This love of his, this suffering, this resignation, these alternations
of dejection and pride, these "soul-tragedies" are all reflected in
the great compositions written in 1802--the Sonata with the Funeral
March, Opus 26; the _Sonata quasi una Fantasia_, Opus 27, No. 1; the
Sonata called the "Moonlight," Opus 27; the Sonata in D Minor, Opus
31, No. 2, with its dramatic recitatives which seem like some grand
yet heart-broken monologue; the Sonata in C minor for Violin, Opus
30, dedicated to the Emperor Alexander; the Kreutzer Sonata, Opus 47;
and the Six Religious Songs, heroic yet grief-laden, to the words of
Gellert, Opus 48. The Second Symphony written in 1803 reflects rather
his youthful love; and here one feels that his will is decidedly
gaining the upper hand. An irresistible force sweeps away his sad
thoughts, a veritable bubbling over of life shows itself in the finale.
Beethoven was determined to be happy. He was not willing to believe his
misfortune hopeless, he wanted health, he wanted love, and he threw
aside despair.[20]
* * * * *
In many of his works one is struck by the powerful and energetic
march rhythms, full of the fighting spirit. This is especially
noticeable in the _Allegro_ and the _Finale_ of Second Symphony,
and still more in the first movement, full of superb heroism, of
the Violin Sonata dedicated to the Emperor Alexander. The war-like
character of this music recalls the period in which it was written.
The Revolution had reached Vienna. Beethoven was completely carried
away by it. "He spoke freely amongst his intimate friends," said the
Chevalier de Seyfried, "on political affairs, which he estimated
with unusual intelligence, with a clear and well-balanced out-look.
All his sympathies leaned towards revolutionary ideas." He liked the
Republican principles. Schindler, the friend who knew him best during
the last period of his life, said, "He was an upholder of unlimited
liberty and of national independence ... he desired that everyone
should take part in the government of the State.... For France he
desired universal suffrage and hoped that Bonaparte would establish
it, thus laying down the proper basis of human happiness." A Roman
of the revolutionary type, brought up on Plutarch, he dreamt of a
triumphant Republic, founded by the god of victory, the first Consul.
And blow by blow he forged the Eroica Symphony, Bonaparte, 1804,[21]
the _Iliad_ of Empire, and the Finale of the Symphony in C minor,
1805 to 1808, the grand epic of glory. This is really the first music
breathing the revolutionary feeling. The soul of the times lives again
in it with the intensity and purity which great events have for those
mighty and solitary souls who live apart and whose impressions are not
contaminated by contact with the reality. Beethoven's spirit reveals
itself, marked with stirring events, coloured by the reflections of
these great wars. Evidences of this, (perhaps unconscious to him)
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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