What’s So Special About Beethoven?

By D. T. Baker

There are people out there who have never stepped foot in the Winspear Centre. There are those that have never been exposed in any meaningful way to “classical” music. There are even those who, for reasons we do not have the space or time to delve into, have pre-determined that classical music is not for them.

Yet I’ll bet all of the above have at least heard of Ludwig van Beethoven, or can recognize those first four notes of the Fifth Symphony, or know the tune to Für Elise, even if they have no idea what it is or who wrote it.

Let’s put all that to the side for a minute. When planning out a season of music to offer its patrons, you would be hard pressed to find an orchestra of reasonably large budget anywhere in the world that doesn’t program at least one Beethoven symphony each season. The man’s name sells tickets. It did in 1825, it did in 1925, and, well, here we are.

So, why? What is it about Beethoven who, seemingly alone among composers, has such a universal recognizability? It’s easy enough for those (like me, I confess) to wax poetically about the depth of his music, how he transformed music during his life and for generations after, about the passion and emotional depth and sincerity his works so effectively communicate. Even his own life story of a man for whom the sense of hearing would seem to be needed at the highest level had that gradually and inexorably torn away from him throughout his life makes for compelling copy.

Beethoven helped turn a pretty significant corner in the history of music. Before him, even the greatest musicians were usually paid employees of a court or a church – and happy to be so. Beethoven saw himself as artist-as-creator, so sure of his musical gifts that he refused to be thought of as anything less than the equal of a duke or a prince. His talent and his music made it work, too. He was one of that rare breed of composers who was revered during his lifetime, and worshipped after. Ten thousand attended his funeral, and generations of composers acknowledged their debt to how Beethoven’s compositions set music free. Couple that with the tragic deafness, the wild hair, the even wilder temper, and Beethoven became the template for the tortured genius.

But is that it? Is that enough to make Beethoven such a cultural touchstone that, for example, even the most diehard country and western fan who feels that callling a fiddle a violin is “puttin’ on airs” still knows the name?

I spoke to a couple of people I know who assure me they know nothing about classical music. Oh, sure, they admit – they’ve heard of Beethoven. Who hasn’t? But when asked how or why they know the name, they are genuinely not sure. Everyone does, they say. And they could well be right. It doesn’t get us any closer to knowing exactly why everyone does, but the ESO isn’t paying me enough to go down that rabbit hole.

In my own discovery of music, I came upon Beethoven early on. His music was pretty easy for my childhood brain to assimilate. It had an immediate appeal in its power, its emotion, its melodies, and its ability to reach heart and mind together. The fact that there was a depth to it that made repeated listenings of favourite works enjoyable and, even more important, revealed new discoveries with each new listen, made Beethoven’s music a lifelong companion.

The Edmonton Symphony Orchestra has a blast of Beethoven coming up shortly. On April 26 & 27, Julian Kuerti conducts a concert which includes Beethoven’s “Eroica” Symphony No. 3. The following weekend, an absolute treat will take place. Revered Canadian pianist Marc-André Hamelin will be the soloist when, over the course of consecutive nights (May 2 & 3), Benard Labadie conducts the complete set of Beethoven’s piano concertos. The first three concertos will be presented April 2, the final two on April 3.

If you, like some of the people to whom I have referred in this article, are wondering “Why Beethoven?”, any or all of these concerts will likely leave you with a very satisfying answer. Answers. Beethoven’s Third Symphony, from its opening measures, announced a change in music’s classical past, and helped usher in the Romantic era, in which the vision of the artist became paramount, and music’s horizons broadened, away from the conventions of the past.

Beethoven himself was one of the great pianists, and the piano concertos he wrote as vehicles for himself trace his development as a composer. The early works sparkle with youthful energy, while acknowledging the music of his own past – Mozart and Haydn especially. As his deafness became too great, it crushed him that he was ultimately not able to perform his last concerto himself – but each of the five are constantly being presented in concert throughout the world. The opportunity to hear all five together is a rare and exciting opportunity.

You know, given how much Beethoven’s music has meant to me since childhood, you’d think I’d have a decent answer to “Why Beethoven?” Or, at least one that wouldn’t take four or five hours to get through. Thankfully, however, even my answer won’t likely be your answer. Just let it in, and you’ll figure it out all on your own, and enjoy doing it immensely.