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Only in the world of music, invincible - read "Beethoven Biography"

author:Bright Net

【Catalogue】

Author: Zhang Zongzi

After listening to Beethoven for most of his life, he knew very little about his life. Roman Roland's "Biography of Beethoven", like Lin Yutang's "Biography of Su Dongpo", provides few historical facts, and all have the flavor of the Six Classics. The portrayal of Beethoven as a hero who rebelled against fate, although it does not contradict the facts, is inevitably exaggerated and one-sided, just like Don Quixote in the eyes of the romantics, a myth created with passion. Over the years, my knowledge of Beethoven has been fragmentary, derived from articles and record manuals that analyze the work, and more from his works, imagined, and put together a complete portrait. Jan Swaford's "Biography of Beethoven", 800,000 words long, is very informative, many facts are not understood before, but after reading the whole book, Beethoven's image in my heart has not changed, adding more branches and leaves, and the tree is still the original tree.

Beethoven is the most talented artist who meets the expectations of the public, with the basic characteristics of a genius artist: incredible talent, temperament that interacts with the spirit of heaven and earth, strange temper, extreme unworldliness, and extraordinary looks. Swaford said that the childhood Beethoven "never really understood the world beyond music", and later did so. He knows everything about music, but he doesn't know how to survive in this world. When I read this paragraph, I feel a deep sadness that few people have enough patience to understand a person, to understand what is deep in his heart. Understanding requires kindness and patience, and most of us have no shortage of kindness, but we lack patience and may also lack the ability to understand. A lack of patience boils down to a lack of understanding, or at least a lack of sincerity.

Not being understood is lonely. There are two kinds of loneliness, one is negative and forced, and the other is positive and actively seeking. Not being understood is the first. Swaford exalted Beethoven out of admiration: "He lived in solitude for ideals, and it seems that he was not an ordinary person but a supreme abstract existence, that is, human nature." "Beethoven does, but it doesn't happen all the time.

Early in Bonn and later in Vienna, there were aristocrats and socialites who admired and supported Beethoven. They know what truly great music is, and for the sake of music, they willingly put down the shelf, deal with Beethoven very tolerantly, endure his crazy sloppiness and thunderous at any time, generously sponsor, and promote the development and success of his career. Music leader Haydn was also very good to him. Literati often have the feeling that Huai Cai does not meet, but Huai Cai does not meet with Beethoven, and his works, whether they are kitsch works that follow the tide, or epoch-making revolutionary works that are far ahead of the times with incomparable depth and exquisiteness, have no shortage of acquaintances, and the high society in Vienna, and even the whole of Europe, do not hesitate to give him applause. Beethoven's pain stemmed more from his illnesses, including hearing loss, and the pain of love. Every love affair he had failed, and apparently most of the time it was unrequited love. Swafford said Beethoven "fell in love as easily as if he were tripping over a rock." He was of commoner origin, but he was always in love with the noble girls. The marriage of a noblewoman to a commoner meant the loss of status and privileges. They may have been intoxicated in their dreams, adoring and loving this prodigious genius, but in the face of marriage and reality, they finally gave in. Beethoven's "eternal lover" remains a mystery to this day. Maybe there are realistic archetypes, but in the final analysis it's Beethoven's fantasies, maybe not at all.

In addition to his civilian status and eccentric, grumpy temper, Beethoven was also a humble man. The pianist Baron Cooper described him this way: "He was short, with a rare unpolished hairstyle, his face was full of scars, his eyes were small and bright, and he was constantly moving, and those who first met him must have thought him an ugly and crazy drunkard." In the eyes of his schoolgirl Juliet Guicciardi (who was also the object of his love), Beethoven was "very ugly, but noble, sensitive, and cultured." Dressed very sloppily most of the time."

Beethoven's lifelong desire to start a family can not be imagined, despair can be imagined. He attempted suicide and left the famous Heiligenstadt testament, which was even more tragic, desperate and fierce than the cries of Qu Yuan in Shakespeare's King Lear and Guo Moruo's poems. There are so many soft plates in Beethoven's works, it makes people soft and broken, it is Li Shangyin's general mourning and pity, Swaford said, in Beethoven's previous music, there has never been such a deep and intense expression of grief. But Beethoven's heroism is that he can always survive the pain, through the struggle to victory, as Schiller said, in art, pain must be answered by heroic victory. For Beethoven, not succumbing to pain is victory, and surviving is victory.

Beethoven completely gave up his intention to marry, and also gave up his hope for love, and only took art as a spiritual sustenance. At the same time, he may have been on the horse, but, Swaford said, "his loneliness will not be alleviated by these temporary indulgences, which are completely contrary to his spirit, his ideals of femininity and love, and his Puritan nature." Thus, in Beethoven's soft plate, those comforts come not primarily from God, but from Himself, from ambition and self-confidence. He said that man ultimately depends on himself for everything, and has nothing else to rely on. So he returned to the homeland of music, and in the world of music he was as powerful as the emperor, napoleon, the darling of the Revolution, commanding everything, invincible, as free and wild as Dionysus, and as magnificent and solemn as Apollo. He is a temple that enshrines itself, shines on itself and pleases all peoples.

Swaford's Biography of Beethoven, which I read for three weeks. Read and listen to the work. Some of the early works have not been heard, and some have been heard, but they have been easily let go. Listening to his life, I feel differently, such as his piano sonata No. 12, the slow movement of his first string quartet, and his sixth string quartet, all of which have never been understood.

At 5:45 on March 26, 1827, Beethoven died, at the time of lightning. A few words before his death were spoken on the 24th, one of which was said in Latin: "Applause, friend, the comedy is over." Swaford said the phrase comes from an ancient Roman comedy, but is essentially Shakespeare's, and it is reminiscent of what Prospero said to the audience at the end of The Tempest: "I beg you to applaud and help, to free my soul from the chains." Swafford said that Beethoven's final string quartet in F major ended in comedy, like Shakespeare's The Tempest. Both Shakespeare and Beethoven ended their lives in comedy, and they knew that comedy was no less profound than tragedy.

Beethoven in a letter to the young pianist Emily M's letter said: "True artists are not proud. Unfortunately, he knew that art had no boundaries, and he could vaguely feel how far he was from his goal. Although he had no shortage of admirers on earth, he still felt sad that he had not yet reached the end point to which his higher talent, which was like a red sun, illuminating the distant end of the road. "Not yet arrived, still possible. In another case, the artist knows how far his talent can take him, but he can only give up halfway because he can't transcend life. Beethoven is not, in the world of music, he is the perfect victor.

Guangming Daily (2021-08-13 edition 15)

Source: Guangming Network - Guangming Daily

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