The Transatlantic Beethoven Hero

£6.99

Symbiosis 14.1
Author: Catherine Jones
Pages: 20

'The Transatlantic Beethoven Hero' by Catherine Jones, explores the reception and interpretation of Beethoven's music and persona in the transatlantic context, particularly focusing on how American Transcendentalists like Ralph Waldo Emerson and Margaret Fuller engaged with Beethoven's works and ideals. Originally published in Symbiosis: a Journal of Anglo-American Literary Relations, this essay delves into the cultural and philosophical significance of Beethoven in the 19th century, highlighting his impact on both sides of the Atlantic. Jones examines the ways in which Beethoven was perceived as a heroic figure whose music embodied ideals of personal and cultural transformation. This scholarly work is essential for readers interested in musicology, Transcendentalism, and cultural studies.

Essay Excerpt

"In a journal entry of August 1838, Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote of his experience of the music of Beethoven: 'I think myself more a man than some I know inasmuch as I see myself to be open to the enjoyment of talents & deeds of other men as they are not. When a talent comes by, which I cannot appreciate & other men can, I instantly am inferior. With all my ears I cannot detect unity or plan in a strain of Beethoven. Here is a man who draws from it a grand delight. So much is he more a man than I.' Emerson would have had the opportunity to hear Beethoven’s music in public concerts and private gatherings on his European tour of 1832–33, as well as in the United States. In New England, the Boston Academy of Music, founded in 1833 to further the teaching of sacred and secular music, had begun to champion instrumental music, in particular that of Beethoven, from the mid-1830s, giving its first predominantly orchestral concert on 14 November 1840."