Most people seldom use the word "pleasure" for their most direct feelings about Beethoven's music. At first glance, they will feel that Beethoven's music style has changed in the early, middle and late stages, as if his music is following his philosophical thoughts and trying to express it in an abstract way. Indeed, Beethoven's music is thoughtful, philosophical and has something to say. His music is also very distinctive in terms of layout and constant emphasis on themes. Therefore, listening to Beethoven's music will make us feel serious, even a little heavy.
▲ Tragic hero who walks into nature ▲
However, Beethoven's sixth symphony "Pastoral" has a rare Schubert-style elegance.
Later generations have roughly marked the main title and the subtitle of each movement of this symphony, which is completely related to the natural scenery in the countryside. From the very beginning, the song presents a kind of peaceful, lively and energetic musical instrument, which seems to make people see all the scenery at a glance. This piece of music, especially the first movement, has created a unique sound of nature through the ensemble of flute and clarinet. But Beethoven's pastoral symphony was written immediately after the symphony of destiny, and the famous degree of the symphony of destiny almost became Beethoven's orthographic symbol.
Beethoven continued the philosophical thinking of his symphony Hero in Destiny. The two pieces of music are very similar in style, with victory drums, French horn, heavy staccato syllables, and a sense of victory from majestic to tragic to arrogant, which is why everyone interprets the music of this period as "the struggle of tragic heroes". Music in this period dealt with "people" rather than "nature". Faced with irresistible forces and inevitable tragic endings, human beings are determined not to be defeated, and even boast about the victory of their willpower. This is a typical tragic hero theme. Why did you suddenly switch from this theme to dealing with the pastoral style of nature? And the two songs are next to each other, thinking about people's struggle with irresistible fate and the pleasure of people entering nature almost at the same time.
▲ Man/subject emerges from nature/subject ▲
It is precisely the interweaving and parallel processing of the two philosophies that we can imagine. Even if the pastoral symphony deals with nature, the person who is the "subject" can't be completely integrated into the harmony between man and nature like the national music in China culture. Man is bound to stand out in nature.
Therefore, the pastoral symphony will deal with the happy celebration of farmers in the countryside, immediately accompanied by the storm, and then accompanied by the pastoral after the storm, three chapters in one go, so the pastoral symphony not only presents the joy of nature, but also vividly depicts the opposition between man and nature that has to be produced because of the ruthless wind and rain.
This subjectivity of human beings in nature is shown in Beethoven's Seventh Symphony with a very artistic aesthetic feeling.
▲ Temporary answers obtained under the interweaving of man/subject and nature/subject ▲
At the beginning of the seventh symphony, there is a mystery. Unlike the sixth symphony, it is presented in a clear way. Its sequence has been hidden, suppressed, and even a little nervous, as if an event was about to happen ... until the climax, the protagonist appeared, dancing like a flute and jumping out like a lively elf. It is a creature in nature, but it doesn't follow the laws of nature. Accompanied by many musical instruments, this elf dances beautifully and dynamically. But this elf is obviously not without problems.
Beethoven's use of turning to A minor, pause and gradual hesitation makes people feel that there is a dilemma behind this elf's dance. But the movement still ended in joy.
Against the background of the first movement, the second movement of Beethoven's Seventh Symphony is doubly sad. Because the flute solo in the second movement is still hidden in the whole song, it gives people the feeling of connecting with the first movement, but it is no longer an elf dance, but it seems lonely and sad after the carnival, especially the fugue in the second half of the second movement. But Beethoven, supplemented by a calm sense of rhythm, created a sense of perseverance, and that sadness turned into heroism.
So here, we will see that Beethoven's fifth and sixth themes are intertwined, and the seventh symphony has reached a certain fusion, both pastoral and humanistic. Through this interweaving, we lose our sense of struggle, unwillingness and tragic heroic victory, but we gain more beauty, joy and dance. Although this theme still has a sad feeling, Beethoven hides this feeling and is no longer the most important theme in the phrase.
Of course, hiding doesn't mean it doesn't exist We will see the theme of tragedy return to the main axis of music from Beethoven's later music.
▲ The confrontation between people/subjects and others/subjects ▲
When Beethoven focused his music theme on nature, he really entered another stage of his spiritual journey, from a state of mind of confronting and accusing fate to a state of mind of being at ease with nature. It's just that Beethoven never forgot his subjectivity as a human being.
Later, Beethoven did not write for nearly ten years. For an artist, stopping creating often means stopping a spiritual journey for a period of time. This is human nature. No one can continue to grow spiritually.
Then when Beethoven wrote again, from his solemn mass and the ninth symphony, we saw that the theme that Beethoven used to pay attention to actually came back.
For example, Beethoven wrote the Solemn Mass for himself, not for religious ceremonies, but purely to say his own words in the form of mass. Because of this, this kind of mass can't be used in church ceremonies, and we can even use it as a pure music to express our hearts.
If we study the Solemn Mass carefully, we will find that this piece is no less than the Symphony of Destiny. As a matter of fact, Beethoven's musical theme in the past has returned to creation, even stronger than in the past. Because there is also a clear subject in the solemn mass, that is, an "other"-God. As soon as the first song "Sadness Sutra" came out, we could hear that kind of cry immediately. It was that the subject was protesting against the injustice of fate and fighting against the soul of God who allowed it to be unfair.
This battle between heaven and man is even more obvious in the second Book of Glory. There is really a world of difference between the gorgeous words that spread God's glory and the sadness when praying for mercy. Beethoven, on the other hand, reconciled the distance between heaven and earth with a sudden falling voice when praising God, as if to remind God that because people are still in tragedy, it is inevitable that singing is a bit unwilling!
We can even hear Beethoven's emphasis on mercy and begging for mercy in the most peaceful fourth poem "The Sacred Sutra", while the fifth poem "The Sheepskin Sutra", a prayer cry for peace from God, has to be repeated over and over again before it can move from uncertainty to affirmation.
▲ Write a suicide note? A leap in the spiritual journey? ▲
This kind of vocal music at war between heaven and man will only appear when the subject unwilling to fate meets another subject that can be questioned. Therefore, the presentation of solemn mass phrases is not like ordinary mass, but only focuses on God. It emphasizes the confrontation between subject and subject.
After the solemn mass, Beethoven wrote the ninth symphony, which is also known as the ode to happiness symphony.
The Ninth Symphony simply collects all Beethoven's past spiritual experiences. The first movement of this piece, such as the French horn, the big drum, the short and powerful rhythm related to the sense of destiny, and even the fugue of heroic destiny in the third and fifth symphonies, have all returned. At the beginning of the movement, Beethoven's phrases began to seem like a prelude to a drama, as if telling the audience: I am performing my life.
The ninth symphony not only makes the theme of fate return, including the tragic hero's sense of victory and pastoral style, but also appears in the second and third movements. In the pastoral style of the third movement, there is also a theme of fate, reminding people that in a happy world, the subject is still man rather than nature. Humans will never be able to blend into nature.
In the fourth movement, Beethoven planted all the themes of the first, second and third movements with a long and tragic overture, then mixed the two themes of fate style and ode to happiness, and finally ended with ode to happiness. Then the chorus.
From this way of arranging the ninth symphony, we have to say that Beethoven is giving a general account of the past. Because of the confrontation between heroes, fate and tragic heroes and the arrogance of fate, both entering nature and carnival appear in this symphony.
There are only two reasons to sort out the past. One is to write a suicide note, and the other is to prepare for another spiritual journey.
▲ The transformation of the other/subject role ▲
Beethoven soon created his latest work, the famous string quartet.
Many people say that Beethoven's latest string quartet is difficult to analyze and understand like his past works. Because Beethoven's works in this period have surpassed the form of classical music and become free and eclectic, the heavy heroic style of resisting fate and cheerful pastoral style that he has been dealing with in the past are no longer repeated, and the tonal conversion and variation form are more arbitrary.
This style is not so much a confession to oneself as an entry into a quiet spiritual world from the outside.
However, we have reason to say that there is another other/subject in the process of confession.
For example, Beethoven added "giving thanks after illness, and Irian's mode is in chant style" to the title of the piece (op. 132), and even used chant fugue at the beginning of the piece (op. 13 1). All these signs indicate that Beethoven entered another spiritual realm, that is, he invited the God who had been screaming, praying and commanding himself to his mind to participate in his repentance and meditation. This subject is no longer the object of his protest, but the partner who reviews his life with him.
What a big change this is!
▲ Great reconciliation after the other/subject enters life ▲
The last string quartet, Beethoven, besides being good at using variations in the form of no residence, has another feature, that is, he frequently uses double-theme fugues.
The dual theme fugue will certainly give people the feeling of dealing with two topics of great concern at the same time. In the past, Beethoven dealt with fate and pastoral at the same time, but after all, there was an order. One theme was later diluted and the other was later highlighted, which was an inevitable staggered time. However, the dual-theme fugue is different. Double-theme fugue deals with two propositions at the same time, and there is no overlapping time when one theme is drifting away and the other theme is becoming clearer and clearer.
This is not only a difficult composition skill, but most importantly, with the help of the philosophical features in Beethoven's music, it has been clearly stated that Beethoven has reached the end of his life, leaving only two unresolved propositions.
Beethoven's last piece, String Quartet (op 135), revealed the keynote of these two propositions. One theme is a serious tone, and Beethoven himself wrote, "Do you have to?" Another theme is a brisk tone. Beethoven himself wrote: "It must be! This is the dual theme that Beethoven had to deal with before his death, but it is no longer a protest and a cry, only a meditation and calmness after acceptance. Beethoven himself wrote the title "Peace" in the third movement, and in the fourth movement, Beethoven started from the serious "Is it necessary?" Then the brisk "must be! The two themes are intertwined, and the whole song ends with a light and humorous plucking.
After being invited into his introspective world and facing life together, the subject whom he protested, appealed and shouted finally accepted Beethoven's life calmly, easily and humorously. He finally reconciled. Reconciliation with yourself, reconciliation with fate, reconciliation with God.
▲ Unspeakable mysterious course ▲
What Beethoven lacked most in his life was love. His father is so violent that he can never get married by mistake. He had severe hearing impairment very early and had to write with "music in his head". In his later years, he was betrayed by his nephew who wanted to adopt his partner in his later years ... he had never loved him in his life. Therefore, his music is serious, even severe, and reconciliation in his later years is an incredible mental journey.
This is a mysterious experience, a mystery that Beethoven can only tell through music, and through this kind of listening, we must enter an unspeakable mysterious process from the confrontation between the two subjects, to mourning, and then to becoming a partner of life.
Beethoven's last words were: "All disasters will bring some good things. This is the language of reconciliation.