,
Muss das Werck den Meister loben.
Er mein Freund! hat wol erwogen,
In dem Buch, und ausgezogen,
So der Kunst erspriesslich sey,
Treulich und ohn Heucheley,
Er ist auch Werckmeister worden,
Rühmlich in der Musen-Orden.

TRANSLATION
Whoever views a work of art properly,
does not disdain it anonymously,
speaks freely without arrant cunning, in a Christian manner, as is right,
for when it comes to the test,
the work must praise the master.
He, my Friend, has considered well,
in the book, and excerpted,
what is useful to art,
honestly and unfeignedly,
he has also become workmaster,
praiseworthy in the order of muses.

Buxtehude is also known to have composed a suite based on the 7 known planets of his time, which is now lost. Werckmeister wrote frequently of the need for a well-tempered system, and cited Kepler's work as the basis of a well-tempered system..

In his “Hypomnemata Musica”, a work on tempering, Werckmeister wrote:

“I wish to say something more about the excellent imperial mathematician, Johannes Kepler’s opinion, which he stated in the five volumes of De Harmoni Mundi, where he derives the cause of musical harmony out of the 5 regular solids in great detail … and says…that the Archetype is the cause in that it not only moves the stars to a more beautiful harmony (indeed not sensuous) but even more that it prepares the minds and souls of men so that they exist in such harmony and are moved through the heavenly motions, and are made joyful through sensuous, earthly music.”

Finally, to get an idea of the freedom the well-tempered system offered, compare this “Fantasia” by Sweelinck from about 1600. Despite being a pioneer, the musical system of his time did not allow for much modulation. Notice the paucity of sharps and flats in the score. (You don't have to listen to all six minutes.)

https://youtu.be/vtabszT4nos?list=TLPQMTkxMDIwMjAZaqftfkFzZQ

Compare that with the final fugue in Bach's 1722 “Well-Tempered Clavier”, where all 12 tones are featured in the fugue subject!

https://youtu.be/ryu7WcPV7fg?list=RDryu7WcPV7fg

Great Minds in Dialogue: The Medici Salon in Florence

DAILY DOSE OF BEETHOVEN (October 19, 2020)

One of the most enjoyable paradoxes in all art and science is the following:

a. All discoveries and creations are made by sovereign individual minds, not committees. The Ninth Symphony of Beethoven, for example, was composed by Beethoven, and no-one else.

b. All knowledge is social: never generated in a vacuum. The great musicians and poets, for example, learned from one another, and carried each other's work forward, for the benefit of society. It is also inconceivable that Beethoven could have composed the Ninth Symphony without the poetry of Friedrich Schiller.

One institution that created positive social change through music, was the salon of Fernando Medici in the late 1600's, in Florence, Italy. It was the musical equivalent of the “Apollo Project”—a crash program to bring in new technologies that could move the world forward, rapidly. The Medici family had long been associated with patronage of great art in the area, including that of Leonardo da Vinci. They had been involved in the creation of opera, which was founded to revive the tradition of Greek drama, as a counterpole to the lightweight entertainment of the time.

Fernando II, and his son Cosimo IV's salon was the last of the great Medici efforts. Fernando's intent was a crash program to create both new instruments, and new music. Here are the many ways in which the effort bore fruit:

A. It is Fernando who employed Bartolomeo Cristofori to create a new instrument, the piano-forte, to replace the harpsichord. Cristofori succeeded. The action of the Pianoforte Is a revolutionary improvement over the harpsichord.

B. Fernando also employed the composer Ludovico Giustini to compose for the new instrument. Although it may sound a bit like a harpsichord, notice the difference in volume levels:

https://youtu.be/S1qDC1cjm4E?list=RD2gyT_30tAJE

C. They employed Nicolo Stradivari to make improvements in string instruments. In 1689, the Medicis also brought the great scientist and philosopher, Gottfried Leibniz (1646-1717) to Florence, to instruct them on his latest work in dynamics. The next year, Stradivari changed the way he constructed violins, and built his "long Strads", the ones most valued today. Might he have been influenced by Leibniz?

D. They employed the composer Archangelo Corelli to put these Strads through their paces. Corelli did exactly that in his famous "La Folia." It is a 'Theme and Variations" that tests out the capabilities of the new instrument.

https://youtu.be/pGET78mPMCA

E. They studied " The Music of the Spheres", including Kepler.

F. G.F. Handel remained a life-long friend of Fernando de Medici. This Sarabande from Keyboard Suite HWV 437, is also a Theme and Variations. The theme is almost identical to Corelli's. Although it is written for keyboard, its nature submits well to orchestration, as heard here.

https://youtu.be/xOLQd_pUbxs

Progress between the instruments and compositions is reciprocal. A great breakthrough came with J.S. Bach. He was keen for Italian developments, and wrote a fugue for organ which he entitled: "Fugue, based on a Theme of Corelli."

Bach was also involved in instrument design, and composed his solo works for violin and cello, when Stradivari was at the height of his career. Bach’s well-known “Chaconne”, is also a set of variations of a type, and although it didn’t quote Corelli directly, as did Handel, it invokes his "La Folia." Bach would seem to be taking advantage of the instrument's new capabilities.

https://youtu.be/ngjEVKxQCWs

So, there we have a chain of compositions (all in D minor, by the way), of an increasing power, directly linked to progress in instruments.

In the 20th century, Sergei Rachaninoff composed his “Variations on a Theme by Corelli”, also in D minor. We will let you decide
how this fits in our noble chain.

https://youtu.be/vZTSzvcW9q8

Beethoven's Other Heroic Leonore

DAILY DOSE of BEETHOVEN (October 16, 2020)

Although Beethoven composed only one opera, “Leonore” (later known as “Fidelio”), he had grown up with great theater in Bonn (see posts of July 30th, and 31st), and during his life composed incidental music for several plays, including “Egmont” (April 17th post), “Coriolan” (May 29th), “The Ruins of Athens”, and “King Stephen” (last 2 days' posts).

THE BACKGROUND

Johann Friedrich Leopold Duncker (1770-1842), was first a war councilor, then the first lecturing cabinet secretary of the King of Prussia and a secret senior government councilor in the cabinet of Friedrich Wilhelm III.

He accompanied the King of Prussia to the Congress of Vienna in 1815, as his cabinet secretary. The Prussian delegation included Wilhelm von Humboldt, and Beethoven hoped they could be a positive force in the congress, which was tasked with redrawing the map of Europe at the end of the Napoleonic Wars. Unfortunately that did not happen, and under the direction of Prince Metternich, the dictatorial Carlsbad Decrees were implemented in 1819.

Duncker was an admirer of Beethoven and in 1823, convinced the Prussian King to subscribe to Beethoven's “Missa Solemnis”. When he arrived in Vienna in 1814, Duncker brought a play with him that he had written, called "Leonore Prohaska", and asked Beethoven to compose incidental music for it, which he did. Unfortunately, the play was not performed, as the subject is a noble one.

Elenora Prochaska was a poor domestic servant who grew up in a military orphanage. Women were not allowed in the military at the time, but she wished to defend her country, Prussia, during the Napoleonic Wars. So, she disguised herself as a man, August Renz, joined the infantry, and saw battle. In 1813 she was severely wounded, and it was only then that field surgeons realized she was a woman. Though rushed to a hospital, she died within three weeks.

Plays and poems were written about her as a chaste heroine, and she became known as "Potsdam's Joan of Arc". Decades later the city of Potsdam built a monument: "in memory of the maiden heroine.".

THE MUSIC

Beethoven composed four pieces of music for the play:

1. A Chorus of Soldiers for a capella male chorus:

“We build and we perish; from the rubble,
When our ashes will have long ago been dispersed by the wind,
The temple of freedom and love will arise.

“We follow the King and fight for justice,
Which safeguards life, freedom, love,
For the struggling human race.

“Joyfully we look Death in his pallid face,
The Righteous One’s judgement calls us to fight,
To fight for freedom and love.

https://youtu.be/M4rq7MyQeqo

2. A Romance for Soprano and Harp:

“A flower blooms in the garden that’s mine,
That flower will I nurture and care for;
I shall wear it next to my heart,
As long as I call it ‘flower of mine’
It will give me cheer and blessing.

“An angel sowed it in my life,
It is not of earthly issue,
It rises in charming majesty
In a flowerbed spreading sweet fragrance,
Washed by the dew of heaven.

“And another flower I call my own,
It burns my heart intensely,
It burns in the purple of the dawn,
It shall be to me a sacred bloom,
And so I tend it in the silence.

“You, to whom I consecrated it, remember me,
Keep faith with me, still love me,
Then that flower will one day be your own;
Else it will fade on my gravestone,
And Time will bring you no other.”

https://youtu.be/8R_FUui768E

3. A melodrama, spoken dialogue over a glass harmonica.

The glass harmonica was invented by Benjamin Franklin. Mozart composed a well-known work for it, but we were unaware that Beethoven had until now. Modern performances often substitute orchestral instruments. (See photo below)

https://youtu.be/T_h9vOpackM

4. A Funeral March for Elenora.

He composed an original march, which is now lost, but also orchestrated the Funeral March from his Piano Sonata, No. 12, Op. 26. In 1801, two years before his Eroica Symphony (see post of April 18th), Beethoven had inscribed on that movement of sonata No. 12, in Italian—“Funeral March for the Death of a Hero." That is the one included in the instrumental music.

https://youtu.be/3u3qcibyfUI

Beethoven’s Op. 26 was Chopin's favorite among Beethoven's sonatas (see post of July 21st). He patterned his sonata in Bb minor, including the famous Funeral March movement on it. We include that movement as a bonus.

https://youtu.be/Hgw_RD_1_5I

Little Known Beethoven: Incidental Music - Part 2

DAILY DOSE of BEETHOVEN (October 15, 2020)

Before we examine "The Ruins of Athens", let us first look at the even lesser known play, "King Stephen: or Hungary's First Benefactor."

And, before we examine that, let us discuss first its playwright, August von Kotzebue.

Kotzebue was assassinated in 1819, by a deranged radical student, Karl Sand. Prince Metternich, who led the Congress of Vienna, used the opportunity to impose the dictatorial "Carlsbad Decrees", which censored the press and policed the universities. Perhaps, because he was murdered by a supposed radical, Kotzebue is often referred to as a conservative playwright. Not so! People of Beethoven's ilk could see through supposed left-right divisions, as we have to see through them today.

Historian Renee Sigerson, gave us a more profound view of the playwright. The following statements, are all derived from an article of hers:

“After serving as Secretary of the Treasury, Alexander Hamilton saw the wisdom of employing theater to uplift and educate the population. He collaborated with a fellow patriot, William Dunlap, to create the first major theater in NYC - the Park Theater. That theater presented eighteen of Kotzebue's plays. He became the most popular playwright in New York, maybe even the USA.

“One play "The Stranger", presented a penitent woman, grieving over her sin of adultery. She was sincere enough, that her husband forgave her, and the family was reunited. The portrayal was so powerful, that audiences everywhere found themselves on the side of redemption, and cheered at the outcome. Kotzebue had made Jesus' "Let him who is without sin, cast the first stone", very real to his audience.

“Another play of his presented the daily life of a slave family in the British colony of Jamaica, for all-white audiences.”

Kotzebue also served as director of the St Petersburg Theater in Russia, under the reign of Catherine the Great, who defended the young American republic by founding the "League of Armed Neutrality." He was associated with many leaders in Russia who saw the U.S. as a model.

KING STEPHEN

Stephen was crowned as King of Hungary on Christmas Day, 1,000 A.D. The play locates him as having civilized Hungary, by introducing it to Christianity. In recent years, the scandals of the Catholic Church and other influences have cast Christianity as an often villain. Despite the bad rap it gets, and sometimes not undeservedly, Christianity overall, served not just as a religion, but as a civilizing philosophical and political influence, which we can see in this short play!

Beethoven begins with an overture and chorus that set the stage for the King's opening soliloquy. Here is just the overture.

https://youtu.be/g-054tNn6bU

King Stephen then speaks:

“Welcome to the steps of this throne, which the loyalty of my Hungarians has exalted. This place to which I have summoned you is still inhabited by the spirits of your fathers; Here a sword oft flashed victorious in the face of the foe, and wise men’s counsel often aided their Prince.

“But they were ensnared in harmful nets which the fallen spirit had set up round them. Dripping with blood, they sacrificed to idols, and their prayers sank down into the Underworld. The altars they approached only with trembling, to the louring evil spirit who hates mankind.

“To lift their hearts to the God who embraces a world in love, they were unable. But finally my father’s pious bosom was opened to an initial gentle ray; Then, for the first time, you became Conscious of your high calling; Then your highly polished sabres were no longer profaned as sacrificial knives;

“Then, by degrees, the pestilent mists vanished, and a better, more compassionate era dawned.”

King Stephen then employs the Christian idea of: "Love Thine Enemy." After a Victory March, he addresses his enemy, Gyula, the defeated King of Transylvania. First, we provide the Victory March (The links will all begin at the right place, but the reader will have to close them when the piece is over, or the entire play will continue.)

https://youtu.be/hwe7Nqwo-E8?t=758

“Stephen: Bold warriors, Hungary’s pride and glory, I entrusted you with a noble aim. You set out full of a noble desire for glory, you have returned home with glory crowned. From your noble fathers you inherited the warrior spirit known of old; In Hungary there are none who are traitors. To the glory of past ages praised.

“Greetings, Gyula!

“Gyula: You would greet your enemy?

“Stephen: A Hungarian knows no enemy in chains. Into armed ranks he’ll storm with the courage of a lion, but he knows how to forgive a man he has vanquished.

“Gyula: Only now have you vanquished me. With horror and dismay my unwilling lips declare: Your God is mightier than my idols. Therefore, admit me to your league of Christians.

“Stephen: Do not imagine a faith confessed only with your lips can shield you.

“Gyula: I am impelled by my own heart… your clemency… My pride has never been dissimulation’s slave.

“Stephen: Very well. Then may God’s blessing rest upon you; who’ll never cast away one who has gone astray. In brotherly love I come to meet you, Let your bonds be loosed by my own hand.

“Gyula: What is this, my lord?

“Stephen: You are free.

“Gyula: I am free again? You’ll lay no yoke upon me? You are my enemy no more?

“Stephen: A Christian has no enemies, only brothers; Endure the yoke of faith, it is not hard to bear.

“Gyula: Now I am yours forever, without trembling! A free servant your magnanimity has made rich.

“Stephen: Of all the victories that convulse the world, none is equal to victory through love.”

On the subject of love, we next meet King Stephen's betrothed, Gisela.

“The Bavarian Envoy: Indeed. A propitious star led me ahead of my Princess, that I might become the admiring witness of your royal turn of mind. The world was acquainted with Stephen’s deeds, but the greatest of all it did not know – The hero’s victory over himself. Hail to the noble Bavarian princess, who is your chaste betrothed!

“Stephen: She brings good fortune to me and to my people! A valiant man can easily find a bloody path to a throne by winning laurels, but wherever a throne rests on justice, it has always been adorned by love.

“Gisela: A close and tender bond did indeed bind me to my princely dynasty and native land. Allow me to share my heart with your people, and you will soon heal the wounds of parting.”

A women's chorus then sings the praises of the Princess.

“Where innocence has strewn flowers,
Where love has built itself a temple,
Thither we, a faithful escort, lead
To the godly hero his godly bride.”

https://youtu.be/hwe7Nqwo-E8?t=1126

King Stephen then addresses a very important question: The difference between courage in war, and barbarism. The country had been settled by nomadic tribes, with a reputation for brutality and fierceness. King Stephen presents them (according to the play), for the first time, with written laws.

“Stephen: Take a look at the past. You were a tribe of herdsmen, but many a people retreated in bloody battle before your raw fury. You have often reduced the forests of German lances to matchwood, Your courage often struck terror into the kingdom of the Franks. Constantinople trembled before you, You drenched the Danube’s banks in blood. Europe became a witness to your exploits, each conflict added to the fame of your weapons, and nothing but the eternal Carpathian mountains would you accept by way of victory wreath. But, heroes who sully renown with cruelty seem nothing but a judgement sent by God. And so you became a source of terror to other nations, but you failed to gain their trust. Brothers, only when the blessed consecration of the Christian faith had been pronounced over you, did you take your place among the nations, now an imposing link in the chain of peoples. You sally forth no longer to bring devastation; for justice alone you are always prepared to fight; with the pious noble-mindedness of Christians you combine your forefathers’ bravery.

“Only one thing is still wanting: that one great thing from which everything enduring flows: The torch of laws which, burning brightly, sheds light, protects and warns. A nation for whom, from generation to generation, only custom offered loose guidelines, lacked written laws – of inner happiness, the inalterable defence.

“Receive them from your Prince’s hands; Through obedience, maintain them in force, and may the wisdom of coming generations perfect what my honest intent today creates. Victory’s renown I do not begrudge the hero; Lasting happiness is not gained by bloody strife; Only he who gives them law and order should be called the people’s benefactor.”

A beautiful slow march follows:
https://youtu.be/hwe7Nqwo-E8?t=1598

Altough this short play may strike us as a bit propagandistic, King Stephen did change Hungary for the better. Over 200 years later, the Mongol invasion plunged the nation back into darkness, killing as much as 70% of the population. From 1541 to 1699, central Hungary was under occupation by the Ottoman Empire. Emperor Franz II's point in sponsoring the two plays was to locate Austria as the second great liberator of Hungary, in the tradition of King Stephen, with their victory in the Great Turkish War of 1683-1699.

The play ends with a rousing chorus.

“Hail! Hail to our descendants! They will see what the spirit of prophecy has discerned. Their childlike trust will be the fairest diamond in the crown, daily affording fresh blessings The King will repay, in a far-off time, the unswerving loyalty his people gratefully dedicate to him.”

https://youtu.be/hwe7Nqwo-E8?t=2100

Little-known Beethoven: His Incidental Music for Plays: Part 1

DAILY DOSE of BEETHOVEN (October 14, 2020)

In 1811, Beethoven was commissioned to compose incidental music for two new plays by August von Kotzebue, entitled "The Ruins of Athens", and "King Stephen: or Hungary's First Benefactor." While these works represent neither the composer nor playwright at their best, there's more to them than meets the ear, and they do not deserve the obscurity to which they have been relegated.

HISTORICAL BACKDROP

The two plays were patriotic works of a sort, but were written in a difficult time, when the Napoleonic Wars had been raging for nearly a decade, and Austria twice defeated by Napoleon. The second defeat in 1809, saw the rise of Count (later Prince) Metternich, who, although he emerged later as an opponent of the French Empire; began his career as an advocate of collaboration with them!

Beethoven was an opponent of such collaboration. In 1806, he broke relations with his patron Prince Lichnowsky, after the Prince tried to trick him into playing his music for French officers. Beethoven went home and smashed the bust the Prince had given him of himself, and made the famous pronouncement: "Prince: You are what you are by accident of birth. I am what I am, because of what I made myself to be. There have been, and will be, a thousand Princes. There is only one Beethoven."

The issue for Beethoven was not a problem with the French (he had many admirers amongst them, and often wrote in French), but with accepting military occupation. He simply could not compromise on moral issues. In his declining years, Prince Lichnowsky would climb the stairs to Beethoven's apartment, and listen outside to the playing of the young genius, who he had earlier promoted.

THE OTTOMAN EMPIRE

At the time, a playwright could not openly protest against occupation by the French Empire. So, in his "Ruins of Athens", Kotzebue may have been using an earlier fight - that of Austria against the Turkish Ottoman Empire, and the liberation of Hungary from that empire - as a metaphor for the more serious situation in his own time.

The Ottoman Empire posed a serious threat, when, in 1683, they came close to conquering Austria. By 1699, Austria won, and had liberated Hungary, which had been decimated, first by a 13th century Mongol invasion, and three centuries later, by a partial occupation by the Ottomans, who saw themselves as descendants of the Mongols.

The Ottoman Empire is reputed to have invented the marching band, designed to strike terror into the hearts of invaded cities, as the fearsome Janissaries (largely abducted Western children, indoctrinated as soldiers of Islam), paraded by. Imagine seeing children you have known, out to kill you. This modern recreation of such an Ottoman Turkish march captures that level of intimidation, especially after 01:10 as it becomes a brutal charge:

https://youtu.be/O-0XDuUfEn0?list=RDRtcTioy0MCU

Historian David Shavin, demonstrated that in 1783, the centennial of that battle, panic swept Austria, and war preparations were being made, out of fear of a new invasion. The Ottoman Empire was however weakened by then, and Mozart helped defuse the war drive with his parody of the feared Turkish marching band. Is this scary?

https://youtu.be/quxTnEEETbo

Study the past, but don't live there! Building the future requires forgiveness, and redemption.

Mozart went further in defusing the war scare, by humanizing the supposed enemy. In his opera, the “Abduction from the Seraglio”, he surprises us by having the Turkish Pasha emerge as the most moral character in the opera.

Beethoven followed Mozart's lead in his Turkish March from "The Ruins of Athens." You can hear the benign marching band approach, pass by, and then fade into the distance:

https://youtu.be/1IXLfPcgX1U

“The Ruins of Athens” tells a tale of how the Greek Goddess of wisdom and of war, Athena, after sleeping for 2,000 years, awakes to find Athens occupied by the Ottoman Empire, and the Parthenon, which was named after her (from the Greek Parthenos or virgin) in ruins. She then finds Greek virtue and values, in the Hungaian city of Pest.

The first part is true. Although the Ottoman Empire no longer posed a serious threat to Western Europe, they continued to occupy Greece until 1824. From 1801-1812, Britain's Lord Elgin carted off the marble statues and friezes of the Parthenon to the British Museum, where they remain today, claiming the occupying Ottomans had authorized him to do so. Neither the Turkish nor Greek governments have ever been able to find any evidence to that effect, and it is today largely believed that Elgin fabricated the authorization.

The part about finding Greek values in Hungary is a bit of a stretch though. The plays were commissioned for the dedication of a new Hungarian Theater in the city of Pest (which later merged with Buda, across the Danube River). The theater's patron was Emperor Franz II. The plays were even performed on the Emperor's Name Day in 1812.

The basic argument of Austria, was that the Holy Roman Empire had liberated Hungary from the Ottoman Empire, and thus brought civilization to it. It was certainly true that Hungary had been decimated by the Mongol invasions of the 13th century, losing as much as 70% of its population, and that central Hungary came under direct Ottoman rule from 1541-1699. Whether it represented a new Athens, is debatable, to say the least.

The "Ruins of Athens" was first performed in 1812, and was revived ten years later for the dedication of a new theater in Vienna. Beethoven composed a new overture for the play, which is today known as "The Consecration of the House."

Here is the original overture from 1811-12, Op. 113:

https://youtu.be/DBwFAOVdQ7w

Here is the 1822 version, Op. 124. Beethoven's progress is evident. It shows evidence of his increased study of Bach and Handel. One can even hear a hint of the double-fugue from the first movement of his Ninth Symphony in it:

https://youtu.be/t7peXTpC4qM

Parthenon marbles in the British Museum
Photos by Fred Haight:

Special Columbus Day Celebration

DAILY DOSE OF BEETHOVEN (OCTOBER 13, 2020)

Yesterday was Columbus Day. As both historical ignorance and political correctness combine to augment one another's incompetence; and as statues of heroes and scoundrels both, are indiscriminately toppled and defaced, we would like to recall another celebration of another Columbus Day—this one on the 400th Anniversary of Columbus' landing, in 1892.

Rather than seeing Columbus and his voyages as symbols of racism and oppression, the opposite view was then taken. The first "Columbus Day" celebrations in NYC lasted for an entire week. Every nationality and religious group participated. 350 Native American students marched alongside students of private Italian Schools, such as the Dante Alighieri College of Astoria. The parade consisted of 12,000 public school children, 5,500 Catholic school kids, the Hebrew Orphan Asylum, and 29 marching bands, consisting of 30-50 instruments each.

The celebration was not meant to whitewash past atrocities that had taken place against ethnic groups, but to reinforce the commitment to CHANGE, that was embodied in Columbus' mission, as manifested in the parade sponsors' commitment to something new—universal public education. That is why so many school children marched! They were not out to seek reparations for past injustices. No place in the world escapes injustice! They were out to build the future, and our children are that future!

One European observer was especially bowled over. Jeanette Thurber (1850-1946), founder of the National Conservatory of Music in NYC (which was the first American conservatory to invite women, people of all ethnicity, color, and others, to participate in the highest level of musical education), had invited the great Czech composer Antonin Dvorak to come and head the composition department of her new school. She was very careful in arranging for Dvorak to experience all of the things that made America different, and organized it, so that he arrived in time to see this celebration of Columbus. Every nationality, every trade participated. For the newly arrived-to-America Dvorak, this had to be very different from European nationalism. It was not ethnic. It was universal.

RACISTS TRY TO APPROPRIATE COLUMBUS’ MISSION

The next year in 1893, the World's Columbian Exposition began in Chicago, and while it did feature radical elements such as a Parliament of the World's Religions, which presented the views of non-Christians; non-white particpants were restricted to an area called "Midway.'

Was it free of racism? Hardly! The whole exhibit was known as "The White City." Frederick Douglass, as representative of Haiti, circulated tens of thousands of copies of a pamphlet which he had co-written, claiming that the exhibition was designed to "exhibit the negro as a repulsive savage." He and his associates attracted international attention with that.

Doulgas' assistant was a young Paul Lawrence Dunbar. Despite the fact that the Colombian Exposition had excluded non-white people, Dunbar did not fall into the trap. He penned a beautiful poem, as a tribute to Columbus. At the same time, in 1893, Czech Day took place at the exposition, and thousands of Czech-Americans marched into the grounds. Antonin Dvorak proudly conducted Czech music.

Dvorak himself was submitted to racist slurs, because he defended "negro spirituals" as the basis of an American School of Music, as proposed by Mrs. Thurber. It was not, and is not, a matter of accounting for, and redressing every past injustice (although they should be known), but a fight for future justice.
Dvorak intended to make a new setting of "My Country 'tis of Thee." He remarked that he saw much to admire in America, but also much that he would rather not have seen. He never finished the setting, but his personal secretary, Josef Kovaric, told us where to find it.

Listen to the appended audio. The first minute does not sound happy at all. But listen and see if you can sing along with where that patriotic song, "My country 'tis of Thee", emerges, so beautifully, but with a new melody at 0:00:53. Also hear how it emerges as the composer's hopeful solution to a paradox:
https://soundcloud.com/user-216951281/my-country

My country 'tis of thee'
Sweet land of liberty
Of thee I sing (of thee I sing.)

Land where my fathers died
Land of the Pilgrims' pride
From ev'ry mountain-side
Let freedom ring (let freedom ring.)

Dvorak and Jeanette Thurber understood that the future of America lay in how it would address the plight of both African and Native Americans: the citizens most denied their humanity. He had been a freedom fighter in his own country, and immediately identified with the oppressed in America. That is why Mrs. Thurber chose him.

As a bonus, we include what we consider, by far, to be the greatest performance of Dvorak's " New World Symphony", by a personal protege of the composer, Vaclav Talich, from 1952. It would seem that one of his fellow Czechs understood the problems of America better than many American conductors! Can you hear the influence of both African-American spirituals, and Native-American music in it, as transformed by what Dvorak called "Bringing in the full Cavalry of Western Music" ? Can you hear both the problems, and the promise of America in it?

https://youtu.be/FYb1nUNRwP4

Oh, and how does all of this connect to Beethoven? Dvorak modelled the opening of the Scherzo (3rd) movement, of this, his own Ninth Symphony, on the opening of the Scherzo (this time 2nd) movement of Beethoven's Ninth. See if you can hear it! More to the point, when enthusiasts gave Dvorak a wreath dedicated to "The World's Greatest Composer", he hung it over a bust of Beethoven.