I have a hot take for you -- at least in some circles. Beethoven is overrated. Not...all...Beethoven, but the things about Beethoven that could be considered common knowledge. Duh duh duh duhhhhh. That thing Linus plays in a Charlie Brown Christmas (Fur Elise...which means...For Elise). Ode to Joy from that 9th Symphony thing.
Where Beethoven really shines is what he did for the next generation of composers. Beethoven, really, was a guy stuck in the middle. Starting the Romantic movement of music that didn't really achieve it's peak until much later. So if you actually try and start listening to Classical music with Beethoven, you're listening to (basically) experimental music. Yes, it spoke to Beethoven...and it was well received by the audiences of the day for being ground breaking and amazing. But they all had the benefit of background and musical training and all the things before. They KNEW what a sonata allegro form was, and why it was so amazing that Beethoven was bending the rules.
Ok.....
Maybe I'll cover Sonata Allegro form another time, the short version is that it's kind of like Pop's "verse-chorus-verse-chorus-bridge-chorus" but for classical music. See, we /don't/ know about all those rules and how things were supposed to be in Classical music, so some of the novelty of Beethoven has disappeared for modern audiences, and the people that love it were introduced to it as something that they were absolutely supposed to like. Because it was Beethoven! And if you still love it, great! There is beauty and passion and drama all over the place in Beethoven. There is also wandering, searching, long-winded, repetition, that is harder to get into.
Where someone suggests Beethoven's 5th Symphony, of which the first movement is an excellent study in what you can do with three notes and the power and passion that careful craft can bring. The next three movements are long, drawn out and probably don't have any melodies an audience can hum. But that first movement! (I can hum the second and third movements, because they are pretty intense cello excerpts for auditions.) I would try this instead:
Brahms Third Symphony:
Brahms first symphony has been called Beethoven's 10th. His Third symphony though, is something different. It's a small little package, on the shorter side for this sort of thing, but says everything it needs to say and then, well, stops. It has drama, beauty, and some really awesome horn licks.
Sibelius 2nd Symphony
As far as Symphonies go, this one if far more introspective than most. A couple of things. 1st is that he is a Finnish composer, not a country that is often thought of for classical music. (Note to self: Include Grieg's Piano Concerto on future type-y type-y) 2nd: It has been offered up that Sibelius does Beethoven better than Beethoven. Or rather, he is the end point of the symphonic trajectory that Beethoven started. The benefit for the listener is that you don't need to have all the background to understand his music, because it's a polished culmination of the style.
Shostakovich 5th Symphony
Shostakovich always had to walk the fine line of musical anarchist and appeasing Stalin. In other words, critiquing the establishment vs. Not Dying. His music therefore matches the time in which it was written, with equal parts bombast and despair with a hint, just a hint of hope. This is getting far away from what Beethoven started and more into orchestral death metal? Well, let the symphony get going and you'll see what I mean.
Anyway, this is just a taste of one of the classical forms. Symphonies were designed to be epic, with long, slow development of the themes involved. Hope you enjoyed this sampler.
Let me know what you thought, and I'll try and get another set for you in the future!Statistics: Posted by Eliahad — Thu Mar 19, 2020 11:49 am
]]>