"Provided one can feel the music,one can also make the pianoforte sing."
"Provided one can feel the music,one can also make the pianoforte sing."
Beethoven has been my most respected composer since I started learning piano, simply becasue of the magnestism of his music which, exactly reflects the charisma of this very master of classical music and pioneer of romaticism.
Born in December of 1774 in Bonn (oh, it's a beautiful German city), the master's exact date of birth is unknown. His mother was a singer in service of the Elector of Köln, while his father was a violinist and pianist who got seriously addicted to alcohol after the death of his own wife. His father's great expectation on him as a prodigy, and the fact that he failed to fulfill it had brought him away from the crowd, and partly, or even strongly resulted in the master's awkward manners, unpredictable temper and his refusal to defer to superior rank.
His deafness, the greatest tregedy in his life had futher worsened his relationship with people and had almost brought him to complete isolation. However, this tregedy also turned his life into a beautiful legend. The isolation somewhat allowed him, or even forced him to explore and exploit new compositional and instrumental techniques.
He made enormous revolutions on harmony (which used to be simple and somehow plain and dull before he made the revolutionary change), technical demands on instruments (I must say that he hated those chopped lines with detached notes which prevailed that period, this accounts for the massive use of sustaining pedals in his piano works), and dynamic extremes (with his typical sudden fortissimo chords breaking the thoughtful calm opening).
Above all, the most important revolution he made was to musical forms. He extended the lengths of phrases which enables more emotional expressions, and at the same time expanded the size of his works (one of the most usual means he used was to turn a three-movement sonata into four).
Beethoven was such a believer of perfectionism that I never feel myself equal to perform his pieces. Unlike Mozart, he seldom got satisfied with his first draft, and would spend days and nights rewriting them. Therefore, every single note from his works speaks from the very bottom of the master's heart, and that's why his music is so appealing and soul-touching. Gosh! I really can't think of any words to describe it, nor can I think of any colour to represent this great master. Everything in him was so deep, just as this very dark blue; and his works like sparkling stars, glittering in the sky — ever and forever.
