Beethoven Mystique in Rom. Art, Lit & Music

The Beethoven Mystique in Romantic Art, Literature, and Music
Author(s): William S. Newman

Source: The Musical Quarterly, Vol. 69, No. 3 (Summer, 1983), pp. 354-387
Published by: Oxford University Press
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The BeethovenMystiquein RomanticArt,
Literature,and Music
WILLIAM S. NEWMAN
Some Preliminaries
THE focusin thisessay is not Beethovenhimself,nor, forthat

matter,his music. Ratherit is a remarkablemystiquethatkept
evolvingrightup to WorldWarI out ofbothhis reputedpersonality
and his best-known music.That mystiqueis a topicthathas grownon
me over the years,thoughwithoutpreviouslyjelling into a single
point of view. It startedwith various personal experiences,fourof
whichmightbe mentionedhereas helpfulleads into thetopic.
One such experienceoccurredduringthewritingof The Sonata
Since Beethoven(1969).This finalvolumein myhistory of thesonata
gave an opportunityto observeat first hand how overwhelmingwas
the internationalimpressof Beethoven,not only on the music and
otherartsof thenineteenthcentury,but on thatcentury'sthinking,
imagination,resolution,beliefs,and evenreligion.
Anotherexperiencegrewout of an undefendedassertionabout
Wagnerthatpiqued mycuriositywhen Hans JoachimMoserquoted
it some yearsago. Prior to World War I Wagnerwas said to have
generatedmore literature--musical or nonmusical,good or bad-
than any otherperson in the realmof knowledge--indeed,thathe
alone among all human beings had once rated his own primary
This essayoriginatedas the"first

annual MartinBernstein lecture,"at New YorkUniversity
on October21, 1982,in recognitionof one of thiscountry'soutstandingmusiceducators.The
lectureseriesis beingsupportedbyElaine Brodyand David Silverberg.
354

The BeethovenMystique 355
classification in theDeweydecimalsystem;grantedthat,soon after, he

began to trail the Bible,Dante,Shakespeare,Goethe, and Napoleon.' I
could confirmtheDeweyclassification, up to 1932,thoughit has no
further bearinghere.But otherwise,in attemptingto checkthisasser-
tion against the literaturegeneratedby the greatestBaroque and
Classical composers,I could onlyverify and onlyapproximately, that
Beethovenalone has not lagged verymuch behindWagner.More to
thepoint,I came torealizethatwhatput bothBeethovenand Wagner
farin the lead was not so much the unquestionedquality of their
worksas thepowerfulimpactofthoseworkson theimaginationofa
worldarousedto acceptthemin termsofitsown concernsand hopes.
A thirdpersonal experiencehas been the peculiar allure thata
specificworklikeBeethoven'sHammerklavierSonata, Opus 106,has
held forme eversince my high school days. That allure evidently
seducesnearlyall othermusicians,too,who getinvolvedwithOpus
106.Some ofitmaylie merelyin thepianist'schallengetoconquerthe
biggestand thehardest.But moreofit mustbe creditedto thiswork's
indefinables-itsuncommonlyrich ideas, tellingrhythmsand har-
monies,and its vaststructuralperspectives, or even,like the Grosse
Fuge, itsoccasional classification
as one of Beethoven's",magnificent
failures."
One moreexperiencehas been a varietyof exposuresto Beetho-
ven's multifaceted image in Romanticnovels,poems,paintings,and
sculptures. To citeone example,nothinghas seemedmoreilluminat-
ing than those highly varied sculpturesof Beethovenby Antoine
Bourdelle,now collectedin thecharminglittleMuse Bourdellein
Paris (Ill. 1).
To me thoseexperiencesadd up to two main factsabout Beetho-
ven'sRomanticimage--itsbroadpenetrationthroughouttheartsand
itswidespreadendorsement.
Between1927and 1942threefinescholarsdid importantstudiesof
Beethoven'sRomanticimage,in particularof thephilosophical,po-
litical, and religious concepts that it fueled.The German Arnold
Schmitzled theway byconcentrating on Germanconcepts;thelittle-
knownFrenchmanJeanBoyerlargelyelaboratedon Schmitzin 1938;
i The source forthatassertionhas since escaped me, but remarksabout the relatively
"monstrousquantity" abound, as in Max Koch's Richard Wagner (Berlin, 1907), I, 9-10.
"Wagnerianmusic"retainstheclassification 782.2up to MelvilDewey's13theditionofDecimal
Classificationand RelativIndex (Lake Placid, 1932).

356 The Musical Quarterly
and theGerman-American Leo Schradeconcentrated on Frenchcon-

ceptsin 1942(earlyin his twodecadesat Yale University).2It shouldbe
useful-indeed, essential-firstto summarize,in my own way, the
conceptsthatthosethreescholarshave broughtforth,thento follow
withillustrationsin literature,
art,and music.Cuttingacrossthearts
in such a broad mannerand with such a subjectivetopic can be
rewarding,thoughit confronts thespecialistwithobvious hazards.
Last, theword"mystique"mayneeda littlejustifying, sinceithas
been preferredhereto alternativeslike "image," thatI used above,or
to "aura." "Mystique"appearsin thestandarddictionaries,although
onlyin theirlatestand unabridgededitions.It is a perfectly
respectable
word,notwithstanding itsexpropriationbyMadison Avenueto be-
witchmentssuch as Chanel No. 5. As intendedhereand as definedin
the1976SupplementoftheOxfordEnglishDictionary,it means"the
atmosphereofmystery and venerationinvestingsomedoctrines,arts,
professions,or personages.... " Actually,in thatsensethetermwas
neithernewnorrarein nineteenth-century Germanand Frenchusage.
It evenoccursin theBeethovenConversationBooks,thoughmostlyin
a disparagingsense,to mean Romanticas understoodtodayrather
thantheword"Romantic" itself.3 "Mysticprophetofmusic'' is what
VictorHugo called Beethoven,in a moreeulogisticsense.4And "mys-
tique" was thetermused bytheFrenchhumanitarianwriterCharles
Peguyforthemystery and secretforcesof life.5
Conceptsin GermanWritings
As farbackas thecriticaland otherwritingsfromBeethoven'sown

day, the process of Romanticizinghim can be traced. However
whetherit can be tracedto anythingBeethovenhimselfdid or said
remainsdebatable.Boyerconcluded thatit could not,citingas his
chiefcounterevidence nothingmorethana loftypronouncementin
of
Beethoven'sletter 1812 to nine-year-old"Emilie M.," otherwise
2 Arnold Schmitz,Das romantischeBeethovenbild(Berlin, 1927)

(reprint,Darmstadt,
1978);Jean Boyer,Le "Romantisme"de Beethoven(Paris, 1938);Leo Schrade,Beethovenin
France,The Growthofan Idea (New Haven, 1942).These studiesareevaluatedin termsoftheir
authors'own historicalpositionsin a book byHans Eggebrecht,
ZurGeschichtederBeethoven-
Rezeption-Beethoven1970 (Mainz, 1972).
3 Cf. Schmitz,p. 37.
4 Schrade,p. 37.
5 Schrade,p. 148.

unidentified: "Only artand learning[can] raise man to godhood."6

On the otherhand, the more recentBeethovenauthorityMaynard
Solomon has latelyreportedfindingmoreinterest on Beethoven'spart
in "literaryand philosophic Romanticism"thanhas generallybeen
conceded.7
It would notbe surprisingto findthatinterest
confirmed,consider-
ing Beethoven'salertnessto the world around him and considering
GermanictrendstowardRomantic thinkingthatwerealreadypre-
vailing by the end of the eighteenthcentury.Men of letterslike
Novalis, thebrothersSchlegel,Tieck,and Wackenroder, buildingon
the new directionsof the thenrecentSturmund Drang movement,
paved thewaythroughtheirpreoccupationswithsuchdiverstopicsas
Shakespeare,Greekantiquity,Orientalism,Indo-Europeanlinguis-
tics,opposition to theEnlightenment, Germanlore,fantasyand the
macabre,medievalism,and Roman Catholic mysticism.Beethoven
could have respondedto any of these topics more directly-more
subjectively--than generallyhas beensupposed.Thus, withregardto
Orientalia thenbeing discoveredin the West,Beethovencould well
have respondedto the landscapes of Wang Wei, the greateighth-
centuryartist,poet,and musicianofChina's T'ang dynasty(Ill. 2). As
thearthistorianBertholdLauferargues,thoselandscapes-or rather,
theirsurvivingcopies-with theircolor, modulation,fluidity, and
emotionaldepth,need to be understoodnotas staticwatercolors,but
as veritableBeethovensymphonies.8 Such subjectivity
was crucialto
thenew Romanticthinking,as itwas tobe toall manifestations ofthe
To for
Beethovenmystique. Wackenroder, example,the"perfect work
ofart"was one "createdbya divinemiracle... a moral,aesthetic,and
religiousunityto be graspedonlybytheheart,not bytheintellect. "9
ArnoldSchmitzseesBettinavon Arnim,theclose youngfriendof
Beethoven,as helpingto pioneerwhatbecamefourbasic conceptsin
the Beethovenmystique.'0She interrelated theseconceptsin a loose
way-indeed, treatedprogressively, as itwere,byevolvingthemfrom
one to thenext.Theyare,first,thatofBeethovenas a wildbutinnocent
6 Boyer, 427-29.
pp.
7 Letterto me of July19, 1982,reportinga studyof thisquestion in progress.
8 Cf. Helen Gardner,ArtThroughtheAges,rev.ed. (New York, 1936),p. 620.
9 Cf. ArthurHenkel in EncyclopaediaBritannica(1971),XXIII, 134.
10 Schmitz,pp. 1-6. ConcerningBettina'sbrotherClemensBrentano,whoseobservations
on Beethovenare also pertinent,cf.Leopold Hirschberg,"Beethovenin derDichtung,"in Die
Musik X/1 (1910-11),339-42.

childofnature,thenas a revolutionary,
thenas a magicianor wonder
and as a
worker, ultimately religiousprophetand leader.To focuson
theseconceptsone mustcull themin anyorderfromBettina'svarious,
bewilderinglyeffusecharacterizationsof Beethoven,which are ad-
dressedto Goethe, to others,and even twice to herselfas though
comingfromBeethovenhimself."Briefexcerptsmaybe quoted here
as theytouchon each of thosefourconcepts.
On thechild of nature,Bettinawrote:
In all thatconcernshis [Beethoven's]arthe is so authoritative and genuinethatno
performer darestoconfronthim,yetin all else he is so childlikethatone can makeof
himwhatone will. In hisusual stateofdistraction he becomesa laughingstock... his
clothesare raggedy,his appearancedishevelled[Ill. 3; see footnote60,below].Add to
that,thathe hears badly and almost cannot see. .... I had been told thathe was
unsociableand would conversewithnobody.They wereafraidto takeme to him....
He has threelodgingsin whichhe concealshimselfalternately.
On Beethoventhe revolutionary,Bettinaprovideda supposed

letterfromhimwiththeoft-repeated
storyofhow he and Goethewere
one
promenading day when the"entire
Imperialfamily"approached.
WhereasGoethedoffedhis hat,bowed,and steppedaside,Beethoven
made a pointofstandingproud,observingno amenities,and giving
no ground.'2
On Beethoventhe magic worker,Bettinawrotewith increasing
fervor:
... I mayconfessI believein a divinemagicthatis theessenceofintellectuallife.This
magic Beethovenpracticesin his art.Everythingthathe can tellyou about is pure
magic,everypostureis theorganizationofa higherexistence, and thereforeBeethoven
feelshimselfto be thefounderof a new sensuousbasis in theintellectuallife ....
And on Beethovenas a religiousleader,Bettinaneededto advance

but a littleto have him say:
WhenI open myeyesI mustsigh,forwhatI see is contrary to myreligion,and I must
despisetheworldthatdoes notknow thatmusic is a revelation
higher thanall wisdom
and philosophy,thewine thatinspiresone to new generative processes,and I am the
Bacchuswho pressesout thisgloriouswineformankindand makesthemspiritually
" MostofBettina's
characterizations
anda somewhatpuzzledreplyfrom Goetheappear,
inThayer's
translated, LifeofBeethoven andeditedbyElliotForbes(Princeton,
asrevised 1967),
Theyappearintheoriginal
pages494-99. German inAlbert
Leitzmann, LudwigvanBeethoven:
Berichteder Zeitgenossen..., 2 vols. (Leipzig, 1921),I, 114-25.Translationsnot otherwise
aremyown.
credited
12Cf.thespurious,
so-called"third"or "Teplitz"letter
of 1812toBettina,translated
in
EmilyAnderson,ed.,TheLettersofBeethoven, 3 vols.(London,1961),III, 1357-59.

The Beethoven Mystique 359
drunken.... Butwell I knowthatGod is nearertome thantootherartists;I associate

withhim withoutfear;I have alwaysrecognizedand understoodhim....
Bettina's four concepts need to be kept in mind as at least a

theoretical frameworkfor the widely disparate contributions to the
Beethoven mystique that will be cited here. The fancifulwriterE. T.
A. Hoffmann had already helped to develop one of these concepts, the
magic in Beethoven's music. Unlike Bettina and most of the subse-
quent writers who were to furtherthat mystique, Hoffmann had
enough training in music to discuss it on a technical basis. Moreover,
he helped to implant the idea that it was instrumental rather than
vocal music that qualified as an independent, "purely romantic art."
Taking Beethoven's FifthSymphony as his ideal, he said that instru-
mental music, unconfined by a specific, vocal text, was the most
capable among all the artsof conveying the "inexpressible longing,"
the "monstrous" and "immeasurable" character,"all the wonderful
enchanting picturesand apparitions thatthecomposer has sealed into
his work with magic power .... " The magic that seems most to have
captivated Hoffmann was Beethoven's mercurialmodulating, such as
occurs in the finale'" of the Fifth Symphony.
It is worth noting how the four concepts began at once to inspire
the highflown language, if not verbiage, that was to encumber, often
becloud, most Romantic writingabout Beethoven and his music right
up to the important contributionsof Romain Rolland. Thus, one Sir
John Russell, another contemporarywho found magic in Beethoven's
music, described his extraordinarykeyboard improvising in words
that recall Burney's on Emanuel Bach a half centuryearlier: "The
muscles of the face swell, and his veins start out; the wild eye rolls
doubly wild; the mouth quivers, and Beethoven looks like a wizard,
overpowered by the demons whom he himself has called up."'"
The magic concept is the only one of the fourconcepts not recog-
nized in Robert Schumann's writings a generation later. Whereas
Bettina had compared Beethoven and Goethe, the two great men in
the arts whose interestshe won, Schumann was more interestedin
comparing Beethoven and Mozart. His comparison put Mozart in
second place as a "burgherly,modest" composer, while Romanticiz-
13 E.g., mm. 90 ff.From"Beethoven'sInstrumentalMusic" (1813), translatedin Oliver

Strunk'sSourceReadings in Music History(New York,1950),pp. 775-81.Cf.,also, theLeipzig
Allgerneine musikalische Zeitung, XII (1809-10), 652-55.
14 A Tour in Germany [and Austria] (Boston, 1825; originally London, 1821-22), p. 394.

ing Beethovenas "disorderlyand troubled,"and yet a man with

significantmoralvalues,and a David againstthePhilistines.'5To be
sure,bybothdefinition and nature,theRomanticshad turnedaway
fromClassicism-not leastfromMozart,itspurestrepresentative. One
could argue thata main reason why the Romanticshad createda
Beethovenmystique,howeverunconsciously,was to make themost
likelyClassical candidatefullypalatable to theirtastes.
In severalwritingsthatcenteron Beethoven,Wagnerreallyseems
to have been buildinga case forhis own place in thearts.He found
"naturalgood" in thewild childof nature.He saw a reformer rather
thana revolutionary, arguingthatBeethovenneveractuallychanged
the musical formsthathe inherited.Thus, Beethovenbecamea re-
formerbyrestoringmelodyfromtheartificially square phrasingthat
in to
stillappeared Haydn'sand Mozart'smusic theinnocentmelodic
purityof the Eroica and especiallythe Ninth Symphony.Further-
more, Wagner found magic in the "inner world" of Beethoven's
creationsand a religiousqualityin thelatequartets,as well as botha
priestand a Christ-likeredeemerin Beethovenhimself.'6This reli-
gious and spiritualqualityis thesame thatinfusesGermanthought
and arton Beethoventhroughoutthatperiod. It even appears in a
paintingsketch,leftunfinishedbyFriedrichGeselschapin 1898,ofa
sortofBeethovennativity, withhintsofMary,Joseph,and an angelic
choir (Ill. 4).17
The examplesgiventhusfarof how Bettina'sfourconceptstook
hold are buta fewchosenhereto representmanymorethatcould be
cited.Naturally,certainGermanwriters,especiallythe moreschol-
arly,resisted, orevendisregarded
rejected, herideas.Thus, bythemid-
and later-nineteenthcentury,theBeethovenauthoritiesAdolfBern-
hard Marx, Ludwig Nohl, and AlexanderWheelockThayer were
acceptingonly certainaspectsof her conceptsand theseonly with
reservations.HermannDeiterschallengedtheirfactualcontentcon-
vincingly.'8But,of course,it was thephilosophicalconceptsof Bet-
tina and others,and not necessarilytheirbiographicalor historical
facts,thatunderlaytheBeethovenmystique.
At theotherextremetherewerethenumerousplaywrights, nov-
15Cf. Schmitz,pp. 9-10,withsources.

17The originalis at theBeethovenhausin Bonn, Inventar-Nr.
B 109.

elists,and poets who took such conceptsas merespringboardsfor

whatmightbecalledfreeimprovisations and fantasiason thethemeof
Beethoven.Yet,surprisingly, thereare no Germanor Austrianexam-
ples ofmajordistinctiontocite.Schiller'srevisionofGoethe'shistori-
cal dramaEgmontmighthave had some bearinghad it notpreceded
ratherthan followedBeethoven'sincidentalmusic. GerhartHaupt-
mann'smovingpsychologicaldramaof 1900,MichaelKramer,might
have had at least a more remotebearing on the subject,with its
symbolicdeathmaskofBeethovenand itsqualitiesoffatalism,mysti-
cism,and infinity, ifitwerenotbeyondthepale ofRomanticism.But
thereis nothingofdistinctionthatapplies hereas does,forexample,
Romain Rolland's novel Jean-Christophe, or thatis equivalent to
Morike'ssensitivenovellaMozarton the Wayto Prague. Perhapsthe
nearestthingto itis thepoem Wanderszene bytheAustriandramatist
FranzGrillparzer, publishedin 1844.In thispoem,Grillparzer, whose
life had touchedBeethoven'sat severalpoints,describeshim as a
demonicgenius who rode roughshodthroughthicketand field,un-
daunted by streamor abyss,yet,strangely,who neverlefta trailto
follow.9 None of themanyotherexamplesthathave turnedup here
seemsto have won anylastingrecognition.The titleor contentoften
suggestswhy.Thus, one SigismundWiesepublisheda play in 1836,
simplycalled Beethoven,thatlacks the tensionneeded foreffective
drama.However,itdoesrevealsomeinterest whenitrelatesBeethoven
to Goethe's Torquato Tasso and that Renaissance poet's stylistic
experimentsin verbal communication.Wiese might as well have
relatedBeethovenin thatway,since he would have foundprecious
littletobe availableaboutBeethoven'sactuallife.20A numberofplays,
especiallyaround thefirst centenaryof Beethoven'sbirthin 1770,are
typified by Hugh Muiller'sAdelaide of 1869.This play, successfully
stagedin severalcountries,is a storyofrejectedlove,combinedwith
thetragedyofdeafnessand someViennesefolkhumor,all thoroughly
confusedwithincidentsand namesin Beethoven'slife.21 One can get
the flavorof the sentimentsin such pieces froman innocuous little
"GermanPoem" of 1831byErnstOrtlepp,who is citedoccasionally
for his booklet of 1836, "Beethoven,a FantasyCharacterization."
19Cf. George C. Schoolfield,The Figureof theMusician in GermanLiterature(Chapel

Hill, 1956),pp. 59-61.
20Cf. Hans Volkmann,"Beethovendramen," in Die Musik, V/1 (1905-6),258-60.
21 Volkmann,pp. 261-63.

Ortlepp'swordformsare not whollytranslatable:

There stands a loner,
In the mid night,
On the rocky cliffs.
Beneath him thunders
The waterfall;
Beyond, the old castle
Shimmers supernaturally;
The slumbering hamlet smiles
In thepeacefulradianceofthemoon.22
Much the same still obtains in an English play of 1911 by John
LawrenceLambe calledBeethovenDeaf,and in an Americannovelof
the same yearby John Nordlingcalled, of course,The Moonlight
Sonata. Inferiorand forgottenas mostof thisliteratureis, it is cited
herebecauseevenitstilldependedso oftenon thosesame conceptsby
whichBettinaand othershad givenbirthto theBeethovenmystique.
Conceptsin FrenchWritings
Among the threerecentwriterscitedearlieron Beethoven'sRo-
manticimage,neitherBoyernorSchradequite followsSchmitzin so
categoricallysinglingout thefourbasic concepts.Yet bothwritein
fullcognizanceof Schmitz'sbook and proveto emphasizemuch the
same ideas. In FrancetheBeethovenmystiquedid not takerootuntil
just afterBeethoven'sdeath, with the firstmajor successesof his
symphoniesthere,under Habeneck,in 1828. (Only two yearslater
VictorHugo's dramaHernaniappeared,a workusuallyconsideredas
the beginningof French literaryRomanticism.)In spite of their
enthusiasmand unlikeSchumann,theFrenchstillwerewaryof the
"unnaturalness"and bizarre"Germanisms" of Beethoven'ssym-
phonic formsas comparedwiththoseofHaydnand Mozart.23 It took
authorsof the statureof Hugo, Balzac, Deschamps, Gautier,and
George Sand to win intellectualacceptanceand encouragepoetic
interpretations Two menof letters
ofBeethovenin France.24 fromthe
musicworld,Berliozand Castil-Blaze,had playedthecounterparts of
E. T. A. Hoffmannin layingthegroundwork. However,evenas lateas
22
Hirschberg,p. 347. Max Rudolfhas kindlycalled myattentionto theErstespoetisches
Beethoven-Album (Prague, 1872)byone HermannJosefLandau. Two ofthepoemsare literal
progammaticinterpretations of Sonatas Op. 27/1and Op. 28,sometimesmeasurebymeasure,
rangingfromplayfulto intenselydramatic.
23 Cf. Schrade,
pp. 3-5, 9, and 17.
24 Cf. Schrade, 27.
p.

the 1870sand therenaissanceofFrenchinstrumental music,afterthe

Franco-Prussianwar,Beethoven'slate worksremaineda stumbling
block.
Berlioz had much to say about Beethoven's music, but not
"merely"its craftsmanship per se-rather its meaning as a "poem
througha poem." This interpreting ofa poem througha poem-once
removed,so to speak-may explain thenear-incomprehensibility of
much Romanticcriticism.Referringto the late Quartetin C-sharp
minor,Berliozapproached"thatterrible and wonderful work"atonce
withfearand longing.He viewedsuch a masterwork as a "heavenly
inspirationthattookmaterialshape." Insteadof theobjectivestruc-
turalanalysisthathe could produceso well,he oftenpreferred towrite
poetic fantasies. Thus, using his favorite symbol for Beethoven, the
eagle, he wroteof theC-minor Piano Trio how the
"swiftly indefatig-
able eagle flies!How he hoversand balancesin his harmonioussky!
He divesintoit,loses himselfin it,soars,descendsagain, disappears,
thenreturnsto his startingplace, his eye more brilliant,his wings
stronger,intolerantof rest,quivering,athirstfor the infinite."25
Young-France,thecounterpart oftheNew-Germanschoolin thedays
of Liszt and Wagner,tookwarmlyto such poetic fantasies-thatis,
untilthefantasizingoverreacheditselfand itswelcome.Much ofthis
writingconcernednature,takingitsstartin thePastoralSymphony,
butsoon becomingartificial, abstract,and morerelatedto theauthor
who wroteit thanto Beethoven.Thus, Berlioz,who becamepasse by
holdingto thistreatment ofBeethovenwell afterothershad discarded
it,foundin thePastoralSymphonyfinalea "consolingraythreading
itsway throughthetattered clouds to smileon theanxious shepherd
and restorehope to theterrified tillerof thesoil."26
WhenBerliozdescribedtheeagle in itsflight-thatis,Beethoven-
as being"athirst fortheinfinite,"he was bordering on a strongtiethat
was to be establishedpresently by French writers between Beethoven
and religion.The "lureoftheinfinite"and theyearningforitbecame
a main themeof Romanticwritersand artists.To thepainters,says
Schrade,it was especiallylandscapesthatrevealedinfinity, or rather
recededintoinfinity.27 Thus, in MoonriseOvertheSea, paintedbythe
GermanCaspar David Friedrichin 1822,everything-thehorizonof
25EveningsWiththeOrchestra, trans.and ed. JacquesBarzun(New York,1956),p. 246.Cf.
Schrade,pp. 19-57(withthetranslatedquotationon pp. 56-57).
26 Evenings,p. 337. Cf. Schrade,pp. 57-69 (withthetranslatedquotationon p. 66).
27 Pp. 70-72.

the two women and a man on the rock,the sea, the sky-dissolves
imperceptibly intoan impenetrablebutlimitlessbackground(Ill. 5).
To writerslikeAlfredde Vigny,Alphonsede Lamartine,and Victor
Hugo, it was music, "mystery of mysteries,"thatfirstrevealedinfin-
ity.28They saw this music as the "kiss of God," but theyfoundit
primarilyin celestialharmony or music of the spheres,and in the
musicofnature.Yettheyalso saw thismusic-perforce,obscurely-as
theiraccesstomorehumanmusic,especiallythatofBeethoven.Hugo
variouslycalledBeethoven"theGermansoul . .. thesacredmistwhere
theGermanspiritbreathes. .. a mysticprophet,the'notes'of music
... "; and, added Hugo, "This deaf man heard theinfinite.... If thereis
everevidencethatsoul and bodyare notjoined, it is Beethovenwho
provedit ... [with]crippledbody[and] flyingsoul."'29
The Beethovenmystiqueevolvedfurther undertheinfluence ofthe
St.-Simonians,not directlywith Beethovenas theirideal, but indi-
rectlybecauseofBerlioz'sand Liszt'sonetimeactivitiesin thesociety.
St.-Simonianism,which flourishedbrieflyfromaround 1830,pro-
motedan ideal socialismnurturedon moral,intellectual,and indus-
trialforces.As its emphasis and thatof the subsequentFourierism
shiftedmoreand moretoreligionand totheartistsuffering materialis-
Beethoven
tically, in particularcame to be viewed as a musician ofthe
people, a socialistleader-indeed, a heroof theFrenchRevolution!30
This image of him tookon new strength in the 1880s.By thensome
resistancewas developingto a strongsurgeof Wagnerismin France,
especiallyto itstheoriesoftheuniversalartworkand themusicofthe
futureas exemplified allegedlyin Beethoven'sNinthSymphony.And
bythensomebreaksweredevelopingin theprofound,listlesspessim-
ism that followed the Franco-Prussiandebacle. The novelistand
MozartbiographerTheodorede Wyzewawas now able to takea more
humanviewofBeethoven.He regardedBeethoven'smusicas a mirror
oflifeand his deafnessand otherafflictions lessas a blockto theouter
world than as an access both to the innerworld and, yetagain, to
infinity.'Otherwritersup to thefinde siecle foundnew hope in the
NinthSymphony'sjoyous finale,or what thelate Edgar Quinet had
28 Cf. Schrade,pp. 72-78.

29 Schrade,pp. 83-85,withsources.
30Cf. Schrade,pp. 101-6.

called "the Marseillaiseof Humanity." They even could see Beet-

hoven theRepublican inspiringthecountryto marchon once more
towardrevolution,liberty,and a new socialism. Beethovenbecame
"thedispenserof salvationand creatorofa new moraluniverse."32
At thispoint,theimportantwriterand music historianRomain
Rolland, thenall butunknown,enters.Rolland was like Wyzewain
beingon thereboundfromardentWagnerism.In 1900he joined the
groupofpatriotic,moralsocialiststhatsurroundedthewriterCharles
Peguy.This groupvalued friendship, virtue,and truthabove all else,
making almost a religiouscause,for example,out ofitsintenseefforts
to rectifythe unending, infamous,anti-Semitic"affaireDreyfus"
(although,or ratherpartlybecause,Peguy himselfwas a concerned
Catholic).33In 1903Rolland achievedalmostinstantrecognitionas a
spokesmanforPeguy's group when his firstLife of Beethovenap-
pearedin one issue of Peguy'sjournal, Cahiersde la Quinzaine. His
successwas much moremoral thanliterary. In thatshortbiography
Rolland wrotemostlyof Beethoven'sstrugglesagainstaffliction and
misfortune, discussinghis music only to reinforcehis arguments.
Beethovenemergedas thefigurative leaderofPeguy'sgroup,theright
man at the right time to its
represent ideals and personifyits love of
and
liberty heroism.34
The ideals of P6guyand Rolland's applicationof themto Beet-
hovenwon wideendorsement up toWorldWarI (in whichwarPeguy
himselfwas an earlyvictim).In essence,theyreducetothetwoamong
Bettina'sfourmysticalconceptsofBeethoventhatpersistedthelong-
estand thestrongest--not theconceptsof thewild,innocentchildof
nature,norof theworkerofmagic,butratherthoseoftherevolution-
aryand ofthereligiousleader.In a freer, stillmoreeffusive,
waythose
same two conceptsdominatedthe late-RomanticFrenchliterature
woven around Beethoven.While his compositionswerenow being
performedto an unprecedenteddegree,the "face and formof this
Beethoven,"as Schradesays,"are multipliedin painting,engraving,
sculpture,literature, and everypossiblemedium."35
33 Schrade,pp. 143-58.
'4 Cf. Schrade,pp. 157-67.
35 P. 176.

No. 1
No. 2

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No. 3
No. 4

No. 5
No. 6

No. 7
No. 8

No. 9
No. 10

No. 11
No. 12

I. . . . . ..... N o . 13
No. 14

No. 15 1:
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No. 16

No. 17
No. 18

No. 19
No. 20

No. 21
No. 22

No. 23
No. 24

Far above themanyliterary worksof but littledistinctionstands

Rolland's Jean-Christophe. This detailed,sprawlingnovel began to
appear in 1904,just afterRolland's first biographyofBeethoven,and
reached its tenth and last volume in 1912. At the start Jean-
Christophe'smusical life circumstancesparallel Beethoven'sfairly
closely,but divergemoreand moreas he getsolder.It becomesclear
thatthesignificant and consistentlikenessis meantto be in theinner
man,forparamountthroughoutChristophe'slifearehis unflinching
integrity and Christ-likemoralpurpose.Along withmanybalanced
evaluationsofcurrentFrenchand Germanmusic,36 his endlessstrug-
gles against adversity, his faithfulnessto his art,and the potential
magicof his musicalso supplyever-recurring themes.
A different emphasis-ratheron heroismand therevolutionary-
obtainsin thecurious,reportedly successfuldramaof 1909by Rene
Fauchois. EntitledBeethovenand dividedinto threeacts,it revealsa
listof thirty-four "Personnages"thatincludenotonlymanyfamiliar
figures aroundBeethoven--Schindler, Karl,Bettina,and so on-but a
few whose statusesare new to us, like "Therese van Beethoven."
(Perhaps Fauchois had discoveredthattherewas a Mrs. Beethoven,
afterall !) At any rate,nine of those"Personnages"proveto be Beet-
hoven'sninesymphonies--indeed, thenine heroesor victoriesof the
dramabywhichBeethoventriumphsoverhis sufferings. It mightbe
insertedherethatit was thesymphonies--aboveall, theNinth,but
also theSixth,Fifth,and Third,in thatorder-thathad figured more
than any of his other instrumentalmusic in the shaping of the
Beethovenmystique.Several timesin Fauchois's rathernebulous
drama Beethovenis foundconversingwith his symphonies,some-
whatas we mightbe withour plantstoday.And,neartheend,he gets
fromthema grandiloquentmessageof hope, reassurance,triumph,
and faith.As always,theyspeak in numericalorder,which has no
bearingon theirindividualmusicalqualities.
Symph.I: Men bylove and hope betrayed

Will forgetin our garments'drifting folds
The darkassaultof theevil powers!
Symph.II: Mockinglaughterwill destroyall thegods
But we shall have altarsforever in human hearts!
Symph.III: We shall be, forall thosefilledwithour songs,
The revivedchorusof thenine ancientMuses!
cf.RobinGregory,
36 On theseevaluations "The Musicianin Fiction," in theMonthly
Musical Record,LXXXV (1955), 15-17,44-45,and 68-73 (especially69-71).

Symph.IV: Thedarkwillbebrighter where wehavesung!
Symph.V: Weshallputa lightunder theroofs ofthepoor!
Symph.VI: Thepeoples oftheearthwillreach outtoward usthearmsoftheir
poets!
Symph.VII: Seethepalmsalready prepared forourbrows!
Symph. weepnomore
VIII: Father, ...
Symph.IX: Father!...
Symph.I: Father!...
Symph.II: Havefaithinus!...
Symph.III: Seehowyour childrenpleadwithyou!.
Beethoven: Mydaughters, my children!... Youreyes... howI seemyself
in
them!Nowmyonlytearsaretearsofjoy!. . .
As withtheWagnercult,thealmostincredibleBeethovencult in
Francecame toan endwiththedevastatingchangeseffected byWorld
War 1.37A new nationalism,objectivity, cynicism,iconoclasm,and
skepticismsoon prevailed.Forall his awarenessofBeethoven'sgreat-
ness,Debussyhad alreadyletfallnota fewcausticremarksthatdeflate
theBeethovenmystique.These appear in his oftenperversemusical
publishedbeforethewar.To takeone better-known
criticisms sample,
he writes:
TheChoral Symphony hasbeensurrounded bya fogofverbiage andepithets.
Itis
themasterwork ... thathasundergone themost silliness. Onewonders that
ithas
notbeenburied bythemassofprose ithasaroused. ....suggested
Wagner completing its
orchestration. Others hopedtoexplain itscontinuitywithluminous Ulti-
pictures.
mately,thispowerful, clearworkbecame a scarecrow tothepublic. Ifonedoesfind a
mystery in this then
symphony, perhaps might he unravel it;but would that be
worthwhile?
Beethoven hadn't twocentsofliteraryworth inhim(atleastnotinthesense meant
bythiswordtoday). Helovedmusic with a fierce
pride;forhimitwasthepassion, the
joy so harshly absent in hisprivate life.A little
sketchbook in which morethan
two-hundred different versions
arewritten oftheleading ideainthefinale ofthis
symphony showstheintensity ofhisefforts andthepurely musical judgment that
guided them ... 38
AfterWorldWar I Rolland himselfmade a strikingturnaboutin
his approach to Beethoven.His seven-volumestudypublished be-
tween 1928and 1949was still highlyflorid,but in place of Peguy's
social and moralideals,itengagedin muchmorescientific discussions
of themusicitself.The mysticalbubble had burst.
It would have been temptingto add literaryrepercussionspro-
duced in countriesotherthan Germanyand France,although no
extendedsurveyof theseseemsyetto have been made. To judge by
Chap.VI.
37Cf.Schrade,
38 Trans. fromMonsieurCroche,ed. FranCoisLesure (Paris, 1971).

exampleswhich have appeared here,while theGermanand French

writers establishedthephilosophicalmodelswiththeirfourconcepts,
the writersin othercountriesmay have furtherincreasedthe gap
betweenfactand fancy.Thus, in Italy PietroCossa, whose drama
Neroneachieveda worldsuccess,introduceda five-act dramacalled
Beethovenin 1872thatprovesto be quite unprejudicedby thefacts.
Proceedingfromcradleto grave,Cossa elevates"Giulia" Guicciardi
tothegreatloveofBeethoven'slifeand identifies heras thedaughterof
hisearlyteacherNeefe.Furthermore, Cossa bringsGiulia's suspicious
husband to Vienna, wherehe becomesa connivingimpresariowho
blocksBeethoven'soperaticventuresat everyturn!Meanwhile there
persiststhesamekindofemphasison theBeethovenmystiquethathas
alreadybeen emphasizedsufficiently here.39
AlthoughtheEnglish,like theFrench,tooklongerthantheGer-
mans to come to Beethoven,theysoon assimilatedtheGermanviews
of him, as theydid so much else about nineteenth-century German
music. And thereis ample evidenceforthespreadof thesame Beet-
hovenmystiqueto thiscountry40-that is, afterabout 1840,whenhis
musicattainedmorethansporadicperformances here,mostlyinstru-
mental.The New EnglandTranscendentalists wereresponsiveto the
Beethovenmystiqueas cultivatedbytheGermanwriters. Especiallyso
was the Boston criticJohn Sullivan Dwight. Only a few typical
sentencesneedbe quotedfromhismanyarticlesand reviewstoremind
us ofwhatwill now sound familiarenough.The FifthSymphony,he
says,is "aspiration,followedbyclearvision,gloriousresolve,and an
ideal triumph."ConnoisseursofthePastoralSymphony(No. 6) and
the Pastoral Sonata (Op. 28), he believes,"will feel the difference
betweenmusicwhichflowsfroman inwardfeelingofnature,froma
commonconsciousness(as it were)withnature,and themusicwhich
only copies, fromwithout,her single features."And as forsacred
music,"Are not,forinstance,some of theadagio movementsin the
instrumental worksofBeethovenalmosttheveryessenceofprayer?"
Tolstoy's shortnovel of 1889,The KreutzerSonata, is likelyto
cometomindat thispoint.Butit,likehisotherwritings, has no direct
bearing on the Beethoven mystique. Beethoven's Kreutzer Sonata is
merely the catalyticagent in a murder that grows out of what are
39Volkmann,pp. 265-66.
40 Anne Chan, "Beethovenin theUnitedStatesto 1865,"Ph.D. diss. (University
of North
Carolina at Chapel Hill, 1976).

known to have been Tolstoy's own doubts about the moralityof

maritalrelations.If anything,Beethoven'smusic hereservesan im-
moralpurpose.
Paintingand Sculpture
If it was thecriticsand philosopherswho createdand definedthe

Beethovenmystique,thenit was thepoets,dramatists, and novelists
who broughtit to life,and itwas thepaintersand sculptorswho gave
it its sense of immediacy.The startingpoint forthe paintersand
sculptorshad to be thenumerouslikenessesofBeethovendone while
he was alive. Of these about a half dozen seem to have servedin
particularas models forthe Romanticartists.The most Romantic
lookingwas surelytheoil paintingdone in 1818or 1819bytheyoung
FerdinandSchimon,who had tocatchthebusymasteron therunand
who worriedespeciallyabout gettingtheeyesright(Ill. 6). Schindler
and othercontemporaries ratedthatlikenesshigh.4 The Romantics
appear to have been drawn to itswild yetresolutelook and itswind-
blown effect, with the mountainousbackgrounddisappearinginto
infinity. Otherpaintingsmadeduringthecomposer'slifetimeinclude
theintense,idealizedportraitdone in 1819-20byJosephCarl Stieler,
withan embryonic manuscriptoftheMissa in hand(Ill. 7).42
This paintingseemsto be thebestknownsolemnnisof all and themostoften
copied,especiallyBeethoven'ssquarejaw and thestyle,or nonstyle, of
his hair.A plasterlifemaskcastbyFranzKlein in 1812confirms the
broad forehead,wide nostrils,firmmouth,and determined jaw (Ill.
8).43And a bust made fromit by Klein is regardedas "probablythe
mostaccuraterepresentation of Beethoven'sfeatures"(Ill. 9).44 Bee-
thoven himselffavoredthe earliest of four paintings by Joseph
Mahler,a somewhatstiltedpose done about 1804,with a classical,
artificial naturesceneas a background(Ill. 10).45Butifanyfeature ofit
actuallyfigured in the Beethoven mystique, it could only have been
the intensityof his eyes.Most of theothercontemporary reproduc-
tions of Beethoven,howeverauthenticor artistic,seem not to have
41 Cf. H. C. Robbins Landon, Beethoven(London, 1970),pp. 298-99,303,315.

42 Cf. Landon 13-14,299, 302,303,319.
43 Cf. Landon, pp. 11and 263.
44 Landon, p. 265.
45 Cf. Landon, pp. 10and 183.

interested thesubsequentRomanticsat all-for instance,IsidorNeu-

gass' portraitdone about 1806(Ill. 11).46
In onlya shortwhileafterBeethoven'sdeaththeRomanticimagi-
nationenteredintoplay. A coloredlithographof 1834shows him in
a delightfully bucolic setting,leisurelyat work "by a brook" with
the manuscriptof the Pastoral Symphonyin his hand (Ill. 12).47
Undoubtedly,theStielerpaintingwas theartist'smodel. It was also
the model fora commemorative, religious montage done by one
P. for a
J. Lyser48 widelysupported Beethoven festivalin Bonn in 1845
(Ill. 13). While angels crownand anoint the masteramid a nature
settingin thecenter,a quartetscoreis held bya choirboyat thelower
left,a dramaticclimax fromFidelio occursin the bottomcenter,a
bannerlabeled "Fantasia forPiano" is held byanotherangel at the
lowerright,and variousothercharactersappear along thesides.But
whatunifiesthismontageis theoverallsenseofan altarimpartedby
the sepulchralsceneon top, includingChristentombedbeforeHis
Resurrectionand two angels engaged in a FortyHours devotion
beforethe sacred Host in its monstrance.49 A resolute,triumphant
hero,firmly in controland elevatedwell above surroundingangels
and cherubs,is createdin the BeethovenMonumentin Vienna by
Caspar Zumbusch,completedin 1863(Ill. 14).Anothermontagewas
preparedforthefirst centennialof Beethoven'sbirthin 1870(Ill. 15).
In thecenteris theStielerportrait,butwithchubbiercheeksand all
butthehead in reverseposition.Along withinsetsofreligiousfigures
and lifedates,thereis one inseteach representing thechoralfinaleof
the Ninth Symphony,the opening movementof the "Moonlight"
Sonata,themusictoEgmont,Fidelio,and theOvertureto The Ruins
of Athens,and the choral works Christusam Oelberg and Missa
solemnis.The Stielerportraitseemsto be themodel,too,fora wood-
cutthatmakesBeethovenlook likea fearsomesorcerer(Ill. 16).It may
be foundas thefrontispiece in AlfredKalischer'scollectionof Beet-
hoven'sletterspublishedin 1906-7.
Max Klingeris probablybestremembered todayforhis tall,dra-
matic,polychromedsculptureof Beethoven.It was done as a center-
piece fora "BeethovenExhibition" of paintingsand sculpturesin
46 Cf. Landon, pp. 10-11and 235.
47 As reproducedin Ludwig van Beethoven,ed. JosephSchmidt-Girgand Hans Schmidt
(Hamburg, 1972),p. 41 (fromtheAlmanachderZiirichMusikgesellschaft for1834).
48 Reproducedin Beethoven-Kalender (Berlin,1907),frontispiece.
49 Cf. Howard Smither,A Historyof theOratorio(Chapel Hill, 977),I, 41-42,376-80.

Viennain 1902(Ill. 17).5oHowever,exceptforthedetermined head,it

does notseemtorelateparticularly toBeethoven.On theotherhand,a
complex "Beethoven Frieze" that runsalong threeofthefourwalls of
the adjoining room does, though only by way of the Beethoven
mystique(Ill. 18). Painted by Gustav Klimt,the friezeis a subtle,
symbolic,and highlyimaginativework thathas aroused renewed
interest in recentyears.51In progressiveorder,thelong leftwall depicts
theyearningfora betterworldand theend of suffering; thenarrow
centerwall depictstheevil and lustthatmustbe conquered;and the
long rightwall depicts the triumphof poetry,art, and music in
paradise,with the apotheosis being the "Kiss of the World" while
angels sing-yet again-the choral finaleof the Ninth Symphony
(Ill. 19)!
My lastfewartworksto tiein withtheBeethovenmystiquecome
fromthemanyaspectsand attitudesofthecomposerthatweresculp-
tedat the turnof thiscenturybyAntoineBourdelle.52Deeply influ-
enced by Rodin, Bourdelleachieveda craggy,rugged,rough-hewn
stylethatseemsparticularlyappropriateto theRomanticcharacteri-
zationof Beethovenas a wild child of natureand as a revolutionary.
With this stylegoes a degreeof intensification, magnification, and
even distortion.Thus, in one head of Beethoven,the furrowsand
wrinklesof the Stielerportraitdeepen further, the full crop of hair
becomesa massivemane, and the sense of human suffering grows
more intense(Ill. 1). In a Petit bustepathetiqueeverything is mag-
nifiedfurther to thepoint of distortion(Ill. 20). And in a full-figure
Pathetique thecross"thesame attitudeand expressionseemto be
"at
enhancedbya senseofinfinity as moreand moreoftheworkrecedes,
unfinished,into the rock (Ill. 21). From one head to the next the
distortionincreases,fromthe"pathetique"to agony(Ill. 22),to sheer
terror(Ill. 23). Not quite so disturbedis thewild childof nature,in a
full-height statuecalled Beethovenin the Wind,withitsnoteworthy
inscription,"To theman and to theGod Beethoven"(Ill. 24).
Conceptsin RomanticMusic Itself
Finally,when we come to theBeethovenmystiqueas fosteredby

Romantic music itself,we need to distinguishclearlybetweentwo
50 Cf.MarianBeisang-Prakken,
GustavKlimt,derBeethovlenfries
(Salzburg,1977),Chap. I.
51 Cf. Beisang-Prakken,
Chap. II.
52Cf. Michel Ducet,Le I)rame de
v',cu par Bourdelle(Paris, 1966).
Beethloven

verydifferent problems.There is thedirectinfluenceof Beethoven's

musicon Romanticmusic,whichis richand readilydemonstrated up
to Mahlerand World War I. And thereis theindirectinfluencethat
producedtheverbaland visual conceptsof theBeethovenmystique.
But how greatlymusicitselfcould and did sharein thatmystiquehad
to depend on music's abilityand suitabilityto portrayverbaland
visual concepts.It is certainlyeasier to explorethedirectinfluence,
whichwas alreadystrongwhile Beethovenwas stillalive. For exam-
ple,althoughneitherthemelodicidea,northemeter,northekeyis the
same, I have always feltthat the slow introductionand opening
allegroof Schubert'sFourthSymphony,in C minor,are thoroughly
infused-saturated-withtheopening sectionsof Beethoven'sOver-
tureto Egmont.Having had at leastthreeopportunitiesto hear this
overture in thepreviousfiveyears,53 Schubertin 1816was stillworking
so closelyin the shadow of Beethoventhathe could scarcelyhave
resistedtheoverwhelmingpower,atmosphere,and seriousimportof
theEgmontmusic.The first twominutesofSchubert'sSymphonyare
enough to make the influence clear. In many otherinstancesthe
composers themselves have acknowledged Beethoven's direct
influences-astheyoungMendelssohnand Brahmseach did when,as
has beenshown,theypurposelyimitatedtheopeningofBeethoven's
HammerklavierSonata,54or as the morematureBrahmsreportedly
did,withsarcasm,when theslightbutwell-knownthematicsimilar-
itywas mentionedbetweenhis First(or so-called"Tenth") and Beet-
hoven'sNinthSymphony,55 or as Schumanndidwhenhe deliberately
wove thematicbitsfromBeethoven'sAn die ferneGeliebteinto his
piano Fantasyin C, Opus 17,56or as Wagnerindicatedwhenhe said,
"I would nothave beenable to composeas I have,had it notbeenfor
Beethoven,"957 or as nota fewminorcomposersdid whentheyturned
outpublicationslike TwelveSonatasforthePianoforte,Composedin
Imitationof Some of the WorksofBeethoven.58
53 Thayer-Forbes,pp. 519,527,576.
54 Cf.WilliamS. Newman,The Sonata Since Beethoven(Chapel Hill, 1969),rev.ed. (New
York,1982),pp. 300-1and 328-29.
55Cf. PeterLatham,Brahms(London, 1948)pp. 58-59.
56 Cf. Alan Walker,"Schumann, Liszt and the C Major Fantasie,Op. 17; A Declining
Relationship,"in Music and Letters,LX (1979), 156-65.
57 Curt von Westernhagen,Wagner,2 vols. trans.MaryWhittall(Cambridge,England,
1978),174.
58 Cf. Newman,pp. 11-14.

On theotherhand, it has provedalmostimpossiblein themusic

itselfto demonstrateBeethoven'sRomanticmystification. The very
freedomfroma vocal textthathad qualifiedindependentinstrumen-
tal music as theone "purelyromanticart,"in E. T. A. Hoffmann's
words,is whatdisqualifiesitas a conveyorofverbalorvisualconcepts.
It is truethatSchumann,withBeethovenverymuch in mind,origi-
nally did affixthe titles"Ruins," "Triumphal Arch," and "Starry
Crown" tothethreemovements ofhis Fantasyin C. These titlescan be
interpreted easilyenough componentsof theBeethovenmystique.
as
But,ofcourse,theytakeus rightbacktotheverbaland visualconcepts
and not to any demonstrableimplicationsof the music itself.No
wonderSchumann chose to deletethemin the finalversionof this
work.59 The acid testwould stillhave to be whether"ruins"comesto
the listener'smind withoutbenefitof the firstmovement'soriginal
title,or "triumphalarch" of thesecondmovement'stitle,or "starry
crown" of the thirdmovement'stitle.Obviously,on thisone point,
theBeethovenmystiquehas run afoul of Romanticmusic's favorite
question: How literalcan music,themostnonliteralof arts,be?
Some Conclusions
I will close with a half-dozensummaryconclusions.The first

concernsthefourconceptsthatSchmitzderivedfromBettina'swrit-
ings as themain ingredientsof Beethoven'sRomanticimage. Inter-
pretedwithsome flexibility, theydo provetoprevailin theRomantic
literatureabout Beethoven,and in the visual artsto the extentthat
thesecan expressverbalconcepts.Theycould well existin themusic,
too,as partofthecomposers'subjectiveintentions, buttheycannotbe
confirmedin any objectivemusical terms.In short,the Beethoven
mystiquewas a phenomenonin literature and in thevisual arts,but
not, verifiably,in the music itself.
In music one can point readily
enough,say,to CharlesIves's repeatedfantasizingon theFifthSym-
phony's "fatemotive,"in his ConcordSonata (originallycomposed
beforeWorld War I). But one cannot point to any consequential
Romanticworksuch as a "Fantasyon BeethoventheRevolutionary"
or an overturecalled "The Consecrationof Beethoven."
59 Walkerp. 157;cf.,also, Newman,pp. 259-60.

Second,each ofthefourconceptspredominatedat a different time

in theRomanticEra. That of boththewild child of nature60 and the
magicworkerpredominatedat thebeginningoftheera. The concept
of therevolutionary keptgrowing,while thatof thereligiousleader
predominatedchieflyat itsend,and thenespeciallyin France.
Third,in any case, theFrench,beingfurther removedfromBeet-
hovenbylanguage,distance,and musicaltemperament, could allow
theirimaginationsto flymorefreely and broadly.Both Germansand
Frenchviewed Beethovenwith ever-rosier-colored glasses, but the
Frenchwentevenfurther in makinghim an agentpar excellencefor
theirown philosophiesof infinity, patriotism, and religion.
Fourth,Beethoven'ssymphoniesprovidedthechiefand continu-
ing stimulusforthe buildingof the Beethovenmystique,meaning
mostlytheNinth,Fifth,Sixth,and ThirdSymphoniesin thatorderof
attraction.Fidelio was a significant stimulus,too, with its heroism,
patriotism,and morality.Otherwise,thechoral finaleof the Ninth
Symphony,with Schiller'sOde to Joy,was the main exceptionto
Hoffmann's"pure" instrumentalmusic as the primarystimulus.
Fifth,grantedthattheBeethovenmystiquebecamea grossexag-
gerationin all ways,it was createdin dead earnestand still had a
realityof itsown. It was real enough not only to firenew patriotism
and arouse new religious fervoramong the French.It also met a
distinctaestheticneed.Amongeventhemostobjectivescholars,who
would dare denythatsubjectiveand associativefactorsmayplay an
essentialpart in the appreciationof greatmusic?The romantically
mindedhavealwayspreferred theirart,whetherClassical or Roman-
tic,ethosor pathos,to be coloredand outlinedbysomemystique.For
the mystiquelies morein theeyeof the beholderthan in the thing
itself.Such beholdersmust make theirheroes match theirheroic
ideals, howevergreatthe gap. Conversely,theoriginal heroesmust
invitethissortof mystification. The exceptionalsuitabilityof Beet-
hoven and Wagner to mystification-that is, theircombinationof
supremeart,timeliness, and human interest-does go farto explain
that unprecedentedquantityof literatureengenderedby them.We
mustonly be carefulnot to assumethattheBeethovenmystiquewas
60 Cf. the drawing of Beethoven'suncontrolledrage during a rehearsalof his Ninth
Symphony(Ill. 3), which is the frontispiecein W. R. Griepenkerl'snovella of 1838,Das
Musikfestoderdie Beethovener.I am indebtedto David B. Levyforcalling thisdrawingto my
attention;cf. his article in Essays on Music for Charles WarrenFox, ed. Gerald C. Graue
(Roxchester,1979),pp. 103-113.

all-embracing.Forexample,theprolongedefforts ofscholarstoiden-
tifytheobjectofhis letterto the"EternallyBeloved"undoubtedlywas
piqued in part byromanticcuriosity.But I see no special reason to
relateit to the Beethovenmystique.
And last,when the scholarseventuallydiscreditedthe mystique
with theiruncompromisingobjectivity, did theydo damage to the
pastor presentstatusofBeethovenas a primefigure, a Shakespeare,in
theworldof music?As forthepast,we are back to thatquestion of
whetherthewhole phenomenonwas foundedon misconceptionsof
Beethovenand Romanticism.At best,thequestionwill be difficult to
answer,becauseit dependsso heavilyon thosesame subjectivejudg-
ments.Indeed,as in a statement byMartinBernstein,"The Romantic
movementin musicfoundmuchofitsjustification in thesubjectivity
exhibitedbytheworksofBeethoven... ." 61 As forthepresent, we need
only ask if Beethovenhas been losing any of his universalappeal.
Hardly so, it would seem, if only to judge by the extraordinary,
continuingfrequencywithwhich his once mostforbiddingcompo-
sitionscan be heardon today'sconcertand radio programs.To be
sure,destroying illusionsbyremovingrose-colored glassescould also
destroyboththebeheldand thebeholder.YetBeethovenclearlygoes
on and on, moreindomitablethanever,withorwithouthis Romantic
mystique!-
61 MartinBernsteinand MartinPicker,An Introductionto Music, 4th ed. (Englewood

Cliffs,1972),p. 337.
For the use of the illustrationslistedbelow (as numberedin thisessay) I should like to
acknowledgethefollowingkindpermissions:Ills. 1and 20-24-the Mus6eBourdellein Paris;
Ill. 2-The HamlynGroup in London, publishersof Mario Bussagli,ChinesePainting, 1969;
Ill. 5-George Braziller,Inc., in New York,publisherof Helmut Borsch-Supan,CasparDavid
Friedrich,1974,and theStaatlicheMuseenPreussischer in Berlin;Ills. 4,6,8,9, and
Kulturbesitz
12-the Beethoven-Hausin Bonn; Ills. 10 and 11-Universal Edition in Vienna; and Ills.
17-19-the ResidenzVerlagin Vienna,publishersof Marian Beisang-Prakken, GustavKlimt,
derBeethovenfries, 1977.Ill. 3 comesfromtheoriginalbook listedin footnote60,courtesy ofthe
SibleyMusic Libraryin Rochester.Ills. 13, 14,and 16come fromBeethoven-Kalender (Berlin,
1907).Ill. 7 comesfroma copyofa paintingnow thoughttobe lost.Ill. 15comesfroma publicity
pamphletabout Bonn no longerin print.


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The Beethoven Mystique in Romantic Art, Literature, and Music

Author(s): William S. Newman

This content downloaded from 129.78.139.28 on Mon, 3 Jun 2013 10:02:47 AM

THE focusin thisessay is not Beethovenhimself,nor, forthat

This essayoriginatedas the"first

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classification in theDeweydecimalsystem;grantedthat,soon after, he

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and theGerman-American Leo Schradeconcentrated on Frenchcon-

As farbackas thecriticaland otherwritingsfromBeethoven'sown

2 Arnold Schmitz,Das romantischeBeethovenbild(Berlin, 1927)

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unidentified: "Only artand learning[can] raise man to godhood."6

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On Beethoventhe revolutionary,Bettinaprovideda supposed

And on Beethovenas a religiousleader,Bettinaneededto advance

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drunken.... Butwell I knowthatGod is nearertome thantootherartists;I associate

Bettina's four concepts need to be kept in mind as at least a

13 E.g., mm. 90 ff.From"Beethoven'sInstrumentalMusic" (1813), translatedin Oliver

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ing Beethovenas "disorderlyand troubled,"and yet a man with

15Cf. Schmitz,pp. 9-10,withsources.

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elists,and poets who took such conceptsas merespringboardsfor

19Cf. George C. Schoolfield,The Figureof theMusician in GermanLiterature(Chapel

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Ortlepp'swordformsare not whollytranslatable:

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the 1870sand therenaissanceofFrenchinstrumental music,afterthe

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28 Cf. Schrade,pp. 72-78.

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called "the Marseillaiseof Humanity." They even could see Beet-

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Far above themanyliterary worksof but littledistinctionstands

Symph.I: Men bylove and hope betrayed

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exampleswhich have appeared here,while theGermanand French

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known to have been Tolstoy's own doubts about the moralityof

If it was thecriticsand philosopherswho createdand definedthe

41 Cf. H. C. Robbins Landon, Beethoven(London, 1970),pp. 298-99,303,315.

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interested thesubsequentRomanticsat all-for instance,IsidorNeu-

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Viennain 1902(Ill. 17).5oHowever,exceptforthedetermined head,it

Conceptsin RomanticMusic Itself

Finally,when we come to theBeethovenmystiqueas fosteredby

This content downloaded from 129.78.139.28 on Mon, 3 Jun 2013 10:02:47 AM

verydifferent problems.There is thedirectinfluenceof Beethoven's

Beethoven Mystique in Rom. Art, Lit & Music

Beethoven Mystique in Rom. Art, Lit & Music