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Music Division. Beethoven: The Universal Composer . Washington, D.C.: Library of Congress, -10-25, 2005.

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Former Ludwig van Beethoven is introduced to musical arts around ages 4 and 5. Though it is the beginning of a now universally known prodigy for his beautiful and abstract compositions, his introduction to musical arts wasn’t as beautiful and bright as he expresses his music to be. Since the start of his artistic journey, he is tormented by his father, withstanding various different series of beatings and verbal abuse from his father if he had hesitated at any minor inconveniences. His punishments also consisted of being locked up in a cellar and being flogged. But if not punished, "Johann also deprived him of sleep, waking him at midnight for more hours of practice." (16)

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After 6 years of consistent piano recitals, Beethoven's teacher Johann allowed him to play with other musicians at his first concert because he felt "confident enough of Ludwig's keyboard prowess," (18). Beethoven played on March 26, 1778, at 5 P.M. His musical performance was so outstanding that it encouraged other parents to start their children's musical journey no older than Ludwig, at 7 years old.

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#3 Beethoven fully commits himself into the art of music 

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#3 Beethoven fully commits himself into the art of music 

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Upon dropping out of his former high school to advance in his musical path, Ludwig attempted to get his masters as an organist and also attempts to "[bewilder] the congregation with improvisations that belonged to the mass." (21) But unfortunately, his teacher was too strict and stubborn and therefore denied the permission of either ideas.

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Ludwig Beethoven's first composition was printed late in the fall in Mannheim. His teacher forced him to write a variation that "marched along" (16) with the original compositions theme. Though he wrote the chorus, his name was not entirely recognized, he was almost 12 years old when writing this composition.

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On November 23, Ludwig "had his first paid engagement at a royal concert in The Hague" (23). He had left the audience amazed with his piano skills, and received sixty-three florins, which was more than any pianist or performer had typically received.

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#6 The beginning of recognition and fame 

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#6 The beginning of recognition and fame 

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By the age of 13, Ludwig was finally fully recognized and appreciated for his art. People of the palace knew him for his astounding organ playing, he was also a substitute for Neefe as a "cembalist." "In return for [his] services, was paid a "subsistence" allowance" (24), though this allowance didn't pay for long, as Ludwig's salary was no longer paid for due to his elder brother's alcoholic problem.

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Though Ludwig was filled with creativity when it came to his art, he was a pupil of Neefe. Being said, Neefe did not like Ludwig's creativity and would attempt "to tone down the wilderness of his musical ideas." (25) Other exterior factors pushed Ludwig to imitate Mozart's playing, as he incorporated all of his techniques with his own personal preferences. These practices created his unique orchestral color, and pushed him to explore his musical creativity. But due to illness, sexual torment, inhibitions imposed by Neefe, and relocation caused Ludwig to go silent for almost four years.

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After recovering from his musical break, Ludwig was finally happy and content at the artistic level he was at. Until, during 1787, Neefe had "persuaded Max Franz that there was a "second Mozart" playing in the electoral orchestra." (30) Max Franz agreed to sponsor Ludwig, with the condition of having Ludwig share half of his court salary, even though he was, by law considered poor due to his debt and alcohol abuse from his elder brother.

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#9 Mozart recognizes Beethoven's talent 

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#9 Mozart recognizes Beethoven's talent 

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After becoming Mozart's pupil, Mozart had his assistants keep a special close eye on Ludwig, as he believed that "some day he will give the world something to talk about." (31) Even with the compliments from Mozart, Ludwig believed that Mozart's pieces were "choppy."

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When coming back home from his long journey abroad, Ludwig's mother was crucially sick, as her health had been declining even before Ludwig's leave. To this, Ludwig wrote a depressive letter, stating that he "hurried forward as fast as [he] could although [himself] far from well ... [his] longing once more to see [his] dying mother overcame every obstacle and assisted [him] in surmounting the greatest difficulties." (32) Ludwig's mother had later died on July 17, his mothers death had affected him so immensely to the point where he developed asthma and depression.

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After overcoming depression with the help of Helene von Breuning, he met Franz Gergard Wegeler, a student of the University of Bonn. Ludwig took advantage of "Wegeler's friendship to become a part-time student at the university" (34) He used that opportunity to matriculate in philosophy, jurist, Scientists, theologians, and humanism.

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After having thought Beethoven was a faded prodigy, rumors about him dropping his opportunity of performing Cantata on the Death of Emperor Joseph II  because he had found the project too difficult to handle had spread among the musical community for a long period. Nearly a century later, "Johannes Brahms discovered that Ludwig had in fact produced a massive, forty-minute work." (37) Musicians later on praised him for his work, calling it imaginative and "violent" in the intensity of its emotions." (40)

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L.Beethoven - Cantata on the Death of Emperor Joseph II (Sheet+Audio) WoO 87

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#13 The launch of Beethoven's musical career 

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#13 The launch of Beethoven's musical career 

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When Beethoven was about to publish his first Piano concerto called, trios, Op.1, "He did not feel that either of his piano concertos was good enough" (67) despite this concerto being impressive enough to erase the violin variations. He ended up putting this concerto printable to a private subscription, asking for only one gold ducat for each copy. This successfully launched his career, as his subscriptions totaled up to 249, and were also a grand success for it was reprinted three times for popular distribution both at home and abroad.

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BEETHOVEN Piano Trio No. 1 in E-flat major (Op. 1, No. 1) Score

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Shortly after being announced dangerously "sick," Beethoven wrote a war song for the conquest of northern Italy. Fortunately, "an armistice was declared the next day, so the song, entitled "Ein grosses, deutsches Volk," was forgotten." (72) This was a major shift of events for Beethoven, as the song would have negatively impacted his twentieth-century reputation.

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23.2.4: Italy under Napoleon

Napoleon conquered most of Italy in the name of the French Revolution by 1799 and established a number of France's client states under his own control or nearly absolute authority.

Learning Objective

Classify the political structure exemplified by the Italian states under Napoleon's rule

Key Points

In 1796, the French Army of Italy under Napoleon invaded Italy with the aims of forcing the First Coalition to abandon Sardinia and forcing Austria to withdraw from Italy. Within only two weeks, Victor Amadeus III of Sardinia was forced to sign an armistice. Napoleon then entered Milan, where he was welcomed as a liberator.

In 1797, Napoleon signed the Treaty of Campo Formio, by which the Republic of Venice was annexed to the Austrian state, dashing Italian nationalists' hopes that it might become an independent state. This treaty forced Austria to recognize the existence of the Cisalpine Republic and the annexation of Piedmont by France.

Napoleon conquered most of Italy in the name of the French Revolution by 1799. He consolidated old units and split up Austria's holdings. He set up a series of new republics, complete with new codes of law and abolition of old feudal privileges. The new republics were satellite states of Napoleon's France, some of them joined with France by personal union under Napoleon's authority. As all of these republics were imposed by an outside force, none had popular support in Italy.

Napoleon's Italian Republic was the successor of the Cisalpine Republic, which changed its constitution to allow the French First Consul Napoleon to become its president. While the constitution gave the republic some level of sovereignty, in practice it was largely controlled by Napoleon.

The Kingdom of Italy was established in 1805, when the Italian Republic became the Kingdom of Italy, with the same man (now styled Napoleon I) as King of Italy, and the 24-year-old Eugène de Beauharnais (Napoleon's stepson) as his viceroy. Napoleon's title was Emperor of the French and King of Italy, implying the importance of the Italian Kingdom to his empire.

Napoleon's dominance over Italian states ended with his fall as Emperor of the French.

Key Terms

Kingdom of Italy

A French client state founded in Northern Italy by Napoleon I, fully influenced by revolutionary France, that ended with his defeat and fall. Formally in personal union with the French Empire, with Napoleon I reigning as its king throughout its existence (1805-14), direct governance was conducted by Napoleon's stepson, Eugène de Beauharnais, who served as Viceroy for his step-father.

Napoleon's Italian Republic

A short-lived (1802-1805) republic located in Northern Italy created by Napoleon as a successor of the Cisalpine Republic. It was a sister republic of Napoleonic France (the two were joined by the personal union).

Cisalpine Republic

A sister republic and a satellite state of France created by Napoleon out of territories in Northern Italy that lasted from 1797 to 1802.

At the end of the 18th century, Italy used here to refer to a number of separate Italian states as at the time sm Italy was not yet a unified state) found itself dominated by Austria while the dukes of Savoy (a mountainous region between Italy and France) had become kings of Sardinia by increasing their Italian possessions, which now included Sardinia and the north-western region of Piedmont. This situation was shaken in 1796, when the French Army of Italy under Napoleon invaded Italy with the aims of forcing the First Coalition to abandon Sardinia (where they had created an anti-revolutionary puppet-ruler) and forcing Austria to withdraw from Italy. Within only two weeks, Victor Amadeus III of Sardinia was forced to sign an armistice. Napoleon then entered Milan, where he was welcomed as a liberator.

In 1797, Napoleon signed the Treaty of Campo Formio, by which the Republic of Venice was annexed to the Austrian state, dashing Italian nationalists' hopes that it might become an independent state. This treaty forced Austria to recognize the existence of the Cisalpine Republic (made up of Lombardy, Emilia Romagna and small parts of Tuscany and Veneto) and the annexation of Piedmont by France. Napoleon conquered most of Italy in the name of the French Revolution by 1799. He consolidated old units and split up Austria's holdings. He set up a series of new republics, complete with new codes of law and abolition of old feudal privileges. The Cisalpine Republic was centered on Milan. Genoa became a republic while its hinterland became the Ligurian Republic. The Roman Republic was formed out of the papal holdings while the pope himself was sent to France. The Neapolitan Republic was formed around Naples, but lasted only five months before the enemy forces of the Coalition recaptured it. All of these republics were France's client states, some connected with France by personal union (with Napoleon as the common head of the states).

Even if some of these states were created by the French invasion and were just satellites of France, they sparked a nationalist movement. As all of these republics were imposed by an outside force, none had popular support in Italy, especially since the peasantry was alienated by Jacobin anti-clericalism. Even native republicans became disillusioned when they realized that the French expected them to be obedient satellites of Paris, which included frequent interference in local affairs and massive taxes. Return to the old feudal order was equally undesirable, so the republican movement would gradually establish its nationalist goals.

Napoleon's Italian Republic was the successor of the Cisalpine Republic, which changed its constitution to allow the French First Consul Napoleon to become its president. Sovereignty resided in three electoral colleges located in Milan, Bologna, and Brescia. All elected a commission of control and supreme rule called the Censorship, composed of twenty-one members and based in Cremona. The head of state was the president of the republic, Napoleon Bonaparte, elected for 10 years. The president had full executive powers, appointed the vice-president and the secretary of state, took legislative and diplomatic initiative, chose the ministers, public agents, ambassadors, and chiefs of the army, summoned the executive councils, and prepared the budget. The vice-president, Francesco Melzi d'Eril, acted for the president during his absence. The Legislative Council was a commission of at least 10 members appointed by the president for three years. The government comprised seven ministers. The parliament of the republic was a legislative body with limited powers. It was summoned by the president of the republic and could only approve or reject a law, the discussion reserved to a more restricted committee of 15 speakers.

The Kingdom of Italy was established in 1805 when the Italian Republic became the Kingdom of Italy, with the same man (now styled Napoleon I) as King of Italy and the 24-year-old Eugène de Beauharnais (Napoleon's stepson) as his viceroy. Napoleon's title was Emperor of the French and King of Italy, implying the importance of the Italian Kingdom to his empire.

Although the earlier republican constitution was never formally abolished, a series of constitutional statutes completely altered it. The first declared Napoleon as king and established that his sons would succeed him, even if the French and the Italian crowns had to be separated after the Emperor's death. The most important was the third, which proclaimed Napoleon as the head of state with full powers of government. The Consulta (a commission of eight members led by the president of the republic and in charge of foreign policy), Legislative Council, and Speakers were merged in a Council of State, whose opinions became only optional and not binding for the king. The Legislative Body, the old parliament, remained in theory, but was never summoned after 1805. The fourth statute, decided in 1806, indicated Beauharnais as the heir to the throne.

Originally, the Kingdom consisted of the territories of the Italian Republic: former Duchy of Milan, Duchy of Mantua, Duchy of Modena, the western part of the Republic of Venice, part of the Papal States in Romagna, and the province of Novara. Within the next several years, its territory shifted a number of times as the Kingdom served as a theater in Napoleon's operations against Austria during the wars of the various coalitions. In practice, the Kingdom was a dependency of the French Empire.

After Napoleon abdicated both the thrones of France and Italy in 1814, Beauharnais surrendered and was exiled to Bavaria by the Austrians. The remains of the kingdom were eventually annexed by the Austrian Empire.

Attributions

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Napoleon conquered most of Italy in the name of the French Revolution by 1799 and established a number of France's client states under his own control or nearly absolute authority.

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#15 Fully committing into his musical career as an independent artist

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#15 Fully committing into his musical career as an independent artist

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Wanting to become a universal talent, Beethoven chose to cancel "a fall tour of Poland, and set himself up as a self-employed artist, independent of aristocratic favor." (75) The want of becoming a universal talent was a factor of this rational decision, but wanting to write an opera powerful enough to erase the memories of his master Hayden's, weak attempts at music drama. He accomplished this goal by isolating himself, drowning in work loads, and renting an individual apartment.

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After focusing on his projects as a solo artist, Beethoven was fascinated by the concept of war but was too uneducated to involve himself in politics. He instead wrote a song about the war during his time but didn't like the melody so "he published it in a set of party pieces for Viennese youth to dance to." (86) After thinking long and hard about this piece, the melody concept brought Beethoven to write a ballet for the court spring season called Creatures of Prometheus. Miraculously, this ballet was a big hit, playing twenty seven performances at the Imperial Court Theater and boasting his other concertos, as "commissions were coming in faster than he could handle them." (87) This was Beethoven's first experience in overseas fame.

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Beethoven - Ballet "Die Geschöpfe des Prometheus", Op. 43 (1801)

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Upon finally achieving the recognition Beethoven deserved as a musical prodigy, he was suffering various types of health problems. For instance, he describes how for the past few years his "hearing has become weaker and weaker ... [he] has been constantly afflicted with diarrhea and [had] been suffering in consequence from an extraordinary debility" (86) These health problems severely impact his musical and personal life, for if his deafness becomes more severe it could fluctuate his ability to compose and write music.

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Despite the numerous health issues, Beethoven was inspired to write another Symphony in D major called Sonata quasi una Fantasia, Op. 27 No.2, or more popularly known as "Moonlight Sonata" and was said to have been dedicated to the young pupil, Giulietta Guiccaiardi. Though this was his unique way of "proposing" to her, Beethoven's self-abasement was so unlike him that it was thought that this musical piece was a way of looking for a reason to be rejected.

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Beethoven - Moonlight Sonata (2nd Movement)

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As Beethoven's deafness and health deteriorated increasingly, his ear doctor had recommended that he'd move away from the city since the city consisted of loud noises. Beethoven followed through and rented a farmland where he would teach Ferdinand Ries, who later then observe and wrote about Beethoven's mental state. Ries would explain in his letters how Beethoven was in a state of black gloom, and experienced restlessness, suicidal thoughts, and was reluctant to teach anything regarding music. These emotions were evident when Beethoven wrote a letter to his brothers, titled To be read and executed after my death.

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Beethoven’s Heiligenstadt Testament – Popular Beethoven

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The Heiligenstadt Testament is Beethoven’s famous letter he wrote to his brothers in 1802. In the letter the composer puts on paper his frustration with his growing hearing problem, at the same time attributing his gradual withdrawal from people to this illness. In the letter he also plays with the idea of ​​suicide. The Heiligenstadt Testament marks the turning point in Beethoven’s music, from which a brave and new era begins, what He called the New Path.

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#20 Overcoming depression a second time 

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#20 Overcoming depression a second time 

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Thankfully, Beethoven's mental progression had led him to start writing new piano variations, some of which were a "footprint of a theme not yet played." (98) The variations were counted to be up to fifteen, an extensively large amount of piano variations for Beethoven but he claimed to have written them because he wanted to write at his peak before he had "exhausted its pianistic potential." (98) Not only that, but Beethoven chose to write these variations to prove that "heard melodies are sweet, but those unheard / Are sweeter." This work was later on named the "Prometheus" variations.

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Beethoven: Variations and Fugue in E-flat major ("Eroica Variations"), Op. 35 (with Score)