Week of January 6, 2020
Dear Friend,
Today marks the first Monday of 2020, and so it's time for the first weekly update of the Beethoven 250
th
Anniversary Year.
Born in 1770, Ludwig van Beethoven has had an ongoing impact upon the music of the western world more powerful than any other figure, living or dead. Even without the excuse of an anniversary year, Beethoven's music is already everywhere. In concert halls. On the radio. On television. In films. In scholarly journals. Philosophical essays. Novels. Cartoons. Comic strips. Commercials. Video games. Cell phone ring tones.
Everywhere.
So why celebrate the anniversary of a composer who already is celebrated more each year than virtually any other musician who ever lived? What makes this year so special?
For that matter, what makes Beethoven so special?
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Untold volumes have been written, and multiple scholarly livelihoods supported, in the attempt to answer this question. Every corner of Beethoven’s life and work has been thoroughly poked and prodded for insight; every pen scratch and coffee stain and hair follicle analyzed for hidden meaning. Every place Beethoven lived or visited, virtually everything he ever touched, has been exhaustively catalogued. We have worked harder to
know
things about Beethoven than all but a handful of other figures throughout human history.
But
knowing
things about Beethoven misses the point entirely.
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I am deeply fortunate to have spent my formative years in the “inner sanctum” of great musical teachers who were direct recipients of music-making traditions that can be traced back to Ludwig van Beethoven himself. In five steps back from Menahem Pressler, I am a great-great-great-grand student of Beethoven; with Cecile Staub Genhart at Eastman, it was only four steps. In that tradition, the music of Beethoven is not simply a thing to learn and master and perform, although one tries to do all of those things. The music of Beethoven is a place to
be
. It is hallowed ground upon which one travels on their lifelong journey of growth; where one visits and re-visits works written better than they can ever be performed, learning each day how better to harness the immense power this music has to offer.
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Someone recently suggested that perhaps the best way to honor Beethoven this year is to give him a rest, and not perform or listen to any of his music for the entire year. Then maybe we can return with fresh ears to appreciate him even more …or so the argument goes.
I like this suggestion, with one important exception: for the next year, let’s only listen to Beethoven's music when we can experience it
live
.
If Beethoven comes on the radio or television, turn him off. If he appears in the background of a commercial, tune him out. As his royal patron, Archduke Rudolf, ultimately concluded when decreeing that the normal rules of court etiquette could not apply to him, Beethoven
cannot
just be part of our musical wallpaper!
Why? Because out of a prevailing 18th century system of musical servanthood, Beethoven carved an unprecedented creative space where the elements of melody, harmony, rhythm, form, instrumentation, etc. became no longer the mere tools of musical craft. By the sheer force of his autonomous creative will, they were shaped and transformed into
Art
- in the service of nothing more or less than humanity's quest for the deepest universal meaning. And while generations of subsequent composers have struggled in his shadow, it is not because their mastery of musical elements is necessarily inferior. It is because Beethoven set the standard for musical
purpose
so impossibly high.
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Today, great performers of Beethoven’s music likewise inhabit that same miraculously challenging space, charting their own interpretive pathways in that same spirit of deepest yearning. For a musician, there is no greater privilege than to live and work in this space. And for an audience, there is no greater opportunity than to be present, in person, in the moments when the universal aspiration in Beethoven’s music is once again made brilliantly alive, in the hands of artists who have spent their musical lifetimes on the journey.
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This year, anytime Beethoven’s music appears on a live concert, get out and hear it. As Beethoven so perfectly demonstrated, the search for meaning in music is the search for meaning in life itself.
The Chamber Music Society of Detroit is proudly celebrating this once-in-a-generation Beethoven year with a collection of spectacular opportunities to experience his music live and in person. At
CMSDetroit.org/Beethoven
you will find a list of all the 2020 Beethoven concerts we have announced to date, and you can stay tuned for even more next fall.
I welcome you warmly to join us, and be a part of it!
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Steve Wogaman, President
Chamber Music Society of Detroit
Tickets: 313-335-3300 or
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