Chapter 12 Beethoven-9

All the warmth in his heart was poured into this child.Here again cruel pain awaited him.As if by the goodwill of circumstances, it was purposely provided for him and increased his misery, so that his genius would not suffer from lack of nourishment. —He first wanted to compete with his low-class sister-in-law for his little Karl. He wrote: "Oh, my God, my wall, my defense, my only refuge! In the depths of my heart, You are the one who sees all the pain I inflict on those who contended with me for Karl, you are the one who sees my pain. He wrote to Frau Streicher: "I never take revenge.When I have to act against others, I limit myself to self-defense, or to prevent them from doing evil. "Listen to me, I don't know what to call your god! Please accept my fervent supplication, I am the most unfortunate wretch of your creation."

"Oh God! Help me! You see, I am abandoned by all mankind, because I will not compromise with injustice! Accept my prayer, and let me, at least in the future, live with my Karl! Then, the ardently loved nephew seemed unworthy of his uncle's trust.Beethoven's letters to him are as bitter and indignant as Michelangelo's to his brothers, but naiver and more touching: "Shall I be rewarded once more for the basest ruthlessness? Well, If the relationship between us is going to break, let it break! All fair people will hate you when they know it... If the bondage that binds you is too much for you, then in the name of God— —May all be done according to his will—I hand you over to the Most Holy and Highest God; I have exhausted all my strength; I dare to stand before the highest judgment..." See Knoll ed. Beethoven Letters Collection Three Four Three.

"A spoiled and spoiled child like you, it will be harmless to you to learn sincerity and simplicity; your hypocritical behavior to me has made my heart so painful that I can't forget it...God can testify, I just want to run a thousand miles Besides, away from you, from this poor brother and this ugly family... I can no longer trust you." The signature below reads: "Unfortunately: your father, - or better: not your father .” See Noel’s collection of letters 314. But forgiveness immediately follows: "My dear son! He begged again: "Don't lie, and be my dearest son forever! If you repay me with falsehood, as I am led to believe, how ugly and harsh it is!

This nephew who is not lacking in intelligence, Beethoven originally wanted to lead him to higher education, but after planning countless wonderful future dreams for him, he had to agree to study business.But Karl went in and out of the casino and incurred a lot of debt. By a sad oddity, more common than one would imagine, the grandeur of the uncle's spirit was not only unhelpful but harmful to the nephew, exasperating him, making him rebel, as he himself said: "Because my uncle wants me to be better, I've become more dirty"; this terrible expression reveals the soul of the prodigal son.He even shot himself in the head in 1826.He did not die, however, but Beethoven almost died of it: he was never free from the embarrassment of the incident.Schindler, who saw him at the time, said that he suddenly became like a seventy-year-old man with a mental breakdown, no strength, no will.If Karl was dead, he was dead too. ——Not many months later, he really fell ill.Karl was cured, he made his uncle suffer from the beginning to the end, and had nothing to do with the death of this uncle; when Beethoven was dying, he did not say in a letter to his nephew in Chang--a few years ago: " God has never abandoned me. In the future, someone will close my eyes for me.” ——However, the person who closed his eyes for him was not the person he called “son”.

In this abyss of misery, Beethoven was engaged in singing joy. This is his life plan.He had had this idea since 1793 when he was in Bonn.See Fischenich to Charlotte Schiller, January 1793.Schiller's "Ode to Joy" was written in 1785.The themes used by Beethoven have been seen in the "Fantasia for Piano, Orchestra and Chorus" in Op. 80 in 1808, and in the "Song" composed according to Goethe's poem in 1810. —In the notes of 1812, between the draft for the Seventh Symphony and the plan for the Macbeth Prelude, there is a passage in Schiller's original words, the musical theme of which was later For the "Prelude to Namensfall" in Op. 115. — Some music in the Ninth Symphony appeared before 1815.The theme of the Carol of Joy and the other parts of the tune in the final draft were written in 1822, and then the Trio (middle section), then the Andante (Andante), Moderato (middle section), and finally It was written as Adagio (flexible board).All his life he would sing of joy, and make it the end of some great work of his.He hesitated all his life about the form of the carol and which work to put it in.Even in the Ninth Symphony, he never made up his mind.Until the very last moment he wanted to save the Carol for Joy in the Tenth or Eleventh Symphony.We should note that the original title of the "Ninth Symphony" is not the "Choral Symphony" that everyone is used to today, but "a symphony ending with a chorus of carols for joy". The Ninth Symphony could and should have had another ending.In July 1823, Beethoven also wanted to give it an instrumental ending. This section ended, and he later used it in the quartet No. 132.Czerny and Sonleitner affirmed that even after the performance (May 1824), Beethoven had not given up on switching to an instrumental finish.

There are great technical difficulties in introducing chorus in a symphony, as can be seen from the manuscripts of Beethoven, who made many experiments in trying to use other methods, and in this work The other passages introduce the chorus.In the manuscript of the second theme of Adagio (Adagio), he wrote: "Perhaps the chorus may well begin here." But he could not resolutely part with his faithful orchestra.He said: "When I see a musical idea, I always hear the sound of musical instruments, but never human voice." So he delayed the use of singing time as much as possible; The recitative style of the finale is certainly true, and Beethoven said that this part "perfectly seems to have the lyrics underneath".Even the theme of "joy" is the same.

We have to go a step further in explaining these delays and hesitations: there are deeper reasons for them.The unhappy man is always tormented by sorrow, and always wants to sing the beauty of "joy"; but year after year, he puts off this enterprise, because he is always involved in the vortex of passion and sorrow.It was not until the last day of his life that he fulfilled his wish, but how great it was when he accomplished it!