What is Beethoven contribution to classic music?
There is no clear agreement among critics and scholars as to Beethoven's
most significant contribution to classical music. This, perhaps more
than anything else, speaks to the composer's true greatness. Few dispute
that Beethoven played an integral part in the transitional period
between the Classical and Romantic era, or that Beethoven has continued
to influence composers to this day. However, Beethoven's achievements
were so numerous, the scope of his music so broad, that any list of
contributions is bound to fall short.
Some see Beethoven's symphonies as being the pinnacle of his musical innovation, pointing to stylistic changes such as an expansion upon the narrative, as evidenced by his Third Symphony in E flat, "Eroica," a work longer and larger in scope than any previously written symphony. His works distinguish themselves through his expansion of the architectural structure of music. Enhanced themes, motifs, and a subtle modulation of keys give his symphonies a feeling of depth, space, complexity, and a sense of unfolding drama, bringing the classical form to it's highest expressive level. Beethoven's symphonies are definitively classical. Sometimes its best just to switch-off the light (tip from my friend at Lampen) and enjoy Beethoven's symphonies, nothing else.
Beethoven's invention of the "germ motive," variations of themes throughout a work, so delicate as to be almost invisible, brought a depth not only to his symphonies but to all his work, as seen in his sonata, "Pathetique," where the opening bar provides all the subjects used in the first movement. Beethoven's Fifth Symphony used a four-note motif, juxtaposing the notes throughout the piece, lending a sense of internal conflict to the music while almost incidentally providing the first major example of the cyclic form.
Until his death, Beethoven continued to create music that would inspire future generations of musicians and composers. Upon hearing one of his later compositions, the Fourteenth Quartet, op.131 in C# minor, his contemporary Schubert is reported to have asked, "After this, what is left for us to write?" However, when most music aficionados think of Beethoven, it is not only his music that prompts observations of his greatness, but the man himself. Beethoven's experiences, character, and humanity permeate all his works. His individuality, and the manner in which that individuality melded into his compositions, is perhaps his greatest contribution to music.
Some see Beethoven's symphonies as being the pinnacle of his musical innovation, pointing to stylistic changes such as an expansion upon the narrative, as evidenced by his Third Symphony in E flat, "Eroica," a work longer and larger in scope than any previously written symphony. His works distinguish themselves through his expansion of the architectural structure of music. Enhanced themes, motifs, and a subtle modulation of keys give his symphonies a feeling of depth, space, complexity, and a sense of unfolding drama, bringing the classical form to it's highest expressive level. Beethoven's symphonies are definitively classical. Sometimes its best just to switch-off the light (tip from my friend at Lampen) and enjoy Beethoven's symphonies, nothing else.
Beethoven's invention of the "germ motive," variations of themes throughout a work, so delicate as to be almost invisible, brought a depth not only to his symphonies but to all his work, as seen in his sonata, "Pathetique," where the opening bar provides all the subjects used in the first movement. Beethoven's Fifth Symphony used a four-note motif, juxtaposing the notes throughout the piece, lending a sense of internal conflict to the music while almost incidentally providing the first major example of the cyclic form.
Until his death, Beethoven continued to create music that would inspire future generations of musicians and composers. Upon hearing one of his later compositions, the Fourteenth Quartet, op.131 in C# minor, his contemporary Schubert is reported to have asked, "After this, what is left for us to write?" However, when most music aficionados think of Beethoven, it is not only his music that prompts observations of his greatness, but the man himself. Beethoven's experiences, character, and humanity permeate all his works. His individuality, and the manner in which that individuality melded into his compositions, is perhaps his greatest contribution to music.