Response to Beethoven by William Kinderman, Essay Example

I found chapter 1, “The Bonn Years”, particularly interesting because it provides the geographic and historical context that allowed Beethoven to receive significant recognition that allowed him to start his career of fame. Furthermore, it allows the reader to grasp a greater understanding of the artist’s origins. During the Bonn years, Beethoven met his most important teacher, Christian GottlobNeefe. While I had heard of the instructional relationship between Beethoven and Neefe, I hadn’t realized many of the details of their interactions. This chapter discusses Neefe’s admiration of Bach, and states how he was eager for Beethoven to learn his work. While I knew that Bach was a well-loved composer of the time period, I didn’t realize that he influenced Beethoven’s work in an extremely significant manner.

Chapter 2, “The Path to Mastery”, discusses what happened to Beethoven once he left his home town to study and perform in Vienna. I find it interesting how grandly he was supported by music enthusiasts in this area, and I believe that a great part of the reason Beethoven is still listened to and revered today is a result of the support of these aristocrats. I was astounded to learn that during this time period, Beethoven hadn’t written many original works. The common modern believe is that Beethoven is a musical genius who was in constant production of new pieces; this chapter completely denounced this belief. In fact, it is humorous that when Haydn sent an elector at Bonn a message asking to increase Beethoven’s stipend, the elector responded unfavorable due to the fact he hadn’t created any new works and the belief that Beethoven hadn’t learned much from his experience in Vienna. Although the elector was correct that Beethoven hadn’t published many new works, it is ironic that he doubted Beethoven’s ability, as we all know him and his music well today.

References

Kinderman W. (1995). Beethoven. Los Angeles: Oxford University Press.