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Title: How Beethoven’s 5th Symphony put the classism in classical music
Source: Nate Sloan and Charlie Harding
URL Source: https://www.unz.com/isteve/are-they-going-to-come-for-beethoven-too/
Published: Sep 17, 2020
Author: Nate Sloan and Charlie Harding
Post Date: 2020-09-17 09:09:31 by Ada
Keywords: None
Views: 1453
Comments: 29

To many, Beethoven’s most famous work is a symbol of exclusion and elitism in classical music.

Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony starts with an anguished opening theme — dun dun dun DUNNNN — and ends with a glorious, major-key melody. Since its 1808 premiere, audiences have interpreted that progression from struggle to victory as a metaphor for Beethoven’s personal resilience in the face of his oncoming deafness.

The famous first movement of the Fifth doesn’t do much for me, but the finale …

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Begin Trace Mode for Comment # 24.

#1. To: NeoconsNailed, Lod (#0)

As we all know, straight white men are obsessed with dressing appropriately and policing everybody else into dressing appropriately, unlike women, LGBTQ+s, and people of color. Whoever heard of a gay man or a straight woman or a person of color who was into dressing up?

Oh …

Well, here are 10,000 appropriately dressed people of color, no doubt some of them LGBTQ+-, having a blast with the 4th movement of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony:

If the 4th movement of Beethoven's Ninth is White Man's music, then the Japanese are Whiter than Americans.

Ada  posted on  2020-09-17   11:12:37 ET  Reply   Untrace   Trace   Private Reply  


#3. To: Ada (#1)

If the 4th movement of Beethoven's Ninth is White Man's music, then the Japanese are Whiter than Americans.

Quite possibly true -- Japan hasn't seen the extreme cultural decadence America emobodies so it's easy to imagine orchestras are faring better there. Not long ago I heard that the average age of attendee at 'David Geffen' Hall was over 70!

Good article -- offbeat little thing. Am always glad to see fave 'political' sites doing culture. Alas, it's inevitable that Beethoven is thus pilloried by well-paid psychos. I'm sure they know the black militants have been claiming him for decades now but don't give a damn -- 'my agenda right or wrong'. (Incidentally he has frizzy hair in a silhouette of him at about age 12.)

"As you perpetuate the idea that the giants of the music all look the same" -- considering their work the pinnacle of western civ it's funny how un-caucasianic the great composers often appear. The top Central European is clearly about half negro, something only I would ever notice. Anybody know who? ;)

Yes -- Asians and western culture. Beethoven was banned in China under Mao and I say this was because Ludwig Van is really all about FREEDOM -- yeah, like us!* When his music was finally allowed in the PRC after the 1980s thaw, heady reports said Chinese orchestras went so crazy about the new discovery they played him way too fast ;)

Ludwig van was passionate about the social equality then aborning and contemptuous of the rigid class system that had always prevailed. Ironically this is the only treatment I've ever seen of the revolutionary spirit in music of the Romantic era...

https://www.marxist.com/beethoven-man-composer- revolutionary190506.htm

It's not bad at all, considering! Wonderful short book:

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1249020.Beethoven

Candidly I'm gonna agree with the great Mr. Sailer about the 5th. The 1st mvt is great but the finale is glorious. When I was a kid a wonderful TV series of orchestras performing symphonies had the beginning of this 'Allegro / Presto' as its theme, with a pic of (?) the Brandenburg Gate for the visual tag.

Beethoven is very great -- toweringly great. Even the personalities and character of these geniuses is (OK, are) a priceless gift from lost worlds!

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*Well.... NOT like us. But so much more so than the others as to be breathtaking.

NeoconsNailed  posted on  2020-09-17   15:52:02 ET  Reply   Untrace   Trace   Private Reply  


#21. To: NeoconsNailed (#3)

Beethoven according to Peanuts

Ada  posted on  2020-09-21   9:45:47 ET  Reply   Untrace   Trace   Private Reply  


#24. To: Ada (#21)

Amazing -- his little cartoon hands are actually playing that music.

Not to say the individual fingers, but think of them going to the trouble. Asa kid I enjoyed seeing what LvB he was playing by the musical staves carefully drawn above his head in the comic strip ;)

NeoconsNailed  posted on  2020-09-21   14:05:50 ET  Reply   Untrace   Trace   Private Reply  


Replies to Comment # 24.

#27. To: NeoconsNailed (#24)

Amazing -- his little cartoon hands are actually playing that music.

And on a piano where the black keys were painted on :-)

Ada  posted on  2020-09-21 16:22:34 ET  Reply   Untrace   Trace   Private Reply  


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