Muß es sein? Es muß sein.
-Beethoven's Epigraph to String Quartet in F Major
Today is the 190th anniversary of Ludwig van Beethoven’s death on March 26, 1827. To note the anniversary, I include my favorite piece from Beethoven’s corpus, the 5th Piano Concerto Emperor, below. I wish that I knew more about music so that I could put my admiration of Emperor into words, so that I could identify what exactly about the sound I most admire and find the most beauty in.
Alas, such vertsehen is denied to me. All is not lost, though. In his “Meno” dialogue, Plato inquired into how one can inquire into what one does not know, for how could there be a search for the truth if the searcher does not know what to look for? In the case of my ignorance of music’s form, I can at least recognize beauty. And that is certainly something this search can know what he is looking for!
In his biography, Beethoven: Biography of a Genius, George Marik (1969:424-5), includes some of the notes that Beethoven wrote to himself:
“Occupation is the best thing for not thinking of my malady.”
“Don’t continue my present every-day life! Art demands even that sacrifice. Find rest through diversion, so that I may work more potently in art.”
“Everything which might be called ‘life’ should be devoted to the sublime and be a sanctuary for art!”
“Portraits of Handel, Bach, Bluck, Haydn in my room—they can help to teach me endurance.”