In search of lost time: Beethoven and his orchestra

by Jos van Immerseel

At the present time, collectors and institutions are prepared to spend millions of euros for a manuscript by Beethoven, not only for one of his scores, but also for letters or mere jottings. Millions of visitors file through the dozens of museums devoted to the composer and past the monuments which commemorate him. His bust watches over innumerable pianos and mantelpieces, while his portrait adorns postage stamps and even, in hologram, credit cards. For Beethoven is generally regarded as the most important composer of western civilisation. ln 1977, the space probes Voyager 1 and 2 even took his music into space, as a possible means of communication if they should encounter extraterrestrial civilisations! Many people see Beethoven as the first ‘modern’ composer, a hero overshadowing even Napoleon, an absolute genius, a superman. But there is no greater sign of respect for a composer than to take his music seriously. Truly great minds wish to be understood for their work alone - as was also the case with Beethoven. The account of his teaching left by the pianist and composer Ferdinand Ries is a good illustration of this: ‘If I made mistakes in a passage, hit the wrong keys or missed intervals . . . he seldom said anything. But if I had not grasped the expression of crescendos and so forth, or the essential character of the work, he grew angry, for, he said errors of the first type were mere accidents, but the other kind displayed a lack of knowledge, of feeling or of attention.’ We are no longer lucky enough to be able to play the master’s works in his presence, in order to fathom his precise intentions. His penetration and his ability to express the most profound ideas in music have remained unequalled. Similarly, his understanding of the specific characteristics of the instruments of his time was exceptional. How can we still form an idea of these today? His art is most effectively rendered in an interpretation in which respect and freedom go hand in hand. Respect entails conscientious execution of the written text, the use of the instruments prescribed by the composer and implementation of the various elements which went without saying at the time - pitch, performance practice, internal orchestral balance, respect of tempo markings, and so on. The dimension of freedom lies in the right to be an individual of today with one’s (invariably personal) culture and sensibility, to blend the available elements as one sees fit, and to communicate all of this to an audience. It is when respect and freedom engage in fruitful dialogue that Beethoven is most likely to appear in his full gravity, drama, wit and humour.