Beethoven after Napoleon: Political Romanticism in the Late WorksIn this provocative analysis of Beethoven's late style, Stephen Rumph demonstrates how deeply political events shaped the composer's music, from his early enthusiasm for the French Revolution to his later entrenchment during the Napoleonic era. Impressive in its breadth of research as well as for its devotion to interdisciplinary work in music history, Beethoven after Napoleon challenges accepted views by illustrating the influence of German Romantic political thought in the formation of the artist's mature style. Beethoven's political views, Rumph argues, were not quite as liberal as many have assumed. While scholars agree that the works of the Napoleonic era such as the Eroica Symphony or Fidelio embody enlightened, revolutionary ideals of progress, freedom, and humanism, Beethoven's later works have attracted less political commentary. Rumph contends that the later works show clear affinities with a native German ideology that exalted history, religion, and the organic totality of state and society. He claims that as the Napoleonic Wars plunged Europe into political and economic turmoil, Beethoven's growing antipathy to the French mirrored the experience of his Romantic contemporaries. Rumph maintains that Beethoven's turn inward is no pessimistic retreat but a positive affirmation of new conservative ideals. |
From inside the book
Results 1-5 of 51
Page 1
... voice in Bonn with a cantata memorializing the enlightened reforms of Joseph II, and he crowned his public career in Vienna with the Ninth Symphony's hymn to universal brotherhood. No intervening work drew more labor or revisions from ...
... voice in Bonn with a cantata memorializing the enlightened reforms of Joseph II, and he crowned his public career in Vienna with the Ninth Symphony's hymn to universal brotherhood. No intervening work drew more labor or revisions from ...
Page 7
... voice — none of these categories belongs exclusively to ei- ther music or politics . But all are junctures where the history of ideas and the history of composition might intersect . According to this method , for instance , we need ...
... voice — none of these categories belongs exclusively to ei- ther music or politics . But all are junctures where the history of ideas and the history of composition might intersect . According to this method , for instance , we need ...
Page 12
... voice openly patriotic sentiments . His grisly fantasy Die Vision auf dem Schlachtfeld bei Dresden , inspired by his first - hand experience of the fa- mous battle , savagely attacks Napoleon and ends with a paean to " the re- splendent ...
... voice openly patriotic sentiments . His grisly fantasy Die Vision auf dem Schlachtfeld bei Dresden , inspired by his first - hand experience of the fa- mous battle , savagely attacks Napoleon and ends with a paean to " the re- splendent ...
Page 16
... voice of the pedagogue also speaks in Hoffmann's remark that Beethoven's contrapuntal treatment "testifies to a deep study of the art" (p. 43), or in the claim that Besonnenheit is "inseparable from the true genius and is nourished ...
... voice of the pedagogue also speaks in Hoffmann's remark that Beethoven's contrapuntal treatment "testifies to a deep study of the art" (p. 43), or in the claim that Besonnenheit is "inseparable from the true genius and is nourished ...
Page 22
... as he spoke, his voice raised: "Ludwig! What has happened to you? Has the prison air you have breathed here for so long preyed upon you to the point where, sick and ailing, you can no longer feel 22 / A Kingdom Not of This World.
... as he spoke, his voice raised: "Ludwig! What has happened to you? Has the prison air you have breathed here for so long preyed upon you to the point where, sick and ailing, you can no longer feel 22 / A Kingdom Not of This World.
Contents
1 | |
9 | |
2 THE HEROIC SUBLIME | 35 |
3 PROMETHEAN HISTORY | 58 |
4 1809 | 92 |
PRELUDE AND FUGUE | 109 |
DOUBLE FUGUE | 133 |
7 ANDROGYNOUS UTOPIAS | 156 |
8 VOX POPULI VOX DEI | 195 |
9 A MODERNIST EPILOGUE | 222 |
Notes | 247 |
Works Cited | 267 |
Index | 279 |
Other editions - View all
Beethoven After Napoleon: Political Romanticism in the Late Works Stephen Rumph Limited preview - 2004 |
Beethoven After Napoleon: Political Romanticism in the Late Works Stephen Rumph No preview available - 2004 |
Common terms and phrases
Adagio Adam Müller Adorno aesthetic Allegro bars beauty Beethoven’s late begins C-major cadenzas cantus firmus Carl Dahlhaus cello chorale chord Classical coda composer concerto contrapuntal countersubject cresc critics Critique Dahlhaus dialectic double counterpoint double fugue dramatic E. T. A. Hoffmann Ehre Gottes Elaine Sisman emerges Eroica Fifth French Freude Friedrich fugal fugato German Grosse Fuge Hammerklavier harmony Haydn heroic style human hymn idea ideal individual Joseph Kerman Kant Kinderman late quartets late style Leonore lyrical Maestoso major Marcia melody ment Minor Missa solemnis motive movement naive Napoleon nature Ninth Symphony Ninth Symphony finale notes Novalis Ode to Joy opening Piano Sonata realm reprise rhythm rhythmic Riezler Romantic political Romanticism Rosen Schenker scherzo Schiller Schlegel second theme sf sf Siegessinfonie Solomon sonata form spirit String Quartet structure sublime texture thematic tion tonal trans transcendent Universalgeschichte University Press variations Vienna voice Wellingtons Sieg Werke
Popular passages
Page 86 - Act in such a way that you always treat humanity, whether in your own person or in the person of any other, never simply as a means, but always at the same time as an end.
Page 50 - Two things fill the mind with ever new and increasing admiration and awe, the oftener and the more steadily we reflect on them: the starry heavens above and the moral law within.