BEETHOVEN, LUDWIG VAN

German composer; b. Bonn, Jan. 15 or 16, 1770; d. Vienna, March 26, 1827. The composer's grandfather, Louis van Beethoven, had been Kapellmeister in the chapel of the archbishop elector of Bonn (1761); his father, Johann, a member of the electoral chapel choir until 1789, was a teacher of clavier and violin. In 1767 Johann had married Maria Magdalena Laym; three children of this marriage survived infancy: Ludwig, Caspar Anton Karl (b. 1774), and Nikolaus Johann (b. 1776). In 1787 Maria Magdalena died; two years later Johann van Beethoven, for whom life had never been very smooth, was dismissed from his position. Thus at the age of 19 his son Ludwig was in fact the head of a family, with two younger brothers to support and guide.

Early Years. He had given early evidence of his musical talent, and, although his first music teachers were not particularly distinguished, Beethoven did have the opportunity sometime about 1781 to study under a competent composer, Christian Gottlob Neefe, who was organist at the electoral court. Under his tutelage Beethoven studied Bach and other composers so well that at the age of 12 he was permitted, in Neefe's absence, to supervise orchestra rehearsals for the court theater. At 14 he was appointed assistant court organist. In 1788 while still serving as organist, Beethoven was also playing viola in the orchestra for operatic performances at the court; this position helped him become familiar with operas by the leading composers of the day—Mozart, Cimarosa, Paisiello, Gluck, and others.

It is possible that Beethoven may have met Mozart in 1787, and had a few lessons in composition from him. He may have met Haydn in 1790; at any rate, Haydn, impressed by an original composition Beethoven had written, brought the young man to Vienna (1792) to continue his study of composition under him. These lessons ended sometime before early 1794. Among others with whom Beethoven studied were Albrechtsberger, known for his sacred music and his theoretical work on counterpoint; Johann Schenk, a composer of Singspiele; and Antonio Salieri, Kapellmeister at the Viennese court and a composer of Italian operas. The association with Salieri continued until 1802.

In 1798 and 1799 Beethoven became aware of increasing difficulty in hearing. Doctors and treatments could not help him, and the inexorable progress of his deafness caused that great spiritual crisis that is reflected in the "Heiligenstadt Testament," a letter Beethoven wrote to his brothers in 1802.

Personal Traits. Beethoven seems to have been extremely careless about his physical appearance; he certainly was absentminded. As his hearing grew worse, he became more and more moody and irritable. He appears never seriously to have lacked money; his compositions, however much they may have been misunderstood by his contemporaries, were evidently very much appreciated. Beethoven's income had been derived from playing the piano before his deafness cut off this source of revenue; he also taught, and derived further income from dedicating works for a fee, and from the sale of rights to his compositions. In these negotiations he seems often to have been deplorably unscrupulous, selling the same rights to different persons at the same time. From 1809 on he received an annuity provided by the Archduke Rudolph, Prince Lobkowitz, and Prince Kinsky. Freed in these ways from economic and patronal pressure, Beethoven was able to compose his music to please no demands but those of his own genius.

In Bonn he was in the service of the archbishop, and among the dedications of his compositions there are several to the Archduke Rudolph, Beethoven's patron and former pupil who became archbishop of Olmütz in 1820. He was generous with his services for charity and more than once permitted his music to be used at a concert for the benefit of an Ursuline convent school at Graz.

Beethoven's relationships with his family were unhappy. He never married, and the two younger brothers, whose guardian he had become at 19, both made marriages of which he disapproved. His brother Caspar died in 1815, and Beethoven was declared sole legal guardian of Caspar's son, Karl (1819). The youth, who did not respond well to Beethoven's well-intentioned but often misplaced efforts, attempted suicide in 1826. Beethoven's relations with his youngest brother, Nikolaus Johann, were complicated by the composer's dislike for Nikolaus's wife. It was after a visit to their home with Karl in 1826, that, on the trip back to Vienna, he fell ill, and died several months later, after receiving the last rites of the Church.

His Music. Among his compositions are nine symphonies, 11 overtures, various concerti (including five for piano and one for violin), 16 string quartets and much other chamber music, 30 piano sonatas and numerous sets of variations for piano, the oratorio Christus am Ölberg (1802), the opera Fidelio (1804), and two Masses. The earlier of these, the Mass in C, Op. 86, was composed in the honor of Princess Esterhazy and was first performed on the Sunday after her name day, Sept. 13, 1807, in Eisenstadt—the same occasion and place for which in other years some of Haydn's Masses were composed. The other, the Mass in D, usually known as the Missa solemnis, Op. 123, was begun in 1819, and was to have been performed at the installation of the Archduke Rudolph as archbishop. The Missa solemnis, however, was not completed until 1823.

Beethoven's Masses, traditional in many respects, are scored for solo quartet, chorus in four parts, and orchestra. They feature word painting (rising lines on "ascendit in caelos," for example), dramatic contrast (sharp difference in scoring, dynamics, and rhythm between the phrases "Gloria in excelsis Deo" and "et in terra pax"), standard devices for setting certain words (rests between repetitions of the word "non"), and the use of instrumental forms in some movements. These characteristics of Beethoven's Masses are similar to those to be found in the works of numerous other composers of the late 18th and early 19th centuries. At times, however, the scoring in Beethoven's Masses differs from that of other Masses of the classic period. Orchestral introductions and interludes are more prominent. Great attention is paid to orchestration: there are monumental, brilliantly written tutti passages (e.g., "Gloria in excelsis Deo" in the Missa solemnis ). There are also passages where the use of sharply reduced orchestral forces produces very impressive effects (e.g., the beginning of the Benedictus in the same Mass, where there are only two flutes and a solo violin; the middle of the Agnus Dei, with only two trumpets and tympani). The solo singers often have highly dramatic and individual lines, which would be artistically impossible for a chorus to perform. A particularly striking example of this is in the Agnus Dei of the Missa solemnis where each of the soloists sings "Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi" in the style of operatic accompanied recitative to an ominous background of trumpets, drums, and strings tremolo. On the other hand, Beethoven sometimes has the solo quartet sing together unaccompanied in a homophonic style, similiar to that of the chorale; this happens, for example, in the Benedictus of the Mass in C.

A composer of Masses who wishes, as Beethoven did, to compose music reflective of the rhythm and the meaning of the words, has a particular problem with the long texts. If each new idea in the text is given its own theme, the work becomes too diffuse; if each of these themes is developed, the movement can become too long. The use of some sort of refrain is one way of solving this problem. In the Gloria of the Missa solemnis, Beethoven creats a vigorous rising figure for the opening line which he brings back on the phrases "laudamus te" and "Domine Deus," as well as at the end, after the fugue, with its original text.

Missa Solemnis. However, if the movements with short texts are not to be dwarfed by the others, their texts must be repeated to expand the length of the movement. For example, in Masses of the classic period, the Benedictus is often a slow lyrical movement, with many repetitions of text, in binary form. It is preceded by a Sanctus set briefly and in homophonic style, a Pleni in a terse but brilliant style—sometimes polyphonic—and an Osanna similarly set. It is followed by a second Osanna section (sometimes a literal repeat of the first) and, in some cases, by a phrase of the Benedictus and a final Osanna. This basic form is found in the Sanctus of the Missa solemnis and also in that of the Coronation Mass (k. 317) of Mozart. The Missa solemnis Sanctus differs from the earlier work most conspicuously in its length. In such late works as the Missa solemnis, Beethoven writes very long lines, avoiding cadences through a variety of devices, and expanding the length of movements proportionately.

The Missa solemnis is gigantic in length, style, and emotional range. It is true that in Bach's Mass in B minor, for example, changes in scoring, range, rhythm, and texture dramatize the text: the "Crucifixus" sounds tragic, the "Et resurrexit" jubilant. But Beethoven explores the possibilities of text expression even further; he uses the changing emotions inspired by the Mass text as impulses toward the creation of a musical expression of the text. Further, he works and reworks his ideas so that in each movement there is a strong and compelling drive from one idea to the next, and an ending that is both over-whelming and inevitable.

The Missa solemnis contains two ponderous and extremely complex fugues that end the Gloria and the Credo; but it also has passages of serene lyricism, such as the Benedictus. This Mass is not an objective statement of the text, but an emotional expression of it resulting from a serious and highly personal reflection on the words. Its inappropriateness for the liturgy has not prevented it from affecting many listeners quite deeply.

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[r. steiner]