Beethoven, a name that is still popular 250 years after its birth, what does it mean to the public? In our memory, he is the spiritual idol with a disability on the classroom wall, the gentle musician who played for the blind brother and sister in the textbook, the shocking opening of "Symphony of Destiny", and the "Fur Elise" played by garbage trucks. 》. On the occasion of the 250th anniversary of Beethoven’s birth, The Paper.book-turning party conducted a small survey and asked everyone to talk about Beethoven in their own eyes.

Ludwig van Beethoven, 1770-1827

Stereotype: the deaf genius

There is no doubt that contemporary People have some stereotypes about Beethoven, the most representative of which are the two keywords "deaf" and "great man". Or perhaps, because of Beethoven's deafness, no one doubts his greatness. A Japanese musician named Mamoru Samuragouchi even had a scandal in which he "pretended to be deaf" to gain attention.

My husband, who has been working for more than ten years, recalled: "There was a fat music teacher in elementary school. She taught us the differences in piano music from different eras by playing the piano, but I didn't remember it at all. , however, I remember she played a piece written by Beethoven after he became deaf. The teacher said that Beethoven’s uncle had beaten him to deafness, but because Beethoven had been playing the piano for many years, he could play without hearing. , used my brain to think, and then wrote several great works, so my impression of Beethoven was that he was a deaf man who could write music without relying on his ears. Later, I read his biography and only remembered that he was very young. When I started writing songs, I listened to a lot of his music, but I didn’t understand it and didn’t feel much about it.” Xiaofu said frankly that he was “not inspired by Beethoven’s music,” but “I was encouraged by his stories.” ".

Affen, who is a few years older than my husband, also lamented: "I don't know much about Beethoven at all. I only know that he practiced the piano until the floor was soaked. I think he probably washed his brushes with Wang Xizhi." The whole pond is washed black. It has a meaning, or it may be a legend in the world. A person who cannot hear can compose music. I think this is basically not a person. He can hear music without the function of ears. Probably only Beethoven. Well, I know nothing about music, but from the anecdotes of his life, I can feel that he is a master who has reached the realm of perfection."

Beethoven in the "Famous Germans" series issued by the German Federal Post Office. 70 pfennig stamps

In the eyes of school student Huang 66: “My first impression of Beethoven was in primary school textbooks, and the teacher’s brief description of it when I was learning the electronic keyboard, and later in history textbooks. A little related introduction. In my impression, Beethoven was probably a musical genius who had a rough life but fought against his fate to the end. He was deaf when he was young, but the inspirational story of him holding a wooden stick in his mouth to feel the vibration of the piano and persisting in making music is Commonly used material in compositions."

As for why Beethoven is called a genius, it seems that there is no need to think about whether one can appreciate his works professionally.

Huang 66 said: "Music teachers and many people are saying that Beethoven is a genius, so when he comes into contact with music, he has a preconceived concept: he can create so many classic works of music. "I must be a genius."

Killua, a "post-85s generation", also mentioned: "I only know that Beethoven is a genius. I am deaf, and his music "Symphony of Destiny" feels like a genius. , fierce, I heard that he started a concert tour at the age of 6. "In the eyes of Killua's parents, they think: "Beethoven is a world-class musician, a German, and he became deaf in his later years. His most famous thing is probably. "Symphony of Destiny" and "Ode to Joy", he is a musical master who is admired by the world! "

Regardless of whether the above anecdotes about Beethoven are true or false, I am deaf. Time and reasons are different. Beethoven is undoubtedly a figure who has long been promoted to the altar. In the hearts of the public, he is a great man and a god. However, after getting rid of the stereotypes, among those who have tried to get close to Beethoven What is he like in people's hearts?

Gossip and Rumors: Disease-ridden bad temper

The world loves to call Beethoven a hero, but not everyone is partial to heroes. Some people even want to drag the hero down. In the forum, some people are not too interested in Beethoven's widely praised deeds, but prefer to experience the musician from a personal perspective.

Li Xiang, who graduated from the Music Department of Xiamen University, said: "The three giants of classicism are Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven. Among them, Beethoven is not only the culmination of classical music, but also the composer who pioneered romanticism. , his creations involve rich genres, a large number of works, and have a great influence on later generations. The one that impressed me most is the "Ninth Symphony", which took Beethoven decades to work on. When you hear the chorus part, you can feel the humanity "The highlight."

Li Xiang mentioned that he had watched a movie called "Copying Beethoven", "This movie should be based on historical facts and fiction. In the past, I thought Beethoven was a musician. , but after watching this movie, I think I may have a better understanding of why he wrote such music, and that he is not only a genius composer, he is also a human being."

Movie " "Copying Beethoven" stills

Regarding Beethoven, Li Xiang's evaluation also has a more humanistic perspective: "Beethoven used music as a sword to fight fate and question life. He was very powerful and felt that he lived well. If you try too hard, the genius may be a little paranoid, don't you know how happy he is?" As for personal preference, Li Xiang said: "I personally feel that he has a bad fate, which may also lead to a more irritable personality. , I personally prefer a relatively mild attitude towards life, such as Haydn, Bach or Mozart, so Beethoven is a bit, uh... too heavy for me."

Graduated from Central China. Teacher Ning Ning from the Conservatory of Music, majoring in piano, also bluntly said: "Actually, I personally don't like Beethoven very much because he is very arrogant. I usually listen to his music, which undoubtedly shows a lot of heroism, very firm and very powerful. Manly, but I might also think, why would he write this kind of thing? Beethoven himself was actually a short man, and his appearance was not good-looking. As far as I know, his love was not very successful. Beethoven was frustrated many times because of his appearance, but he was always pursuing love. When he was young, he had several lovers in Bonn, but according to the singer Magdalena who declined him at the time: "He was ugly in appearance and mentally weak." It's not normal either. 'So these lovers never really took him seriously, maybe they looked down on him."

"His music has reached this level, and he is already like a god in terms of music. existed, but in their time, people's lives were relatively scarce, and he should still need some emotional recognition. My own feeling is that he wrote many songs that showed his masculinity, which was also an expression of emotional needs, but from In the eyes of women, many men deliberately show themselves to be strong, but they will appear a bit naive."

Portrait of Beethoven, Christian Horneman, 1803

In addition, I still have the impression that he is a bit stingy. According to the information circulated in the market, because Beethoven was not very rich, he was very fussy about money with his friends. He wrote a song called "Lost a Penny" "Angry" is an unfinished piano piece by Beethoven during his lifetime. If you listen to it, you will find that the melody jumps frequently and the mood fluctuates greatly. It has a feeling of approaching step by step similar to the heartbeat of running, expressing anger and playfulness. Intertwined emotions.

Beethoven himself was a very ill-tempered person. For a penny, of course, this is just an exaggeration. Not only did he get angry, but he also expressed it in his music, writing such angry and angry words. The playful and intertwined music is also a true portrayal of a miser, so I think he is a bit petty, but from another perspective, from this kind of work, it can be seen that he is more childlike. ”

Regarding Beethoven’s works, teacher Ning Ning added: “The titles of Beethoven’s symphonies, except for “Pastoral” and the subtitles of each movement of this symphony, were chosen by him himself. Other titles include "Hero" and so on were all given titles by publishers or descendants. Another example is that of some of his piano sonatas, only "Pathétique" and "Farewell" were named by him himself, while others were filled in by later generations after trying to figure out the artistic conception of the music. Because of Beethoven's idol aura, listeners and critics like to beautify or optimize his music and give it more positive titles. In the eyes of the public, Beethoven is great, having written so many symphonies, and he has composed almost all musical genres in the world. He is grand and positive, but in fact many of his small pieces are very interesting and nice to listen to.

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Manuscript of Beethoven's "Sixth Symphony" ("Pastoral")

In the eyes of Teacher Ningning, Beethoven is more of a person than a god. "I think The master is also a human being. He is an ordinary person. God is fair. If you give this person a special talent, it will definitely take away something from him. Therefore, no one is perfect. It does not mean that we worship idols. He must have an idol aura. . ”

Indeed, the gossip and discussion about Beethoven has not stopped since the 18th century. The study of Beethoven became a common practice in the 19th century and continues to this day. The most eye-catching among them is Beethoven’s In his private life, some people believe that he remained a virgin throughout his life, while others believe that he was in and out of brothels all year round. Therefore, Beethoven's relationship with syphilis has become a hot topic, and the extent of his deafness is often questioned.

Xiaobai, who has a strong preference for Beethoven, said: "People nowadays are a little confused. As soon as Beethoven is said to be great, someone immediately jumps out and says, 'Are you thinking that Beethoven was completely deaf?' 'However, the reason why I can have passion is because these people are not heroes who have been framed, but are spiritual strongmen among ordinary people. Therefore, some people say that Beethoven was not completely deaf or had syphilis, and even said that he was not a good composer in the first place. To a certain extent, it is normal for people to be able to compose music even if they are hearing-impaired. In order to try to show that Beethoven is not a 'hero', I feel very confused because I don't want to sacrifice this person on the altar as a hero. "

The cover of the Eroica Symphony score shows Beethoven's modified handwriting. Collection of the Vienna Music Friends Association

In addition to the remarks mentioned by Xiaobai, there is another theory that Beethoven The mental impact of suffering from syphilis made him more sensitive in creation, which resulted in many great works.

Sun Yifei, a medical history teacher who was once the chief surgeon, said: "Syphilis is closely related to the subject. The relationship between artists has always been valued by everyone, but the principle is not very confirmed. There are many books in this area, such as "Geniuses, Madmen and Syphilis". The history of gossip about celebrity diseases has a long history. I personally think that the gossip about him should be viewed in the historical context of the time. ”

Teacher Ning Ning also said: “In the era when Beethoven lived, some people suspected that he had syphilis and became deaf. However, this phenomenon was also very common at the time. In fact, in the history of music , there are many musicians who have syphilis, such as Brahms, and Beethoven's close friend Schubert. Of course, there is another theory that Beethoven's mother had syphilis, which somewhat excuses him, but no matter what, In those days, many artists did go to brothels as a pastime. "

In addition, Sun Yifei also mentioned the concept of "stigma": "In Beethoven's time, the view on syphilis was different from today's, and the stigma was not that strong, so It wasn't a big deal at the time. The stigma of each disease changes over time. There was a historical period when having syphilis was a symbol of fashion. Maupassant was very happy when he had syphilis... and another typical example is schizophrenia and Alzheimer's. Alzheimer's disease. Nowadays, if an elderly person has Alzheimer's disease, they may not hide it. This disease is also called Alzheimer's disease. The stigma is relatively mild, but schizophrenia is different, at least in this case. In this era, schizophrenia is still severely discriminated against, but in many manifestations, the two diseases are not that different, but the stigma of the two diseases is completely different.

In fact, some people think that Einstein had obvious symptoms of depression, but because it was Einstein, people thought this was a manifestation of genius. Another example is that he is called a 'genius conductor' I did a survey on Zhouzhou from home some time ago. After the halo faded, people discovered that he was actually just a patient. As for whether Beethoven was infected with syphilis, there have always been different opinions. The book "Genius, Madman and Syphilis" has a large space. Scholars have been studying it for centuries, but there is no conclusion. ”