Phonograph Monthly Review, Vol. 1, No. 6 (1927-03)

The Phonograph Monthly Review 257 V£| i i " i " ...l 1 , — — Beethoven’s nature, and the period when he began composing his greatest works, wrought a great change. He was a man of tremendous in- dividuality, of excessive individuality. Like the great poet, the great painter, he was capable of undergoing terrific emotional and spiritual struggles and emerging with a work of art that said something very definitely. Above all, he was more personal than his predecessors. They had been surrounded by a highly artificial environ- ment, and had been bound by the convention that the worst sin one might commit was the penning of anything like a confession. Beethoven had the strength of character to rebel against such a notion. Further, the Romantic movement had, by this time, gained sufficient momentum in litera- ture and art and life in general to affect Bee- thoven’s environment and himself. The main thing for the reader to remember is that the sonata-form (as well as other forms) had been brought to a state of perfection waiting the arrival of some genius who should seize upon them for profound utterances. Beethoven hap- pened to be that genius. Being a genius, he could not work entirely within the forms as they had been transmitted to him. He took these forms and infused into them his own personality, mak- ing them more flexible, more apt for tonal drama. He made frequent use of an introduction (which had been occasionally used before him) to make more effective contrasts possible. Similarly he broadened the scope of the coda, a section added at the close of a composition or movement, to summarize in brief the most important ideas used by the composer. He took greater liberties in his key-systems, modulating to “foreign” keys in a manner forbidden his musical forbears. He broadened the harmonic vocabulary, introducing new and strange chords, daring to employ what were then harsh dissonances. And he infused into his work a rhythmic vitality and variety that had been hitherto completely lacking. Syn- copation on a large scale was practically born with Beethoven. He did all these things, and more. But it is unnecessary to catalogue them further. The changes that Beethoven wrought in music are best illustrated by the “Eroica” symphony, follow- ing the first and second symphonies. In the earlier works Beethoven is studiously giving evi- dence of having thoroughly digested the work of his predecessors. There is already a personality manifest, but it does not transgress the laws of musical propriety. In the third symphony (which is the “Eroica”) one detects at once a powerful personality at work. I suppose I am slightly pre- judiced in this matter, and I certainly should not wish to distort the taste of my readers; but I have long cherished this symphony above the more famous fifth. There is in it a sustained grandeur characteristic of Beethoven. The themes are big and vital, the development is ingenious and excit- ing, and there is amazing variety of content. I have given the reader a very spare sketch of music, considered on the structural side and on the side of historical development. This sketch has been carried down to Beethoven, leaving out the great school of polyphonic writers. I want to say a few words about the makeup of the sym- phony. By the time of Haydn the meaning of this word had crystallized into a form that it retains to this day. It was an extended composi- tion written for orchestra, and divided into four parts called movements. When the composition was played as a whole (as it is almost invariably in concert nowadays, although not universally so then) there was a considerable pause between each two movements. In our times conductors have become more rigid, some of them allowing a very short pause only, and permitting no applause. As to the form of the movements, the main object being to obtain contrast in a work of such length as a symphony, it was essential that there be considerable flexibility. The first movement was generally in sonata-form. The second movement was generally an andante. This type of move- ment—the slow movement—very early began to receive diversified treatment. In a new feature which is being planned for the PHONOGRAPH Monthly Review I shall have occasion to de- scribe the various types of slow movements. The third movement was a minuet, developed by Beethoven into a scherzo, as I have described above. The last movement was the least fixed in form. Sometimes it was sonata-form. More often it was a rondo, a piece in which the first theme is repeated over and over, with contrasting themes sandwiched in. The rondo is thus an extension of the original three-part form. The sonata is structurally identical with a symphony, except that it often contained, espec- ially with Beethoven, only three movements. But while a symphony was played by an orchestra, the sonata was played on the piano, or by a pianist and one more solo instrument. If the piano was joined by two instruments, the form was called trio, for lack of a better name; if by three, quartet, four, quintet, and so on. But Haydn also composed for an ensemble of four stringed instruments—two violins, viola, and violoncello. The resulting composition was called a string quartet. Essentially these various forms were the same as the symphony; the composer instead of arranging his music for orchestra, wrote it for a smaller group. But the themes were handled in the same way, the work had the same broad outlines. Beethoven was the first to make a real differentiation; but that is another long story which I shall tell some time. The one remaining important form (outside of the opera) is the overture, and this was most often in sonata- form. It remains for the reader to apply his knowl- edge of the broad general principles I have tried to emphasize in these articles—apply them in his selection and playing of records. What I said at the very start I may say now at the close with greater force: It is in listening to good music that you learn to know good music and love it. The End