JUXTAPOSITION

JUXTAPOSITION
Peer Reviewed Paper #1 (This is an example of what the paper should look like. It contains some answers that are less than adequate (#14), some that are adequate (#4) and some that are more than adequate (#1 and #9). In grading, if there is a less than adequate response to a question, that will receive from 0 to 3 points, an adequate answer will receive 5 points, and a more than adequate answer will receive 6.5 points. From this you can see that if you answer all the questions adequately, you will receive 16 times 5 points or 80 points out of 100. If you answer all questions more than adequately you will receive 16 times 6.5 points or 104 points. If you are unable to locate any information for any numbered question you should put by that number, “No information available”. You are allowed to do that three times for your composer and will receive 5 points for those questions. To submit the paper, make sure that it is a word document or a pdf file and submit it as an attachment to me through Blackboard.)
1. Ludwig van Beethoven (December 16/17,1770- March 26, 1827)
1800 –Completion of 1st Symphony
1806 – Ended close friendship with Prince Lichnowsky, in whose palace he had lived from 1794 to 1796, signaling his independence as a composer and musician.
1807 – Completion of 5th Symphony
1809 – Rejection of his marriage proposal to Therese von Malfatti
1815 – He ended his public performance career due to increasing deafness. His brother, Karl, died and Beethoven took over as guardian for his nephew, also Karl.
1818 – Approximate date of total deafness
1824 – First performance of 9th Symphony

2. Born in Bonn, Germany
1787, studied briefly with Mozart in Vienna
1792, returned to Vienna permanently and studied briefly with Haydn
1802, visited the nearby city of Heilengestadtto try a new cure for increasing deafness and issued the “Heiligenstadt Testament”, expressing anguish over his deafness, but also his desire to continue to compose.

3. Beethoven was the son of a singer Johann Beethoven, in the service of the Elector of Cologne. His abusive father wanted to exploit his son’s musical gift and began a harsh musical training regimen. The court organist, C. G. Neefe, recognized his talent and gave him keyboard and composition lessons. He found Haydn a less than impressive teacher and began to study with other teachers, including Salieri and Albrechtsberger.

4. Beethoven was a virtuoso pianist and also played organ. He had learned violin as a young child.

5. Beethoven’s influence on music almost single-handedly ushered in the Romantic era. He transformed the symphony and the piano sonata and concerto by both expanding and adjusting the forms to a more Romantic mindset.

6. Beethoven’s earliest works were a continuation of the Viennese Classical tradition of Haydn and Mozart. In the early 1800’s, however, Beethoven began to expand and develop into a more Romantic style of composing and so he is the one composer that truly forms a bridge between the Viennese Classical and the Romantic Period.

7. Beethoven wrote at the piano, but he also used notebooks to write down ideas in which he carried around with him. From the notebooks we can tell that he wrestled over weeks, months, and sometimes even years with his composing.

8. There were many innovations that Beethoven pioneered, including the use of more and newer instruments in the symphony orchestra, the adaptations of traditional classical forms (such as the replacement of the minuet and trio with the scherzo), the expansion of the symphonies four movements to five and the introduction of programmatic elements (such as in Symphony #6), the use of a theme or motive in more than one movement in a multi-movement work (such as in Symphony #5), and the expansion of dynamic levels and changes in tempo which can be seen in many of his piano sonatas.

9. Interesting facts:

A. Early in his career, Beethoven was known more for his piano improvisations, than for his composing. His performances are described by such terms as “fiery” and “reckless emotionalism”. One critic writes, “His playing tore along like a wildly foaming cataract, and the conjurer constrained his instrument to an utterance so forceful that the stoutest structure was scarcely able to withstand it; and anon he sank down, exhausted, exhaling gentle plaints, dissolving into melancholy.” As he was able to unleash this energy into his more mature compositions the dividing line between his more traditional classical writing and the Romantic period became apparent.

B. Some of the greatest treasures, apart from the music which Beethoven composed, are his numerous sketchbooks which document the stages of development of many of his works. These show that Beethoven did not compose easily. They reveal a “morass of scrawls and blots and revisions on top of revisions.” They prove the point that what can be called genius can certainly be 10% inspiration and 90% perspiration. Beethoven can rightly be considered a “genius” in regard to his impact on music, but this legacy came about through much hard work.

C. During the final years of his life, Beethoven began to use counterpoint much more frequently in his composing, rather than the more popular homophonic texture of this period. This may be a result of his in depth study of J. S. Bach, especially the Well-Tempered Clavier volumes, as a child. Two examples of this tendency are the fugues of the “MissaSolemnis” and the “Grosse Fuge” for string quartet.

10. He knew both Mozart and Haydn, but other than this, did not have any close friends who were composers. This may be due in part to the fact of his increasing deafness which made conversation virtually impossible.

11. Beethoven wrote in all the styles of the Viennese Classical Period (symphonies, string quartets, piano sonatas, etc.) Even though he was known to have considered numerous operatic plans, especially between 1800 and 1815, Beethoven only wrote one Opera, “ Fidelio”.

12. Beethoven was able to live well from his income as a composer, due to the fact of his continuing popularity with the Viennese populace and his sharp business sense. He also received money from some wealthy individuals who wanted him to stay in Vienna, rather than move somewhere else, like Paris or Prague.

13. He was never married, but he proposed at least once, but more probably numerous times. He also took care of his nephew after his brother died, which was a source of stress and frustration for both of them.

14. Symphony #5, “Moonlight” Sonata, Piano Concerto #5 “The Emperor”, MissaSolemnis, “Fidelio”, Grosse Fugue.

15. Texts used for this paper:

Staines, Joe, ed. The Rough Guide to Classical Music. London: Rough Guide, Ltd. 2001.
Swafford, Jan. The Vintage Guide to Classical Music. New York: Vintage Books, 1992.
Gammond, Peter. Classical Composers. London: Colour Library Books Ltd., 1995.
Stanley, John. Classical Music, rev. ed. London: Octopus Publishing Group Ltd., 2005.

16. Websites used for this paper:
http://www.lvbeethoven.com/Bio/BiographyLudwig.html
http://www.madaboutbeethoven.com/
http://raptusassociation.org/
http://www.lucare.com/immortal/
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