Ludwig Van Beethoven quotes
Ludwig Van Beethoven
Birthdate: 16. December 1770
Date of death: 26. March 1827
Other names: Beethoven
Ludwig van Beethoven was a German composer and pianist. A crucial figure in the transition between the Classical and Romantic eras in Western art music, he remains one of the most famous and influential of all composers. His best-known compositions include 9 symphonies, 5 piano concertos, 1 violin concerto, 32 piano sonatas, 16 string quartets, his great Mass the Missa solemnis, and one opera, Fidelio.
Born in Bonn, then the capital of the Electorate of Cologne and part of the Holy Roman Empire, Beethoven displayed his musical talents at an early age and was taught by his father Johann van Beethoven and by composer and conductor Christian Gottlob Neefe. At the age of 21 he moved to Vienna, where he began studying composition with Joseph Haydn and gained a reputation as a virtuoso pianist. He lived in Vienna until his death. By his late 20s his hearing began to deteriorate, and by the last decade of his life he was almost completely deaf. In 1811 he gave up conducting and performing in public but continued to compose; many of his most admired works come from these last 15 years of his life.
Quotes Ludwig Van Beethoven
„Music is like a dream. One that I cannot hear.“
Conversations (January 1804)
„To play without passion is inexcusable!“
Not found in Beethoven's known works. It may be a summary of the following description of Beethoven from his piano pupil Ferdinand Ries: "When I left out something in a passage, a note or a skip, which in many cases he wished to have specially emphasized, or struck a wrong key, he seldom said anything; yet when I was at fault with regard to the expression, the crescendo or matters of that kind, or in the character of the piece, he would grow angry. Mistakes of the other kind, he said were due to chance; but these last resulted from want of knowledge, feeling or attention. He himself often made mistakes of the first kind, even playing in public."
Disputed
Variant: To play a wrong note is insignificant; to play without passion is inexcusable
„Music is indeed the mediator between the spiritual and sensual life.“
Attributed to Beethoven by Bettina von Arnim in a letter to Goethe (28 May 1810); Goethe's Correspondence with a Child http://books.google.pt/books?id=UC8HAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA210&dq=%22+music+is+indeed+the+mediator+between+%22&hl=pt-PT&sa=X&ei=sF40VL3AIILwaIThgNgL&ved=0CEgQ6AEwBjgK#v=onepage&q=%22%20music%20is%20indeed%20the%20mediator%20between%20%22&f=false (1837)
„Plaudite, amici, comedia finita est. (Applaud, my friends, the comedy is over.)“
Said on his deathbed, 1827
„Music is a higher revelation than all wisdom and philosophy.“
Musik höhere Offenbarung ist als alle Weisheit und Philosophie.
http://books.google.com/books?id=W2k6AAAAcAAJ&q=%22Musik+h%C3%B6here+Offenbarung+ist+als+alle+Weisheit+und+Philosophie%22&pg=PA193#v=onepage
As reported by Bettina von Arnim in a letter to Goethe, 28 May 1810.
Goethe's Briefwechsel mit einem Kinde: Seinem Denkmal, Volume 2, Dümmler, 1835, p. 193.
Variant: Music is a higher revelation than all wisdom and philosophy.
„Do not merely practice your art, but force your way into its secrets; it deserves that, for only art and science can exalt man to divinity.“
Fahre fort, übe nicht allein die Kunst, sondern dringe auch in ihr Inneres; sie verdient es, denn nur die Kunst und die Wissenschaft erhöhen den Menschen bis zur Gottheit.
Letter to Emilie, July 17, 1812.
Quoted in Musical news, Vol. 3 (1892), p. 627
„Music is the one incorporeal entrance into the higher world of knowledge which comprehends mankind but which mankind cannot comprehend.“
As reported by Elizabeth Brentano (Bettina) in a letter to Goethe, 27 May 1810.
Quoted in Edwin Burgum The new criticism (1930), p. 179
„I would rather write 10,000 notes than a single letter of the alphabet.“
"A meeting of minds", The Guardian, 18 November 2005. http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2005/nov/18/classicalmusicandopera.thomasstearnseliot
Attributed
„Never forget the days I spent with you. Continue to be my friend, as you will always find me yours.“
Variant: Never shall I forget the days I spent with you. Continue to be my friend, as you will always find me yours.
„I want to seize fate by the throat.“
Letter to F.G. Wegeler, 16 November, 1801.
