Course Description:
May 15: Beethoven's Heroic Mode
Beethoven frequently explored heroism in his music, from the heroism of Leonore to Schiller's text about living our lives like a hero running to victory in the Ninth Symphony. Many scholars have linked Beethoven's interest in the concept of the hero to his own biography. Faced with his oncoming deafness, the composer confessed that he had contemplated suicide, and shared that he had only held himself back because he had not brought forth everything he had inside of himself in his music. Such resolve required his own heroism as he faced ever greater embarrassment and the struggles of living in the world as a deaf pianist and composer.
May 16: Beethoven in Love
One of the biggest remaining questions in Beethoven's biography is the identity of a woman he called his "Immortal Beloved" in a famous letter of 1812. Some scholars argue it was a woman named Josephine Brunswick, a gifted pianist, while others identify Bettina
Brentano or Antonie Brentano as likely candidates. Whoever she was, that letter was actually one of renunciation: Beethoven was never able to find someone to be his romantic partner. He did, however, write about love in several songs. Once again, the meaning of the keys provides special insights into these works, helping us perceive them with greater depth.
