-
250 years ago this week…
250 years ago Ludwig Van Beethoven was born on Dec 17, 1770. Music would change forever.
After Beethoven, the stature of music as an art form was considered the equal of paintings, literature, and sculptures.
-
11 Replies
-
John Lennon’s song “Because” was inspired by Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata. Howard mentioned this in the forum a while back.
Farout Magazine article:
Lennon was inspired by Beethoven after listening to him with his wife Yoko Ono as she played Beethoven’s ‘Moonlight Sonata’ and the Beatle became overawed by the sound. It was enough to send him on his way writing the Abbey Road song, ‘Because’. The track remains a vital part of their catalogue to this day.Aug 10, 2020
https://youtu.be/hL0tnrl2L_U?t=1
-
I wonder what Beethoven would think of music today. I think he would be very proud of the Beatles and the 60s creative output.
In this interesting article, they draw some parallels between the impact Beethoven had on music and the Beatles impact on modern music:
Essential Secrets of Song Writing magazine article :
Some Thoughts on Beethoven and The Beatles
There’s a fascinating parallel between the evolution of “Classical” music and the development of rock music. Studying those two genres can give you really interesting insights into songwriting. It’s a bit difficult to consider the Beatles to be the progenitor of all so-called popular music genres to follow, just as one can’t credit Beethoven with everything that happened in Classical music. But certainly you can argue that no one group had the enormous influence on songwriters and performers enjoyed by The Beatles; just as probably, no one composer influenced other writers like Beethoven did.
Beethoven’s music, particularly the compositions of the latter half of his career, were mind-boggling to composers of his day. For us, what sounds today like “pretty good stuff,” went far beyond what had been written previously. In short, he blew people’s minds.
You could read that paragraph again, and insert “The Beatles” where you see “Beethoven.”
What Beethoven did that was so radical seems to us today to be somewhat normal, because practically every composer that followed him tried to do the same things: increase harmonic complexity, complicate the notion of formal design, and fundamentally begin the change from a “Classical” (i.e., clean and elegant) concept of music to a Romantic (i.e., emotion-driven) one.
You can argue that in their own way, The Beatles did the same thing. It’s hard to know exactly where this change began, (probably in their recording sessions for “Rubber Soul”) but certainly by the time they released “Sergeant Pepper”, the doors were blown off. In essence, The Beatles, like Beethoven in his own era, told the songwriting world that there’s a new way to write. And in each respective era, it seemed that the sky was the limit.
You will find people today who just don’t “get” anything The Beatles wrote after 1967. They’re fine with “She Loves You“, but “I Am the Walrus” leaves them feeling confused and even angry.
In Beethoven’s day, compositions from the last few years of his life left people feeling similarly confused and angry. His monumental “Missa Solemnis” put such demands on orchestral players and choir that the performers themselves expressed disdain. One choir member notably said to Beethoven at one of the final rehearsals, “We die in the name of God!”
The Beatles, like Beethoven, knew that they were on to something vitally important. Beethoven’s view of himself was: “There are many princes and there will continue to be thousands more, but there is only one Beethoven.”
Lennon’s famous (and famously misunderstood) utterance, “We’re more popular than Jesus…” may have been his way of saying something similar.
There is no doubt that in their respective genres and eras, both Beethoven and The Beatles changed music forever. Composers such as Brahms and Mahler, who flourished in the decades following Beethoven’s life, constantly compared their musical output to Beethoven. In a sense, almost every composer that followed Beethoven was trying to be Beethoven, such was his impact.
In the years that followed The Beatles, many songwriters were, to a certain degree, trying to be The Beatles, in both songwriting and performance style.
We usually acknowledge that it takes many decades or even centuries for the true worth of a composer to become apparent. In popular music genres, that translates to years, or a decade or more before we see how powerful their influence will become. But every once in a while, a composer, or songwriter/performer, comes along where it becomes immediately obvious that they are already at the very top of their own genre.
There have been fantastic musicians in every genre over the past several generations, but probably no one with the global impact of Beethoven, and no group with the universal clout of The Beatles.
And I have no doubt the maestro would be giving two thumbs up to Mona and Lisa’s beautiful creations, and joining the MLT Club if he was alive:
-
-
-
Maybe we shouldn’t roll this guy over after all.
Everyone have a Merry Christmas and joyous holiday season.
-
According to a former music critic in Milwaukee (Tom Strini) Beethoven was the rock star of his time!
-
This is eye-opening, Jung! It never really occurred to me that classical music, just like modern pop music, was full of evolution and revolution, with some composers inspiring others. I always just pictured each artist composing in a vacuum.
An interesting question comes to mind. Given that the classical period took place almost entirely before the advent (seasonal pun!) of audio recording, how many people at the time actually heard these compositions? You would either have to buy the sheet music and learn to play it yourself, or listen to it being performed by the composer or by what we would now call a cover artist. So was this music really “popular” in the usual sense, or was it more just for the well-to-do?
By the way, Bill and Ted gave us some insight into how “Beeth Oven” would fit into the modern music scene:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q8UGAbAPPkk&t=53s
-
Hi David. That’s a great question. From what I can piece together based on movies of that time, Amadeus, Immortal Beloved etc and other historic accounts, in absence of radio and electronic media, it appears there were plenty of amateur pianists, string quartets, orchestras in every city and town that would do frequent concerts, and the modern “hits” would be played. And I think these weren’t only available for the well to do. I’m sure there were a lot of street performers busking. By the time of the industrial revolution pianos, violins, flutes etc were more affordable and there were lots of piano and violin instructors I think by around Mozart and Beethoven’s time. In on documentary I read Beethoven commenting about his famous piano piece “Fur Elise” saying how he did not understand why it became so popular, because he did not particularly like it….which goes to show composers pieces were out in the public, some becoming popular.
Like that Bill and Ted video. Looks so 80ish. The girls hairstyles give it away.
I agree Michael, Beethoven was a rock star. I kind of see Beethoven as John Lennon or Jimi Hendrix. Hendrix because Beethoven was a revered musician and great pianist. There were stories of great virtuoso pianists from around the world that would come to Vienna to challenge Beethoven at recitals on piano virtuosity, and usually Beethoven would send them home in shame . I see Mozart like a Paul McCartney or Elton John. Both were great virtuoso musicians on the piano. Mozart more elegant and beautiful, Beethoven more powerful and emotional. This would have been in Beethoven’s early 20s as by the time he was 28 he started to become deaf. It’s interesting how Beethoven could have been a Club 27 casualty as there are stories of suicide when he realized he was becoming deaf, but instead of going on a self destructive direction, he just engulfed himself completely into his art.
Ludwig van Beethoven Quote: “Don’t only practice your art, but force your way into its secrets; art deserves that, for it and knowledge can raise man to the Divine.”
“Let your deafness no longer be a secret, even in Art”
“Music is like a dream, one that I cannot hear”
“To play a wrong note is insignificant, to play without passion is inexcusable”
-
Yo Research-Maestro,
Great job!
How much would a violin or piano cost compared to the average annual salary
in Beethoven’s day?
-
Thanks Tom! I enjoyed delving into Beethoven and learning some new things myself.
Given there were a lot of musicians and orchestras in Vienna and other places in Europe like Italy, France, and England, I don’t think a violin or horn would have been too out of reach for the average person. Perhaps not that different from today. Even a piano or nice violin today would be at least a few months salary or more for most people. It’s a great question, and I will do some research on that.
-
On this day, happy birthday Ludwig! You are one of my all time favourite musical artists.
MonaLisa Twins – Beethoven – Beatles
His music is the most human and optimistic of all composers
Log in to reply.
