CORNELL 
 
 UNIVERSITY 
 
 LIBRARY 
 
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 tine Cornell University Library. 
 
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 the United States on the use of the text. 
 
 http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924022491173 
 
[Born 17TH Pbcember, 1770.] _ 
 
 THE BEETHOVEN CENTEMIAL. 
 
 A SHORT REVIEW 
 
 THE LIFE AND WORKS OF BEETHOVEN. 
 
 JAMES PECH, Mus.Doc, 
 Of New Colltge, Oxford. 
 
 |orh! • 
 
 HURD &. HOUGTON. 
 1870. 
 

(^ 
 
 Gentlemen : — 
 
 No truth connected with the cultivation of mu8i,c is more certain, 
 than that the classical branch of the art cannot permanently prosper 
 without the patronage of the intellectual and wealthy, coupled with 
 refined social influence. 
 
 Ih the absence of any fostering aid, such as a government could 
 afford, it is with feelings of satisfaction and pride that I contemplate, 
 in a still flowjpg tide of public favor, the success with which, under 
 your Direction and the Presidency of George T. Strong, Esq., 
 the Philharmonic is promoting the true interests of art. Assisted by 
 your counsel, and armed with his support, the Philharmonic cannot 
 fail to secure, uninterruptedly, the favorable suffrages of the intelligent 
 and refined, and to maintain its eminence for a long future career. 
 
 Gentlemen, in providing classical concerts of the highest order, 
 unbiased by partial, despising interested, and confronting malignant 
 . criticism, you are, I fully believe, with singleness of heart and steadi- 
 ness of purpose, doing honor to the merit of every country, for this 
 country's and the merits sake. 
 
 I remain, gentlemen, 
 
 Most truly yours, 
 
 JAMES PECH. 
 
 Trinity Pariah, New York, 
 17 December, 1870. 
 
DIRECTORS FOR THE YEAR 1870. 
 
 (JBOEGE T. STKONG, Esq Pbesidbht. 
 
 E. BOBHM, . . ViOB Pbebident. 
 
 D. SCHAAD, Sbcretart 
 
 J. G. BfaSHBIM, TRBAaTTEBB. 
 
 J. LEIS, .... . ..... LlBRABIAN. 
 
 GAEL BEEGMANN, G. GIPNEE, 
 
 F. EIETZELL, ■ G. MATZKA, 
 
 F. BBEGNEE, F. HEEWIG. 
 
 PROGRAMME. 
 
 CELEBBATION OF THE CENTENNIAL 4.NNIVBB8ABT OP THE BIBTH OF 
 
 LuDWiG VAN Beethoven, 
 SATURDAY EVENING, DEC. ITia, 1870, 
 
 AT THE ' 
 
 ACADEMY OF MUSIC. 
 
 Part I. 
 
 Stmphoht No. 7, Op. 93, • Beethoven. 
 
 SciprA AND Aria, Fidelio, " Abschealicher," . . . Beethoven. 
 
 Madame Louibb Liohtmat. 
 
 CoNOBBTO FOB PiAHO IN E |j, Op. 13, Beeth4jvm. 
 
 Miss Marie Ebebs. 
 
 Part II. 
 
 Eqmont, ... . .... Beethoven 
 
 Songs from Egmoot. Madame Louise Licbtmat. 
 
 The Poem translated by Mr. J. H. Cobnbll will be read by 
 
 Mr. George VandeNhoff. 
 
 A GilAND OECHESTEA OF ONE HUNDEED PBEFOEMEES. 
 Conductor, . . Herr Cabl Bebqmank. 
 
BEET.HOYEN 
 
 The Hundredth Anniversary of Beethoven's 
 birth which takes place to day, the 17th of De- 
 cember, is to be celebrated in New York, Bos- 
 ton, and other cities and towns of the United 
 States; and in various parts of the civilized 
 world, with a consideration due the genius of 
 that great man. This anniveg- sary cannot be 
 disregarded .by any one who takes an interest in 
 the musical history of the world, or who values 
 the extensive influence which his writings have 
 had, and will for ever have, on the public taste. 
 Our humanity must also be awakened by a con- 
 templation, ■ not only of the birth, but of the 
 closing period of this extraordinary man's life, 
 during which he labored under incurable deaf- 
 ness* — a disease of all others, the most distress- 
 
 *It is well known thM Beethoven labored under the severe de- 
 privation of dea&ess, but the cause of this ai&iction is not so generally 
 
ing to the miisician — anct struggled with want 
 and embarrassment, while he was the prey of 
 the most torturing sensibility. 
 
 LuDwiG Van Beethoven, descended from a 
 race of singers at Bonn, was born on the 17th 
 of December, 1770. His father was a tenor and 
 his grandfather had been a bass singer in the 
 Chapel of the Elector of Cologne. Neefe, the 
 organist of the place, was his instructor in the 
 rudiments of music ; but his education was in 
 other 'respects neglected. He was, however, 
 soon removed to a field of action, where full 
 scope and encouragement were given to his as- 
 piring genius, for aspiring it was even at this 
 early age, and accordingly the Elector, struck 
 with his rare ability, sent him to Vienna to 
 study, under the great Haydn, who, after two 
 years, ■ transferred his scholar to Albrechtsber- 
 ger. This refij;ied artist and profound theorist 
 planted good seed in a soil most fruitful by na- 
 ture. Beethoven was at this time about thir- 
 teen years old, and the. compositions which he 
 
 known. This great composer was at Ms cottage in the neighborhood 
 of Vienna one summer, and during the afternoon of a sultry day be- 
 ing seized with the furor of composition, seated himself at a small 
 table in the garden, where he wrote with his well known Telocity 
 and abstraction, unconscious how fast the day was closing. To- 
 wards evening a heavy shower of rain began to descend. Still, how- 
 ever, the composer was so intent on his work, that he remained until 
 he was literally drenched to the skin, when he found by the oblitera- 
 tion of nearly every note he had written, that he had staid too long 
 The consequence of this unprecedented want of care was, that a violent 
 cold and deafness attacked him which became incurahle. 
 
hazarded evince the preponderance of that 
 fearlessness and independence of character 
 which distinguished him through life. But 
 he was harshly treated by the critics ; he was 
 accused of crude modulation, and of a con- 
 stant straining after originality. By the same 
 writers, however, hp was ever most highly ap- 
 plauded as a piano-forte player ; in which he is 
 said, at that time, to have eclipsed all the finest 
 masters of the day. ■ In extempore performance 
 he ranked next to his great predecessor, Mo- 
 zart; and he has been only rivalled by Hummel 
 and Mendeksohn. 
 
 , Aftei; the death of his patron, the Elector of 
 Cologne, Beethoven fixed his residence at Vi- 
 enna, one of the cities, at that time, most 
 distinguished for the encouragement of the 
 fine arts. Here, however, he had much to con- 
 tend with, for the taste and the fashion of the 
 day were against him; and, moreover, his ex- 
 treme singularity and eccentricity of manner . 
 made him many enemies, whilst he was of too 
 indepe'ndent a mind to advance himself by the 
 arts of flattery or submission to the great. As 
 a composer he had to work his way up, he had 
 a steep hill to climb ; but when he did reach the 
 summit, it was a proud eminence whereon he 
 stood alone, and looked down in triumph on all 
 competitors. Would that the loneliness of great- 
 ness had been the only solitjide he was doomed 
 
to suffer, but before the age of twenty-eight he 
 almost entirely lost the faculty most precious 
 to a student of his art, ,the sense of hearing. 
 From that unhappy period he appears, both from 
 his own confession, and the relations of others, 
 to have been driyen from the " haunts of men," 
 and compelled to a total dependence on his own 
 resoin-ces for his enjoyments in life. A perusal 
 of his papers, found after death, affords a dis- 
 tressing picture of his feelings at this period. 
 There is not, probably, a man, who after reading 
 those papers, will not sympathize with the afflic- 
 tions of Beethoven, not only -as a musician, but 
 as a fellow creature; who will not look with 
 increased veneration on an art which possessed 
 in itself sufficient charms to induce one, who 
 was suffering so acutely, to wish for the con- 
 tinuance of life merely for the sake of its culti- 
 vation, and which could form the only solace of 
 th3,t melancholy existence. 
 
 Beethoven resided nearly all his life in Vien- 
 na, but until the year 1809 he had very little 
 other emolument than what he gained by his 
 compositions. At that period. an offer was made 
 to him of the situation of Kapell-Meister to the 
 court of Jerome Bonaparte, in Westphalia, 
 which the composer was dissuaded from accept- 
 ii^g by three of the Austrian Princes,* who set- 
 tled on him the yearly pension of four thousand 
 
 * The Archduke Rudolph, Prince Kinsky, and Prince Lobkowitz. 
 
florins, on the simple condition of his remaining 
 in his own country. This annuity, however, in 
 1811 was reduced by the Austrian finance com- 
 mittee to one-fifth, and subsequently, on the 
 failure of Prince Lobkowitz, this one-fifth was 
 still further diminished. In later years he seems 
 tb have passed his life in great obscurity, and at 
 times, it is stated, he was in actual poverty, al- 
 though this may have arisen from untoward 
 circumstances of a domestic nature^ But what- 
 ever may have b^en the causes, m addition to 
 his unfortunate deafness, which had now in- 
 creased and become incurable, and which sepa- 
 rated him from society, it is equally painful to 
 Sel that a being so eminently gifted by nature 
 for the prosecution of a divine art, warmed by 
 the noblest and purest virtues, and exquisitely 
 susceptible of the beauties of nature, should be 
 thus thrown upon himself, totally debarred from 
 the pleasures of reciprocal intercourse with his 
 fellow creatures, and even from the actual en- 
 joyment of music for which he lived, with a 
 mind harassed and worn by the acutest of all 
 suffering, that of extreme sensibility, and a head 
 frosted by the hand of care before time had laid 
 a finger on him. 
 
 Thus did Beethoven live, admired by the 
 world, revered by the professors of his, art, re- 
 spected and loved by the few friends admitted 
 into his intimacy, and worshipped by his own 
 
10 
 
 ciDuntfymen ; as appeared from an address pre- 
 sented to him in 1824, and in compliance with 
 which, he assisted at two performances of his 
 own compositions at the K^rnthner-thor Theatre, 
 before an immense audience. Yet this great 
 man is represented to have been morose, un- 
 yielding and eccentric. Beethoven was endued 
 with a mind of uncommon strength, and nerves 
 of the extreme delicacy of texture that supply 
 the artist with half his artistic perception. , He 
 was a stranger to the interchange and wholesome 
 exercise of the domestic affections, afflicted by a 
 great calamity which his profession made dou- 
 bly painful, and obliged at the same time near- 
 ly to earn his subsistence, which however hon- 
 orable to him who does it creditably, must have 
 been galling to one of Beethoven's sensitive and 
 exalted feelings — to one who seems to have 
 enjoyed his art as almosttoo sacred to be applied 
 to practical uses. It may be said that Beet- 
 oven was an example of the misery to which 
 even genius is doomed, when secluded from the 
 society of men. It is 'true that he suffered, but 
 this suffering was increased by the consciousness 
 of his ability to enjoy that which might have 
 been so delightful to him. There may, perhaps, 
 be some doubt whether Beethoven, with his ex- 
 treme irritability of nerve and temper, was form- 
 ed for society, but though the tenor of his life 
 may have been neither tranquil nor uniformly 
 happy, he must have enjoyed in solitude many 
 
11 
 
 moments of such beatific visions of artistic 
 Truth as could scarcely have been compensated 
 to him by any or all the pleasures he might 
 have experienced in ordinary social life. 
 
 It is unnecessary to- enter into the particulars 
 of Beethoven's closing years. We willingly 
 draw a veil over the last period of infirmity and 
 suffering such as often darken the last hours of 
 great intellects. Long before his death,Beethoven 
 was prostrated by disease. Returning from the 
 country to Vienna, in December, 1826, he 
 caught a violent cold, followed by. inflammation 
 of the lungs, and then by dropsy, which in- 
 creased rapidly. Between the 18th of December 
 and the following 27th of February, he un- 
 derwent an operation, peculiar to that disease, 
 four times. Nature was exhausted; the suf- 
 ferer lingered in a deplorable state till the 26th 
 of March, when he breathed his last in the midst 
 of a violent thunder storm ; as if he who had re- 
 joiced in the grandest scenes of mature, was sum- 
 moned to his last home by the sounds he had so 
 magnificently portrayed. 
 
 If, then, it be a melancholy truth that life is 
 allotted to the most gifted individuals no longer 
 than to the most obscure, there is yet the con- 
 solation that "their works do follow them." 
 We may, however, be pardoned for indulging in 
 sorrow when genius is prematurely snatched from 
 
13 
 
 the world while those faculties, which have both 
 instructed and delighted mankind, were yet in 
 full vigor, and when more, much more, might 
 have been hoped from the prolongation of ex- 
 istence. It is with such sentiments th^t we 
 Tjan but regard the painful death of that Master, 
 Beethoven, at the comparatively early age^of 
 56. We have considered it necessary to give a 
 slight record of his life ; we shall now proceed 
 to discuss those works, some of which, possess, 
 in the highest degree, power to awaken and ex- 
 alt the finer feelings of our nature^J^ 
 
 He would have been considered bold, who, on 
 the decease of Haydn, should have said that one 
 would immediately appear to contest the palm 
 with him and with Mozart — nay, in the opin- 
 ion of many, to carry it away from both. But 
 there are more things in heaven and earth than 
 are dreamed of in our philosophy, and among 
 such are the impulses and the triumphs of ex- 
 traordinary genius. 
 
 If the most intense feeling, which carries us 
 along with it in spite of the extravagance that 
 often approaches to absurdity — if the wildest 
 strains of thought and the most touching ex- 
 pression are indications of genius, then may the 
 term be applied to Beethoven. Indeed, it is to 
 his genius that he seems mostly indebted, for his 
 works bear few such marks of studious labor as 
 
13 
 
 distiiiguished those of his great predecessors. 
 With some exceptions they resemble grand 
 sketches, which the artist has wanted the power 
 or the inclination to elaborate and perfect. In 
 truth, Beethoven appears to have disdained 
 that severity of discipline to which Haydn and 
 Mozart submitted, that they might acquire 
 command over all the resources of their art, 
 and his compositions are so far inferior to theirs 
 in order and design. Even in his Masses and 
 his Oratorio of Christies am CElherge, where we 
 might particularly expect to meet with it, there 
 is not one example of a fugue regularly conduct- 
 ed — but his subject is generally ,abandoned after 
 having been answered, or if it is resumed, it is 
 only to be treated as the Italians say "alia 
 fugata." 
 
 These obsei^vations may draw down from 
 some persons a charge of pedantry, but we would 
 beg them to remember, that no composer of es- 
 ta;blished fame, no one whom the united voice 
 of the musical world pronounces " great," has 
 yet existed, without distinguishing himself by 
 the production of fugues or canons; let 
 them consider also the care with which such 
 specimens of art are preserved. How many 
 volumes, nay, how many schools and particular 
 styles of writing have gone down to " the tomb 
 of all the Capulets" since " Non nobis Domi/ne"* 
 
 * A canon by William Byrd, one of the gentlemen of the Chapel 
 Royal, in the reign of the English Queen, Elizabeth, 1563. 
 
14. 
 
 first appeared, yet we still hear it with unabated 
 pleasure. And may not the same be said of the 
 fugues of Bach and Handel ? They bear no 
 stamp of age, and we of the present day listen 
 to them with delight equal to that which was 
 felt by those who lived when they were first 
 written. Maspurg observes, " of all the various 
 species of composition, the fugue, and he might 
 have added, the canon^ — is that alone which bids 
 defiance to the caprice of fashion ; ages have 
 wrought no change in it ; and fugues composed 
 a hundred and fifty years ago, have as much 
 freshness and novelty about them as if they 
 had been composed in our own times." 
 
 This can be accounted for, if we remember 
 that almost all ornament is excluded from the 
 fugue, by the rigor of the laws to which it is 
 subject; and in music, as in architecture, the or- 
 namental parts go most quickly to decay. With 
 regard to the preference shown for such works, 
 it may be remarked, that we always experience 
 great gratification in contemplating difficulties 
 overcome, and when we find the charms of im- 
 agination and taste superadded, our gratifica- 
 tion rises to high enjoyment. It may also be 
 observed, that it is in the nature of superior and 
 enlightened minds to delight in order and design, 
 and the finest instances of these are to be found 
 in the well_constructed fugue and canon. In- 
 deed, no composition of any length would be 
 
15 
 
 endurable without, some application of those 
 principles on which, canons and fugues are 
 constructed ; that is, without, a subject proposed 
 and imitated with more or less strictness. Now, 
 although the fiery mind of Beethoven seems to 
 have disdained the labor which is necessary in 
 the composition of regular fugues, his works 
 abound in imitative passages of great beauty. 
 At times, however, the imitation is productive 
 of a degree of harshness which more patient 
 study would have enabled him to avoid. 
 
 Musicians are divided in their opinions con- 
 cerning the early and late works of this wonder- 
 ful man. We think most persons will prefer the 
 former. They have more symmetry ; and for reg- 
 ularity and concatenation of thought they equal 
 those beautiful models which Haydn and Mo- 
 zart have left, while they are as much charac- 
 terized by the peculiarities of the author's ge- 
 nius as are any of his subsequent productions. 
 Take, for example, his first Symphony in C 
 major, and his Septuor ; these are perfect gems 
 of instrumental writing. In them every passage 
 tells,. and with reference to them, we may say, 
 as Dr. Johnson said of Gray, when speaking of 
 his Elegy — " had he often written thus, it had 
 been vain to blame, and useless to praise him." 
 Very different is the case with the later compo- 
 sitions of Beethoven — though he is said to have 
 preferred them so much, that he felt highly of- 
 
16 
 
 fended whenever any one praised his early prO' 
 ductions. This only proves what has been a 
 thousand times asserted, that authors are not 
 always the best judges of their own works. In 
 those now under consideration, there are parts 
 of great magnificence and beauty, there are also 
 whole movements which are exquisite ; but these 
 are associated with much that is turgid and ex- 
 travagant, and with not a little which borders 
 on the ridiculous. 
 
 Haydn and Mozart, indeed, often approached 
 the very verge of propriety, but the caution 
 with which they planned their works, preserved 
 them from remarkable excesses. Beethoven, 
 however, following only the impetus of his im- 
 agination, and disdaining those constraints which 
 sober judgment would suggest, rushes madly on, 
 and often 
 
 '" Plays suoh fantastic tricks 
 As makes tlie critics weep." 
 
 The history of the progress in art of a mind 
 like Beethoven's would be mqst interesting and 
 instructive. As we have before hinted, he does 
 not seem to have devoted much time to close 
 study, but to have acquired his powers of com- 
 position by continual practice. Notwithstanding 
 this, the beauty of his first works, their nov- 
 elty, and the effects which they produced, cre- 
 ated for him immediately a crowd of admirers. 
 These persons quickly made him " the god of 
 
17 
 
 their idolatry," and, as became true believers, 
 would not allow that there could be a spot or 
 blemish in his creations. Thus situated, and 
 with an impetuosity of temper which made in- 
 terference of any kind a dangerous office, it is 
 not surprising that Beethoven should, occasion- 
 ally, have entertained false notions of his art ; 
 that he should have mistakenhioise for grandeur, 
 extravagance for originality, iand have supposed 
 that the interest of his cojapositiona. would be 
 in proportion to their duration. |^That he gave 
 little time for reflection, is proved most clearly 
 by the extraordinary length of some movements 
 in his later symphonies, to which we might ap- 
 ply the epithet "Romans de longue hcdeine" 
 given to certain French novels of the old school. 
 The great fault, if we may say so, which 
 Beethoven committed, in making many of his 
 compositions' so long, will be seen, if we con- 
 sider that music, though the most vague, is the 
 most exciting of the arts, and not all the finest 
 passages from Homer, nor an exhibition of all 
 the battles of Le Brun, would create half the 
 effect on the minds of a party of British or 
 American soldiers going into action as would 
 be produced by " Eule Britannia," or "The 
 Star Spangled Banner." 
 
 But though the impressions which we receive 
 from music are more lively than those made 
 upon us by poetry or painting, it is not to be 
 
18 
 
 denied that they are much more undefined. 
 This applies particularly to instrumental com- 
 positions, for the vocal acquire a more defined 
 expression from their association with poetry, 
 into which, when of superior order, they may be 
 said to merge. Now, what is the tendency of 
 instrumental music ? Is it not to excite in us a 
 disposition to reverie ? during which we associ- 
 ate all we hear with those objects that contrib- 
 ute mostly to our happiness. Thus the lover, 
 if he listen to" a tender strain, will think of his 
 mistress ; the mind of the absent husband and 
 father will turn to his home, ,his wife and his 
 children; and the old bachelor, and ardent 
 lover of music, will never hear music without,, 
 perhaps, seeing pictures, nor see pictures without 
 hearing music. Woe to him, however, who 
 rashly fendeavors to embody these imaginings 
 in plain prose. Would any one -see how -ludi- 
 crous a man may make himself by the attempt? 
 Let him read " Momignys Pioturesgue Analysis, 
 contained in his '■'■Cvurs Complet d'harmonie et 
 de Composition " of Haydn's famous symphony 
 in E I', one of the twelve written for Salomon, 
 of London. If this work should not be within 
 reach there are others of a more modern date, 
 with laughable nonsense, written by fanciful 
 authors in the form of analyses. But this charm 
 of the_ imagination, which we have been con- 
 sidering, cannot be long continued, though so 
 delightful. Some one has satid, " It is a law of 
 
19 
 
 our nature, that impressions, often repeated, 
 should lose their force." This is strikingly 
 proved by our author; take for example his 
 Pastoral Symphony. When that i« performed 
 we, at 'first, give into all the illusion which hfe 
 could create, and. our minds are insensibly filled 
 with rural images. But the stimulus is too long 
 applied, we are aroused from our reveries, find 
 a number of vacant' faces around us, and hastily 
 wish the movement- at an end. To giye only 
 one_ more instance^ the funeral march in the. 
 Sinfonia , Eroica, ,b,ep:in,s..ja dmirably, and for, a 
 while, we feel all the mournful impressions 
 which the composer would insp ire; Jb ut these 
 yield to jlIbhssjoL weariness, which arises from 
 the, length of the moveroen t, notwithstanding 
 the prodigious -powe£--Q£-jQ£&hes4gal-aiaa.ting' it 
 
 di_sglayg- _ - 
 
 On what different principles has Handel pro- 
 ceeded in his " I)ead March in Saul," and how 
 different is the result ! 
 
 The great error, it appears to us, which 
 Beethoven committed in this respect^ is striking- 
 ly shown by the following circumstance: at 
 Vienna, w here he p assed his li fe, and where all 
 his great ^orksJ^^e jroduce df^ his symphonies 
 were seldom, performed in an entire state. Nay, 
 so completely did he dose his countrymen, and 
 so thoroughly did he exhaust even their pa- 
 tience, that they did not scruple, at one time, to 
 
20 
 
 lay hands- on the symphonies of Haydn and 
 Mozart, and give them in the same manner. 
 
 Beethoven, however, may be considered as the, 
 most extraordinary composer for the orchestra 
 that ever lived. His invention is amazing, and 
 the effects he often produces are'" not only quite 
 original, but delightful indeed ; for effect, ab- 
 stractedly considered, he is superior to all his 
 predecessors and successors. Nor has there 
 been any one who can be said to have equaled 
 him in force. But these great qualities are fre- 
 quently alloyed by a morbid desire for novelty, 
 — as in the more modern efforts of Berlioz, Liszt 
 and Wagner — by extravagance, and by a con- 
 tempt of rule. 
 
 It appears somewhat strange that Beethoven 
 should have made such comparatively few at- 
 tempts in vocal jnusic. His chief vocal com- 
 positions are the OratSrio of " CJiristus am 
 CE^erge^ and, the Opera of Fidelia. The Ora- 
 torio sho-vra~Thl?['' he "never made writing for 
 voices his study. In his accompaniments he is 
 overpowering; but in the construction of his 
 vocal parts he is careless and harsh. iTThe first 
 point we meet with is on the words "Doch 
 weh ! die frech entehren,"* and there the two 
 first replies are brought in upon the unprepared 
 
 Page 30, Full Score. Breilkopf and Hartel. L 
 
 eipzig. 
 
21 
 
 discord of the second ; this is sufficiertt to make 
 a strict contrapuntist grind his teeth in the grave. 
 Indeed, it is impossible to look over the score 
 of this work, without perceiving that- the au- 
 thor's mind was imbued with instrumental ef- 
 fects. This strikes us more forcibly when listen- 
 ing to the performance, for the vocal parts never 
 come out. They never seize on the attention 
 as they seize it in the choruses of Handel, but 
 almost always have the effect of mere accompa- 
 niments to the orchestra. 
 
 The original words of this Oratorio are a de- 
 plorable instance of irreverence and bad taste. 
 The chief persons engaged in it are St. Peter, a 
 seraph and JeSus Christ, who is made to begin, 
 " Jehovah, du mein -Vater ! " The Saviour af- 
 terwards engages in a duet with the seraph, in 
 a terzetto with him and St. Peter, and executes 
 a long roulade, accompfinied by a chorus, in the 
 most approved operatic, style. If Milton, by 
 some is considered worthy of reproof for making 
 the Father speak, though in the highest moral 
 strains, what shall be said of those who make 
 the .Son sing ? and that in a manner nowise dif- 
 fering from the fashionable performers of the 
 day.* , > 
 
 Fid^lio is the only entire opera for the stage 
 
 * There is an Englisu version under the title of "Engedi," 
 founded on gxtraets from the First Book of Samuel, which obviates 
 the use of the objectionable words of the German libretto. 
 
22 
 
 he ever wrote, and the following, we have gather- 
 ed, are the reasons for its being his first and 
 last. The work was composed nearly sixty 
 years ago, and the continual disputes between 
 the principal singers, particularly the ladies, who 
 were constantly objecting to some, and insisting 
 upon other more showy, passages being intro- 
 duced for their display, the annoyance he met 
 with at rehearsals from copyists, mistakes and 
 delays, so irritated a mind little calculated to 
 cope with such interruptions, that he vowed he 
 never would write another opera, which deter- 
 mination, unfortunately for the lovers of his 
 style, he strictly adhered to. Since that time, 
 however, it has been frequently performed by 
 the greatest artists and with the most perfect 
 ■ mise en scene possible. The beauties of this 
 work, like Weber's Oberon, cannot be appreci- 
 ated until it has been heard several times. 
 
 Adelaida is a very pleasing scena and is fre- 
 quently sung in public and private ; but the 
 other vocal writings of Beethoven, including 
 those most familiar to the public, the scena and 
 aria, " Ah ! perfido" and the terzett, " Tremate," 
 need not occupy us an\- longer, for they add but 
 little to his fame. Thi.s must rest on his instru- 
 mental compositions. It is very evident that 
 the bent of his genius leaned towards the instru- 
 mental and not the vocal; and we believe the 
 impulses of his genius to have been so strong, 
 that no minor considerations could prevent obe- 
 
23 
 
 4161106 to their dietategf. Besides this, constant 
 experience leads us to think that he who writes 
 vocal music well, must have a differently con- 
 structed mind to him who cultivates instru- 
 menta.1. In the first case, the musician has to 
 deal with a ductile and pliant organ, which is 
 in itself capable of affecting the mind in various 
 ways, and which is further aided in its impres- 
 sions by the agency of speech; whilst in the 
 second his elements consist of a combination of 
 differently formed instruments, each distinguish- 
 ed by a particular character and requiring dif- 
 ferent treatment, and almost all to a certain 
 degree limited in their powers. In the former, 
 the whole interest of the piece is usurped by 
 one, in the latter it 'is supported by, and divided 
 amongst, many ; and he who has been accus- 
 tomed to deyelope and work upon the complica- 
 tion of ideas that is requisite in instrumental 
 music, can with difficulty curb his fancy suffi- 
 ciently to treat successfully the few (compara- 
 tively speaking) that are admissible in vocal 
 music. Thus we are of opinion, that Beethoven 
 never had a very strong desire to cultivate com- 
 positions for the voice. Compare him with Haydn 
 and even with Mozart, we shall find that he has 
 more force and wildness; at the same time he - 
 is deficient in grace and clearness; His melo- 
 dies and short points of figure, though often 
 very beautiful, are frequently injured by an ex- 
 cess of accompaniment, and his harmony, on 
 
24 
 
 many occasions, is affectedly harsh. These de- 
 fects, greater labor and' study .would have en- 
 abled him to correct; "but then," some will say, 
 "the divine warmth of his genius would have 
 evaporated." Is there any want of warmth, call 
 it "divine" if you please, in the compositions of 
 Haydn? Yet they were the fruits of the most 
 patient industry. 
 
 It is curious to observe how much we may be 
 led astray by metaphorical expressions, especi- 
 ally in all that concerns genius. The effect 
 which its creations leave upon our minds is in- 
 stantaneous, and therefore we are apt to consider 
 them as proceding from little more than mere 
 volition, yet how erroneous this is ! The 
 greatest works, in all ages-, hav6 been the fruits 
 of the greatest labor; and perhaps it would 
 diminish somewhat of the enjoyment we derive 
 from them, could we be aware of the toil, the 
 anxiety, and even the distress which have 
 attended their production. 
 
 The difference between genius and dullness 
 is this — both must run, " but one receiveth the 
 prize." To labor, then, to severe labor, the 
 most gifted of mankind are subjected, and 
 therefore to wish that Beethoven had bestowed 
 more pains aijd diligence on his works, is to de- 
 tract nothing from their merit. Thus he might 
 
25 
 
 have pruned much, that is exuberant ; softened 
 down much that is harsh ; given clearness to 
 much that is obscure, and connected mtich that 
 is whimsical and exaggerated. 
 
 Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven form a mar- 
 vellous triumvirate in the Musical Art, and in 
 several particulars they have made it a matter 
 of despair to follow them. Future generations 
 may be charmed by symphonies and quartettes 
 in which the principles of these great masters 
 -have little or no share ; but that will only 
 happen after some powerful genius shall have 
 arisen, like Haydn, to make old things pass 
 away. In the meanwhile we have had our 
 Mendelssohn, Spohr and Schumann who have 
 labored ; but' while we listen to their works, 
 beautiful as they are, we cannot avoid making 
 comparisons between them and those of their 
 illustrious predecessors, into whose fame they 
 must be content that their own should merge. 
 
 In some" respects the effect which the 
 writings of Beethoven have had on the art 
 must, we fear, be considered as injurious. Led 
 away by the force of his genius, and dazzled by 
 his creations, a crowd of imitators has arisen^^ 
 who have displayed as much harshne ss, as 
 much extrav agan ce, and as much obscurity, 
 with little or none of his beauty and g randeur. 
 In this particular we have, in our own time, 
 
26 
 
 proininent examples in Berlioz, Liszt and 
 JWagner, To them music is no longer to be 
 considered as a medium to soothe, to delight, 
 to " wrap the senses in elysium," it is absorbed 
 in one principle — to excite, to astonish ; and if 
 we take the trouble to" analyze our feelings at 
 the conclusion of some of their most celebrated 
 performances — we will not say all, for there are 
 some pleasing, exceptions — we shall find them 
 startlingly allied to those which we experience 
 on witnessing the feats of a juggler, or an 
 acrohat^who rides four horses at once. To say 
 that such observations have been made at all 
 times is a poor method of replying ; for admit- 
 ting the fact, which we do not, it may be ob- 
 served, that in music, more than in any other 
 art, there is a constant tendency toward ex- 
 travagance and innovation. Ill-natured persons 
 may suppose that this proceeds from the cir- 
 cumstance of musicians being rather acute 
 feelers than profound thinkers ; but it may be 
 attributed, in a great degree, to the nature of 
 the art itself, the types of which are remote, 
 and do not admit of so easy a comparison with 
 the productions of the artist, as may be made in 
 poetry and painting. 
 
 But if ever complaint be just, or a warning 
 voice be raised,it must surely be when a great,but 
 irregular, artist appears, with powers of mind to 
 
27 
 
 cast his own imperfections into the shade, and 
 to seduce numbers to endeavor to imitate him. 
 How many composers would have obtained a 
 respectable and permanent distinction, had 
 they been satisfied to occupy the station which 
 nature assigned to them ; but they are not con- 
 tented until they have expanded to the size of 
 this " giant ox," and the consequences are to be 
 deplored by every person of real taste. Of 
 Beethoven's mind, we may say that it was com- 
 pletely " sui generis." How lamentable then 
 it is that such men as Berlioz, Liszt and 
 Wagner, highly talented and cultivated as they 
 are, should now be groping after the productions 
 of such a mine y and that, as imitators are no- 
 torious for seizing the bad parts of their objects, 
 "we should be deafened by noise and wearied by 
 affectation and obscurity.. 
 
 In one of the Edinburgh Reviews,* there is a 
 passage of such admirable force, and though re- 
 lating to another subject, of such immediate 
 application to the style of orchestral music 
 now prevailing, that we cannot deny ourselves 
 the pleasure of extracting it. The writer is 
 speaking of a work remarkable for an " un- 
 deviating display of turgid, vehement, and 
 painfully elaborate language." 
 
 " Political changes were not the sole causes 
 of the rapid degeneracy in letters that followed 
 the Augustan era of Rome. Similar corrup- 
 
 * June, 1821. 
 
28 
 
 tions and decay have succeeded to the intellec- 
 tual eminence of other nations ; and we might 
 almost be led to conclude that mental, as well 
 as physical, power, after attaining a certain per- 
 fection, became weakened by expansion, and 
 sunk into a state of comparative imbecility, un- 
 til time and circumstance gave it a new, progres- 
 sive impetus. One great cause of this deterio- 
 ration is the insatiable thirst for novelty, which, 
 becoming weary of excellence, will ' sate itself 
 in a celestial bed and prey on garbage.' In the 
 torpidity produced by an utter exhaustion of 
 sensual enjoyment , the Arreoi Club of Otaheite 
 is recorded to have found a miserable excite- 
 ment by swallowing the most revolting filth, and 
 the jaded intellectual appetites of more civi- 
 lized communities will sometimes seek a new 
 stimulus in changes almost as startling. Some 
 adventurous writer, unable to obtain distinction 
 among a host of competitors, all better quali- 
 fied than himself to win legitimate applause, 
 strikes out a fantastic or monstrous innovation, 
 and arrests the attention of many who would 
 fall asleep over monotonous excellence. Imita- 
 tors are soon found, fashion adopts the new 
 folly, the old standard of perfection is deemed 
 stale and obsolete, and thus, by degrees, the 
 whole literature of a country becomes changed 
 and deteriorated. It appears to us that we are 
 now laboring in a crisis of this nature." , 
 
2'J 
 
 In closing this review of so great a life, we 
 are naturally led to remark on the attributes of 
 one who has so long a tim« held a first place in 
 a peculiar branch of art. Little, however, re- 
 mains to be added, for conspicuous characters 
 are always the objects of such continual discus- 
 sion, that the theme is frequently exhausted 
 before their lives are ended, and so it was with 
 Beethoven. Born with an energy of mind that 
 taught him to despise the rules by which com- 
 mon intellects "are guided, by the fearlessness 
 of genius he accomplished effects that others 
 would have shrunk from attempting. The same 
 force of character that prompted him to hold 
 the established forms of society in contempt^ 
 and to chafe like a fiery steed at the curb and 
 rein, made him irritable and eccentric, but his 
 moral character was unimpeachable. Beethoven 
 was great in everything; as a composer his 
 beauties and his faults are alike in extremes, 
 and' it is to be regretted that his defects are so 
 dazzling, and sanctioned by such a name as to 
 mislead many. He has not been such a bene- 
 factor to art as either Haydn or Mozart, because 
 . he has made no splendid inventions like the 
 former, nor did he possess the ' fertility of the 
 latter, but his dauntless mind has ventured far-- 
 ther than either, in the untried regions of har- 
 mony. He has, however, in these researches 
 collected materials sufficiently solid to sustain a 
 
30 
 
 fame that will epdure like his great predecessors, 
 unrivalled and unshaken. 
 
 In contemplating the efforts of an eminent 
 man, we naturally turn to the memorials of his 
 fame which he has left, and enquire whether 
 they are likely to endure throughout all time. 
 We think they are and will continue to do so- 
 in undiminished glory. Haydn has been pop- 
 ular for nearly a century. The immortality of 
 Mozatt and Beethoven is secured ; so far as the 
 immortality of a musician can be. On this sub- 
 ject, however, persons will form various judg- 
 ments. 
 
 It is the opinion of many, with whom we 
 have been brought in contact, that Beethoven's 
 works will never be forgotten while instrumen- 
 tal music is admired and cultivated -^ but the 
 most elaborate of his compositions are above the 
 comprehension of the general public, and, conse- 
 quently, will be but seldom performed, and this 
 arises from their extraordinary length, their 
 great difficulty, and from the exaggerations of 
 style and manner which abound in them. 
 
 We shall conclude by observing . that Haydn 
 appears to us like a sparkling stream, in which 
 the blue sky, the light cloud, the flower, the 
 trembling leaf, and many other delightful ob- 
 jects of nature, are reflected with delicious clear- 
 
31 
 
 ness. Mozart resembles a majestic river, swol- 
 len by tributary streams, and gliding on to min- 
 gle its waters with those of the ocean ; while 
 Beethoven seems like a mountain torrent, break- 
 ing over rocks and down precipices, and often 
 rising towards heaven in foam, and smoke, and 
 mist. 
 
 [piED 26th March, 1827.] 
 
 CuBHiNG, Bahdua & Co., Printers, 644 and 646 tJrdailway, N. Y. 
 
Cornell University Library 
 n/IL 410.B41P36 
 
 The Beethoven centennlal.A short review 
 
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