68 MARCH/APRIL 2019
The impact of the French Revolution on the
German people was deep and inspirational. Ger-
man nationalist historian Ernst Moritz Arndt,
later a savage critic of the revolution, acknowl-
edged its impact:“It has planted into heads and
hearts essential ideas for the foundation of the
future, which only 20 or 30 years ago most peo-
ple would have been afraid to conceive.”
At first, enthusiasm extended even to the impe-
rial rulers. Early in the revolution, both Joseph II
and Maximilian Franz saw events in France
as confirming the ideals of the Enlighten-
ment. At Bonn’s recently founded univer-
sity (where Beethoven briefly enrolled),
Eulogius Schneider, a fiery lecturer, and
former monk, praised the storming of
the Bastille in a poem. The work
was published in a Jacobin jour-
nal which counted Beethoven as
one of its subscribers. Even if he
never became a full-blown radical,
Beethoven was exposed to the
general sympathy and excitement
stoked by events in France.It was a time of phenomenal political upheaval
that intrigued Beethoven generally, and touched
him personally. During his first full year in Vienna
in 1793, news broke of the executions of French
king Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette, aunt to the
Holy Roman emperor Francis II. A year later, the
French occupied Beethoven’s home town, Bonn.
Beethoven began to note the campaigns of
the young, anti-monarchist general, Napoleon
Bonaparte—first in Italy (1796-97), then in Egypt
and Palestine (1798-99). Despite his uneven mili-
tary record in Egypt, Napoleon returned to France a
hero, and was proclaimed first consul of the French
Republic. In 1800 his defeat of the Austrian army
at Marengo forced Austria into making major con-
cessions to France. Napoleon was at the center of a
new age being born in Europe, and Beethoven was
impressed by this bright new light.A Hopeless Affliction
In his early years in Vienna Beethoven was known
as a brilliant piano virtuoso, whose compositions
attracted a great deal of attention. In 1798, how-
ever, he was dealt a bitter blow when he began to
lose his hearing, No single cause has been attrib-
uted to his deafness, but the loss caused Beethoven
great anguish.
In 1802 his physician sent the composer to
spend the summer in the nearby village of Hei-
ligenstädt. He attempted to come to terms with
his condition and wrote a letter to his two broth-
ers about the malady that had left him “hopelessly
afflicted.” Known as the Heiligenstädt Testament,
it was never sent, and found only after his death.
The testament coincides with the beginning of
what is sometimes termed his heroic phase. His
music became more emotionally raw, traits that
would erupt triumphantly in his Third Symphony.
This great work, opus 55, is noted not only for its
length (it was much longer than any other sym-
phony of the time) but also its range. It expresses
ideas across a wide canvas, embracing Beethoven’s
personal misfortune, experimentation in musical
ideas, and his experience of the tumult of war.
Fired with zeal by the ideas of liberty and
equality that he considered embodied in Na-
poleon, Beethoven decided to dedicate his Third
Symphony to the French commander. Beethoven
was sketching out preliminary plans for the
symphony and carefully weighing his opinions
of Napoleon.TUNING IN
The tuning fork
below was used by
Beethoven, who
gave it to a violinist.
Since then, it has
had several owners,
including the English
composer Ralph
Vaughan Williams,
whose widow gave it
to the British Library
in 1992.
THE LOBKOWITZ PALACE IN
VIENNA SERVED AS A CONCERT
VENUE AND WAS OWNED BY
PRINCE LOBKOWITZ, PATRON OF
BEETHOVEN AND DEDICATEE
OF THE THIRD SYMPHONY.
ALAMY/ACISCALA, FLORENCE