A Classical Life

thebeethovennotebook: In early 1808, Beethoven suffered panaritium, a severe bacterial finger infection that threatened amputation in the pre-antibiotic era. To stop its spread, his doctor performed a drastic, painful operation to remove the nail and drain the infection. As Beethoven wrote to Count Oppersdorff, "I am still under treatment for my poor innocent finger, and have not been able to go out for the last two weeks." The procedure succeeded, saving his finger. And the injury didn't slow him down, Beethoven was able to finish his Fifth and Sixth symphonies around that exact period!..

Beethoven overcome so much! And when the DNA from his hair was recovered the specialists who did this work uncovered a liver disorder that is now called Hemochromatosis. … Sometimes it's called the Celtic Curse? The liver cannot clear itself of dietary iron. It builds up, makes you look brown from the iron [ergo where Beethoven’s nickname, “The Spaniard” originated?] —-and can cause hearing loss. Where have we heard this? But to help this condition bleeding is actually required. So his doctors really helped him when bleeding was prescribed sometimes they got it right without knowing it..

I-IV-V? Was soll das bedeuten?

(What is that supposed to mean?)

keine Ahnung

(no idea)

Bach, Mozart, and Beethoven did not learn or use modern Roman numeral analysis (I-IV-V) to classify scale degrees, as that system was developed after their time. Instead, their musical education was rooted in thoroughbass (basso continuo), counterpoint, and the "Rule of the Octave" to understand harmonic function and scale degrees.

Here is how they classified and learned scale degrees:

1. Thoroughbass (Basso Continuo) and Functional Harmony

Fundamental Bass: They understood harmony through the bass line, often classifying chords based on their "root" (fundamental bass), a concept popularized by Rameau.

Harmonic Function: They learned how specific degrees (particularly the 5th/dominant and 1st/tonic) function within a key to create tension and release, moving away from tonic and returning to it through the cycle of fifths.

Passing Chords: They classified chords not just as functional entities, but also as passing or melodic embellishments (passing chords/tones) that connect functional harmonies.

2. The Rule of the Octave (Regola dell'ottava)

This was a standard 18th-century teaching method, likely used in the training of all three composers, that taught them the conventional chord to place over each scale degree in both major and minor keys.

It taught them to recognize the "personality" of each step in the scale, such as the strong pull of the 7th degree (leading tone) to the 1st (tonic).

3. Key Theoretical Influences

Beethoven: Evidence suggests he studied Kirnberger’s Grundsätze (principles of fundamental bass and harmony) and Vogler’s treatises in Bonn, which covered thoroughbass patterns, modulations, and the fundamental bass.

Counterpoint: All three were trained in strict counterpoint, which focused on the linear movement between scale degrees rather than just vertical chord identification.

4. Technical Names and Nuances

While they didn't use the modern Roman numeral names (I, ii, iii), they understood the concepts, such as:

Tonic: The resting point.

Dominant/Subdominant: The 5th and 4th degrees, serving as the main pillars of harmony.

Leading Tone: The 7th degree, named for its strong tendency to lead upward to the tonic.

Note: Although they didn't use Roman numerals, some early 19th-century theorists like Vogler, who were contemporaries or immediate successors, began using them, but they were not part of the standard curriculum for these composers.

Source:

BACH'S SPECTACIES

* Bach House / Museum - Eisenach

How did the political atmosphere in Vienna under Metternich affect Beethoven and his ability to speak freely compared to others?

In 19th-century Vienna, whispering a complaint meant prison. Yet Ludwig van Beethoven regularly shouted treason in crowded taverns—and the secret police did absolutely nothing.

Following the Congress of Vienna in 1815, Chancellor Klemens von Metternich transformed the Austrian Empire into a pervasive police state. To suppress revolutionary ideas, Metternich employed a vast network of spies, informants, and censors. Mail was opened, foreign books were banned, and casually criticizing the Emperor in a tavern was a fast track to imprisonment or exile. The atmosphere in Vienna was one of suffocating paranoia.

Beethoven, however, was stubbornly oblivious to the danger. He held deeply republican ideals and harbored a lifelong disdain for hereditary nobility and authoritarianism. In his later years, as his deafness became profound, he relied on "conversation books" to communicate. Friends would write down their sides of the conversation, but Beethoven would reply aloud. Because he could not hear his own volume, his anti-government rants echoed across crowded taverns. He openly criticized the Emperor, mocked the state bureaucracy, and lamented the loss of personal liberty.

Informants definitely took note. Police records from the era show that Metternich’s agents actively monitored the composer and recorded his outbursts. Yet, the state never moved against him, primarily due to a combination of his cultural status and his perceived eccentricity.

Cultural Invincibility: By the 1820s, Beethoven was considered the greatest living composer and a living monument in Vienna. Arresting an international cultural icon would have caused a massive public relations disaster for the Austrian crown.

The "Harmless Crank" Persona: His total deafness, disheveled appearance, and notoriously foul temper worked to his advantage. The secret police ultimately dismissed him as a harmless, half-mad artist rather than a genuine political threat.

High-Placed Protectors: Despite his contempt for the aristocracy, Beethoven's patrons included some of the most powerful people in the empire, such as Archduke Rudolph, the Emperor's own brother.

While regular Viennese citizens heavily censored their own letters and conversations, Beethoven lived in a unique, paradoxical bubble. His disability isolated him from the world, but his unparalleled musical genius granted him the singular privilege of being the loudest dissenting voice in a city effectively silenced by fear.

Source:

Are they both “art”?

The Pietà, left, the floor of Jackson Pollock’s studio, right. (Wikicommons) Comic by the author, all rights reserved.

Michelangelo takes a chunk of rock from a mountainside and turns it into a heart-wrenching depiction of a mother grieving over the lifeless body of her son; Jackson Pollock tapes a canvas to the floor and splatters paint all over it. Are they both “art”?

I used to have a button on my jacket that said, “If your mom likes it, it isn’t art.” I still admire the rebellious nature of that expression, but how true is it?

Michelangelo’s mother loved his Sistine Chapel ceiling (or so she told me during an acid trip I took in high school), as have many millions of people for over 500 years.

On the other hand, Google says Pollock’s mother was an artist and his biggest champion, until he began doing his drip paintings, which she called “craziness.”

Maybe Pollock also had that button and just kept experimenting until his mother disapproved. It certainly paid off for him financially, but will people be drawn to Pollock’s drop cloths in 500 years?

For my money, Renaissance Mike’s mom had better taste. What do you think?

🤔 💭

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Discover the newly found Mozart composition 'Serenate ex C,' also known as 'Ganz kleine Nachtmusik'!

Unveiled in Leipzig and composed during his youth, this 12-minute gem was lost for over 250 years.

Mozart wrote Serenata ex C (now known as Ganz kleine Nachtmusik) in the mid to late 1760s. He was a pre-teen or young teenager, between 10 and 13 years old, when he composed this piece. The music was newly discovered in a German library in September 2024. It is a 12-minute string trio featuring seven miniature movements.

Marche

02:25 Allegro

04:40 Menuet - Trio

06:27 Polonese

07:30 Adagio

09:20 Menuet - Trio

11:04 Allegro - Finale

Soloists of the Spohr-Kammerorchester:

Katalin Westermann

Giulia Sardi

Mein Engel - mein alles - mein Ich

(My angel - my everything - my self)

WITH YOUR PENCIL

Exactly 214 years ago today, Ludwig van Beethoven began writing one of the most famous love letters in history.

He wrote it in Teplitz, deeply moved by an unexpected meeting with his beloved in Prague on the night of July 3–4, 1812. The letter almost certainly never reached its recipient. However, the text makes it clear that Beethoven had intended to send it, presumably to Franzensbad.

By now, the literature on the letter’s content and its recipient fills entire libraries. One detail, however, is repeatedly overlooked: Still caught up in the euphoria of their long-awaited night of love, Beethoven begins his passion-filled letter with something that seems like a triviality. He tells his most deeply beloved what is obvious anyway—namely, that he is putting his words down on paper in (her) pencil.

So apparently, he had received a writing implement from her earlier. But why is this detail actually so important to him? Why mention it in such a prominent place, and even emphasize it with the phrase “namely”? (Just a few words today, written in pencil (with yours)).

Aside from the fact that he could easily have written with ink and a quill in his lodgings—in a manner befitting the occasion—he also always had a pencil on hand for sketches and notes. And yet he went out of his way to add “with yours”—squeezed in between the lines afterward.

The tradition of giving writing instruments as gifts has a long history. At first glance, this may seem like a trivial gesture, but it actually holds profound layers of meaning and symbolism. In an era when letters were the primary means of communication, writing instruments were often given as particularly intimate expressions of love.

As a tender gift, they expressed both the desire and the promise to remain emotionally close to one another.

As a gift from a woman to a man, they signaled a shared intellectual connection and appreciation for his intellect.

As a tool for preserving thoughts and feelings, they serve as a vehicle for a deep intellectual and emotional exchange.

And finally, passion and eroticism could be subtly expressed through the symbolic form and texture of a pen … “with yours” - - -

Today is the 182. Death anniversary of Franz Brentano - a good friend and important supporter of Beethoven.

Franz Brentano (1765–1844) was a Frankfurt merchant and patron. But for Beethoven, he was one thing above all: someone who really helped in difficult times. Time and again, he supported him with money and loans and ensured that Beethoven could continue composing without constantly worrying about financial worries.

The two got to know each other through Antonie Brentano, the wife of Franz Brentanos, with whom Beethoven was close friends. Staying together in resorts, Beethoven and Franz also created a real friendship, characterized by trust and mutual appreciation.

How much the Brentanos meant to him, shows a letter in which Beethoven even calls them his "only friends in the world."

Today we remember Franz Brentano - someone who meant a lot to Beethoven not only financially but also humanly. 🎼🕊️

Our current special exhibition "Ways of Relationships" also illustrates Beethoven's diverse connections to the Brentano family and shows the composers as an artistic personality between classical and romanticism - see it until the 27th. Welcome to July! ✨

#beethovenhausbonn #luwigvanbeethoven #franzbrentano #brentano #beethoven

Appreciations 🎶 FB@Beethoven-Haus Bonn

Bach "Chaconne"