Part 1 (1/2)
Beethoven: A Memoir.
by Elliott Graeme.
PREFACE.
The following brief sketch can lay no claim to originality; it is merely a slight _resume_ of the princ.i.p.al events in the master's life (from the works of Schindler, Ries, and Wegeler, and more especially from Marx and Thayer), and is intended for those who, without the leisure to go deeply into the subject, yet desire to know a little more about the great Tone-poet than can be gathered from the pages of a concert programme, however skilfully annotated.
The few letters introduced have been translated as nearly as possible in the manner in which they were written. Beethoven's epistolary style was simple, fervent, original, but certainly not polished.
The author feels convinced that any shortcomings in the ”Memoir” will be more than atoned for by Dr. Hiller's eloquent and appreciative ”_Festrede_,” which seems to have been dictated by that poetic genius, the possession of which he so modestly disclaims.
E.G.
LONDON, _17th December, 1870._
PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION.
The first edition of this little book was exhausted within a few months of publication, and I have repeatedly been asked since to reprint it, but have hitherto withheld my consent, trusting to be able to undertake a more comprehensive work on the subject. As, however, the necessary leisure for this is still wanting to me, and the demand for the ”Memoir”
continues, it is fated to reappear, and I can but commend it again to the kind indulgence of the reader.
Several rectifications as to dates, &c., have been made throughout, in accordance with the recent researches of ALEXANDER THAYER, and the chapter ent.i.tled _Lehrjahre_ has been partly rewritten on the basis of NOTTEBOHM'S _Beethoven's Studien_ (_Part I., Unterricht bei Haydn und Albrechtsberger_) by far the most important contribution to Beethoven-literature which has appeared for some time. It may, indeed, be considered the first step to the _systematic_ study of the Master, and as such deserves to be better known in England than is at present the case.
E.G.
LONDON.
_August, 1876._
THE HUNDREDTH ANNIVERSARY OF BEETHOVEN'S BIRTH.[1]
”_Quasi Fantasia._”
The year 1749 brought us Goethe; 1756, Mozart; 1759, Schiller; and 1770, Beethoven. Thus, within the short s.p.a.ce of twenty-one years four of the greatest poetic geniuses were born--four men of whom not only the German Fatherland, but all mankind must be proud.
And even more happy than proud, since the most splendid gift which the Divine Being from time to time vouchsafes to poor humanity is that of genius. Through it we receive the highest good in which we are capable of partic.i.p.ating--the forgetfulness of self in a n.o.bler life. Genius it is that gives us, if but for a few short hours, that which the believer awaits with earnest hope in another and a better world.
Has there ever existed a poet who transported our souls into his ideal kingdom with more irresistible force than our Beethoven? Certainly not.
More universal effects have been achieved by others, but none more deep or n.o.ble. Nay, we may say without exaggeration that never did an artist live whose creations were so truly _new_;--his sphere was the unforeseen.
Amidst so much that is trivial and dispiriting in art and life, the widely diffused interest, the delight in the creations of the wondrous man is a bright sign of our times. I do not say the _comprehension_ of them; that is not, and cannot be the case. But there are, perhaps, no poems in the love and admiration of which so many of the highest intellects concur as the tone-poems of our master. To the essential nature of our Art, which bears within itself the all-reconciling element of love, must we attribute the fact that against it the most violent differences in religious, political, and philosophical opinion make no stand--it is the might of Beethoven's genius which subdues the proudest minds, while quickening the pulsations of the simplest hearts.
If in anything the will of man shows itself weak, nay, helpless, it is in the matter of intellectual creation. A very strong will (is not even this beyond the reach of most?) may lead to great learning, to brilliant technical acquirements, to virtue itself--a spontaneous poetic thought in word, tone, or colour, it will never be able to bring forth. Thus, the true relation of genius to us is that of a star, diffusing light and warmth, which we enjoy and admire. Since, however, to the higher man recognition and grat.i.tude are necessities, since he desires to add intelligence and reverence to his admiration, and would willingly offer up love also to the subject of it, he begins to investigate. He asks, what the divine germ, existing even in the lisping child, demanded for its development; what brought it out into blossom--what influences worked upon it beneficially--to what extent he who was so n.o.bly gifted was supported and furthered by moral strength--how he used the talent committed to him--finally, how he fought through the life-struggle from which no mortal is exempt.
And then he inquires again and further; which of his qualities, which of the properties peculiar to himself, affect us most strongly?--in what relation does he stand to the development of his art--in what to that of his nation?--how does he appear with regard to his own century?
A mere attempt at answering these questions, and the many connected with them, would require an enormous apparatus of a biographic and aesthetic nature, including a knowledge of the history of art and culture, and an acquaintance with musical technicalities. It does not fall either within our power or the scope of these pages to make any approach to such a task. A few slight hints may suffice to prevent our forgetting (amid the extraordinary and all-engrossing occurrences of the present time) the day which sent to us a hundred years ago the no less extraordinary man, who, a prophet in the n.o.blest sense of the word, foresaw and declared (though only in tones) the n.o.bleness and greatness which will be revealed by the German people, if friendly stars s.h.i.+ne upon their future.