Ludwig Van Beethoven, Die Geschöpfe Des 4 Deprecatingly, That the Eponymous Character of Viganò’S Ballet Bears No
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Overture of the Self: Beethoven’s Prometheus Overture as an Exposition of the Composer’s Moral Disposition Timon Linus Stähler Beethoven’s Prometheus overture (op. 43; 1801) was composed at a liminal stage of the composer’s life and his musical development. In a time of increasing anxiety about the progressive loss of his hearing, the Prometheus overture is situated at the cusp of the composer’s creative middle phase, characterised by Theodor W. Adorno as “the metaphysics of tragedy”.1 Despite recent attempts to separate the imaginary of the composer from the spectre of Prometheus,2 I demonstrate with a close musicological reading that the Prometheus overture, 1 See the philosopher’s unfinished ‘Beethoven project’ in Theodor W. Adorno, Beethoven: The Philosophy of Music, ed. Rolf Tiedemann, transl. Edmund Jephcott (Cambridge: Polity Press, 1998), p. 176. 2 See, e.g., Daniel K. L. Chua, Beethoven and Freedom (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2017), p. 20. The strong biographical connection between Beethoven and Prometheus in the imaginary of the nineteenth century is demonstrated for instance by Caspar von Zumbusch’s monument in Vienna, see figure 1 in Appendix I. 2 and in particular its introduction, allows profound insights into the musical assertion of the character and moral disposition of its creator. Genre Context and the Articulation of the Self The musical form of the overture originates in the seventeenth century, when it was used to introduce a ballet, opera or oratorio. In the following century, the term was extended to include symphonic compositions, frequently of a two- or three-movement type, regardless of whether they introduced dramatic works or not. By the end of the eighteenth century, the established form contained a single movement, usually with a slow introduction. As such, the overture was similar to the opening movement of a contemporary symphony, though it lacked a development section. Dramatic overtures were sometimes also performed outside their original context. Yet in the nineteenth century, the concert overture, composed and performed as an independent piece, frequently commissioned for a particular occasion, became increasingly prominent. In the romantic period, the genre underwent further modification and, while mostly still retaining the established form, “had a title of historical, poetic or pictorial character which the composer set out to illustrate, in a 3 general way, in his music.”3 I suggest that, in the case of Beethoven, the composer more specifically also wrote himself into this musical form. Beethoven added significantly to the genre and its further development, whose form he is said to have exploded.4 And yet, frequently commissioned and connected to incidental music, some of his overtures have been counted among his lesser works.5 Beethoven’s first overture, too, commissioned for Salvatore Viganò’s ballet Die Geschöpfe des Prometheus, is sometimes considered uncharacteristic of his other orchestral works and less demanding.6 Formally, it is still close to Gluck and Mozart.7 Hugo Botstiber notes, somewhat 3 Nicholas Temperley, “Overture”, in Grove Music Online, published online: 22 October 2008, https://doi-org.chain.kent.ac.uk/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.20616 (last accessed 15 August 2019). My introductory paragraph is based largely on Temperley’s detailed article. 4 See Hugo Botstiber, Geschichte der Ouvertüre und der freien Orchesterformen (Leipzig: Breitkopf & Härtel, 1913), p. 165. Though not a recent work and in some respects outdated, Botstiger’s history of the overture is still frequently referred to and considered a standard work. 5 See, e.g., ibid., p. 168. 6 Lewis Lockwood, Beethoven: The Music and the Life (New York: W. W. Norton, 2005), pp. 149–50. 7 See Botstiber, Geschichte der Ouvertüre, p. 169. The comparatively high opus number, as observed by Roger Fiske, is “deceptive” because it reflects the date of publication but not of composition and first performance, see Beethoven Concertos and Overtures (London: British Broadcasting Corporation, 1970), p. 45. For Beethoven’s overture, see Ludwig van Beethoven, Die Geschöpfe des 4 deprecatingly, that the eponymous character of Viganò’s ballet bears no similarity to the luminous figure of ancient myth.8 Yet Beethoven’s music, I argue, operates on a different, much more serious level: it would be difficult to imagine that he did not have the actual myth in his mind – presumably also in Goethe’s iconoclastic poetic version (1789; written between 1772–74)9 – as a foil against which he explored the tensions between both. Joy through Suffering and the Promethean Symbol The first four bars of the Prometheus overture offer not only an exposition of Beethoven’s disposition through the vehicle of the Promethean symbol, but Prometheus, op. 43, overture, in: Werke, Serie 3: Ouverturen für Orchester, Nr. 25 (Leipzig: Breitkopf & Härtel, n. d.). 8 Salvatore Viganò’s ballet is considered to be lost and was presumably not identical to his Prometeo: ballo mitologico (Milano: Società Tipografica de’ Classici Italiani, 1813). For a detailed description of the ballet performed under the title Gli uomini di Prometeo ossia la forza della musica e della danza, see Carlo Ritorni, Commentarii della vita e delle opere coredrammatiche di Salvatore Viganò e della coregrafia e de’ Corepei (Milano: Guglielmini e Redaelli, 1838), pp. 47–9. 9 For the poem, see Johann Wolfgang Goethe, “Prometheus”, in Gedichte, ed. Erich Trunz (Munich: Beck, 1982), p. 44. 5 also of the dramatic context of his narrative and the forces which govern it (music sample 1). As is the case with all mediated art forms, it is the responsibility of the artist to capture the imagination of the audience and command its attention, so that those whom they address may critically engage with the narrative or core message portrayed. The intensity with which Beethoven approaches this rhetorical device in his Prometheus overture should be noted. From the very first chord, he issues an attention-demanding cry which introduces the deeply personal imparting of the inner recesses of his psyche. Instrumental in its instigation is the sense of unease created by Beethoven’s utilisation of a 7th foundation note (the chord reads C/Bb) on beat 1. It carries multiple suggestions. Firstly, it informs us that we have entered the narrative in medias res: an unprepared 3rd inversion chord indicates that some imaginary music – which, one presumes, would be representative of some action – has preceded the present musical moment. Secondly, it stimulates a natural psychological response in the listener which urges this dissonance to resolve into the consonance of an F major 1st inversion. This instantly draws the listener into the music, and transforms their listening from a state of passive reception to one of pro-active anticipation. This would have been more significantly so for Beethoven’s contemporaries, since such a bold opening had (to my knowledge) previously never been attempted: the closest would be 6 Beethoven’s own Symphony no. 1 in C major, op. 21 (1801), which begins with a 7th chord, but in root position (music sample 2).10 Such suspense is further encouraged in the Prometheus overture by its curt and abrupt articulation (staccato and followed by two crotchet rests). The importance of this initial chord is not, however, solely marked by its ability to coax attentiveness from the listener, but also by its associative qualities in relation to the Promethean symbol. When one compares it and the descending chromatic movement it instigates with the inverted/inner pedal continued through bars 1–3 by various instruments, one notices a polarisation between the upper and lower registers of the instrumentation. On the basis of the topographical relationship between the aforementioned voices, one might interpret the inverted pedal as representative of Mount Olympus (the Olympian gods) and the bass line as indicative of Earth (Prometheus).11 This, in accordance with the myth,12 indicates that Prometheus seeks to work against 10 See Ludwig van Beethoven, Werke, Serie 1: Symphonien, Nr. 1 (Leipzig: Breitkopf & Härtel, 1862). 11 Another indication of the bass line being representative of Prometheus is that the line is led by the double-basses. Their famous soli passages in Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 in D minor, op. 125 (1824) represent the world order revolutionary (just like Prometheus). 12 For the transformations of the ancient myth, see Carl Kerényi, Prometheus: Archetypal Image of Human Existence, transl. Ralph Manheim (1946; Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1997) and, in particular, for the wound, pp. 39–40. For a detailed discussion of Beethoven’s composition, see 7 the path prescribed by the gods, as the bass line (Prometheus) attempts to pull away from the key of C major (here, tonality is representative of world order), which the tonic inverted/inner pedal (the gods) seeks to enforce. Beethoven strongly identified with this struggle for independence and liberty. In fact, Prometheus’ gift of fire to humanity, defying Zeus, is mirrored by Beethoven’s rebellious spirit that honours with its art not the rules of an archaic and authoritarian state, but the new age of Man, one of hope, social freedom, and enlightenment: he rejects enforced religious doctrine; denounces the aristocracy and mocks their baseless claims to supremacy; shirks the shackles of exhausted musical tradition.13 Such an offering, however, cannot come without cost. Fate punishes Beethoven with, among others, an abusive father, a lecherous and ungrateful nephew, and deafness; Zeus punishes Prometheus by commanding an eagle to feed upon his nightly re-growing liver while he is chained to the Caucasus. Such punishment is alluded to by the previously mentioned percussive rhythms found in bars 1–4, which seem to be the mimetic depiction of a hammer Paul Bertagnolli, Prometheus in Music: Representations of the Myth in the Romantic Era (New York: Routledge, 2017), chapter 2.