Jander, Owen, “Beethoven’s ‘Orpheus in Hades’: The Andante con moto of the Fourth Piano...
-
Upload
romydezillio -
Category
Documents
-
view
220 -
download
0
Transcript of Jander, Owen, “Beethoven’s ‘Orpheus in Hades’: The Andante con moto of the Fourth Piano...
-
7/23/2019 Jander, Owen, Beethovens Orpheus in Hades: The Andante con moto of the Fourth Piano Concerto, 19th-Cent
1/19
University of California Press is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to 19th-Century Mu
http://www.jstor.org
Beethoven's "Orpheus in Hades": The "Andante con moto" of the Fourth Piano ConcertoAuthor(s): Owen JanderSource: 19th-Century Music, Vol. 8, No. 3 (Spring, 1985), pp. 195-212Published by: University of California PressStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/746511Accessed: 25-08-2015 14:38 UTC
Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at http://www.jstor.org/painfo/about/policies/terms.jsp
JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of contin a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarsFor more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected].
http://www.jstor.org/http://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=ucalhttp://www.jstor.org/stable/746511http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/stable/746511http://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=ucalhttp://www.jstor.org/ -
7/23/2019 Jander, Owen, Beethovens Orpheus in Hades: The Andante con moto of the Fourth Piano Concerto, 19th-Cent
2/19
Beethoven s
Orpheus
in
H a d e s :
h e
Andante c o n m o t o
o f t h e
F o u r t h
P i a n o
Concerto
OWEN
JANDER
For several decades
now
an
amusing
debate has
been
going
on
among
the
writers
of
record
jacket
notes as to whether the second move-
ment
of
Beethoven's Fourth Piano
Concerto
does
or
does
not involve
some association
with
the
Orpheus legend.
This
"debate"can
be
sum-
marized
in the
following
sentence,
in
which the
wording
is
mine:
"It was Liszt who
first
com-
pared
the slow movement of
Beethoven's
Fourth
Piano
Concerto
with
the
story
of
Orpheus taming
the wild
beasts with the
music
of his
lyre;
Beethoven,
of
course,
had no such
idea in mind."
This
sentence contains four errors.To
begin
with,
the link between this
movement and the
Orpheus legend
was not the
discovery
of
Liszt,'but of
Adolph
BernhardMarx.
(More
about this
in
due
course.)
This
attribution to
Liszt
results
from
the
following
statement in
Donald
To-
vey's
Essays
in
Musical
Analysis:
"If
I
am
not
mistaken,
it
was Liszt who
compared
the slow
movement of this concerto to
Orpheus
taming
the wild
beasts with
his
music."2
Although
To-
vey's guess
was
understandable,3
he
was
in
fact
correct
only
in
wondering
whether he
might
be
mistaken.
Nonetheless,
his
casual
remark has
been
repeated
so often that it
has evolved
into
canon.
The second common error included in my
synthesized
statement
above
is
calling
the
sec-
ond movement of the
Fourth Piano
Concerto a
"slow
movement."
True,
as this
Andante
con
moto
[N.B. ]
s
invariably
performed
n our time
Notes for this
article
appear
on
pp.
210-12.
19th-Century
Music
VIII/3
Spring1985).
@
by
the
Regents
of
the
University
of California.
195
This content downloaded from 190.43.125.161 on Tue, 25 Aug 2015 14:38:33 UTCAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp -
7/23/2019 Jander, Owen, Beethovens Orpheus in Hades: The Andante con moto of the Fourth Piano Concerto, 19th-Cent
3/19
it comes across
as
a slow
movement-indeed,
sometimes
a
very, very
slow
movement.4
In
the
recorded
performance
of
Solti
and
Ashkenazy,
for
example,
one
gets
the
impression
that the
conductor
is
beating
the
eighth
note,
with the
metronome
marking
=
60.6
This
compares
quite
amazingly
with Carl
Czerny's tempo
marking
= 84.6
The
problem
with
Czerny's tempo
is
not that
it is
too
fast,
but that it is set
to the
sub-beat
rather
than the
main
beat,
the
quarter
note. The
practice
of
"feeling"
music
via the
sub-beat
of-
ten
induces
too-slow
tempi.
Not
only
is
Beethoven's
tempo marking very
clear-An-
dante
con
moto-his
meter is
equally
clear:
2.
If
the second
movement
of Beethoven's Fourth
Pi-
ano
Concerto
is
performed
at a
corrected
Czerny
tempo,
J=
42,
a
very
different
experience
transpires.
The
third error
in
my
made-up
sentence is
the comparison of this movement with
Orpheus
taming
the
wild
beasts
with
the music
of
his
lyre.
This error
again goes
back
to
Tovey,
who
had
in
mind the
preface
which
Liszt
pro-
vided
for
his
symphonic
poem
Orpheus.7
Liszt
composed
this work as
an introduction
to
a
per-
formance
of
Gluck's
Orfeo
ed Euridicehe con-
ducted at
Weimar
in
1854.8
Liszt
judiciously
de-
cided
not
to
anticipate
the
famous
Infernal
Scene
in
the
Gluck
opera,
in
which
Orpheus,
playing
his
lyre,
subdues
the
hostility
of the Fu-
ries of
the Underworld.
Rather,
Liszt
prepares
his audience
for the
operaby depicting,
in
more
general
and
philosophical
terms,
the universal
power
of music.
In
the
Andante con moto
of
Beethoven's
Fourth
Piano
Concerto, however,
the
program
I
shall
propose
is
not so
general;
n-
deed,
it
deals
very specifically
with
Orpheus
pleading
with the Furies
of the
Underworld.
If
some
writers
in
our
own time have dismissed
the
Orphic
program
with sarcastic
contempt,9
t
is
chiefly
because
they
have in
mind the
wrong
chapter
of
the
Orpheus legend.
But
the worst
error
n
my
synthesized
state-
ment
is the
very
declaration that in
composing
the Andante con moto of his op. 58, Beethoven
"of course" had
no
Orpheus
program
in mind. It
is
my
intention here to demonstrate
that the
constantly resurfacing
rumor about this
piece
of
music
is indeed
true-far truer than
any
of us
ever
imagined
before.
This
movement,
I
be-
lieve,
is Beethoven's most elaborate venture
into
the realm
of
program
music.
It
may
well be
the most
totally programmaticpiece
of music-
great
art
music-ever
composed.
EARLY
HINTS
Beethoven
himself
never
revealed that
his
Fourth Piano
Concerto
had
anything
to
do with
the
Orpheus
legend.10
One
recalls
especially
that remarkof
Czerny,
"Thereis no doubt that
in
many
of his most
beautiful
works Beethoven
was
inspired
by
similar visions or
pictures
from
his
reading
or from his own
lively imagination."
And
then there is that
teasing
footnote: "He
was
reluctant
to
speak
on this
matter,
except
on
a
few occasions
when he was in a
confiding
mood.""11
Unfortunately
both the
autograph
and the
workingsketches of the op. 58 aremissing. The
latter,
in
particular,
might
give
us some fasci-
nating insights
on
this matter.
One
precious glimpse
comes from
J.
F.
Reic-
hardt's
report
ofBeethoven's
performance
of the
work
at
its
public
premiere,
at
the Theater-an-
der-Wien,
22 December 1808: "A new concerto
for
pianoforte, terribly
difficult,
which
Beethoven
performed
astonishingly
well in the
fastest
possible
tempi.
The
Adagio,12
master-
piece
of beautiful sustained
melody,
he
actually
sang
on
his
instrument with
a
deep
melancholy
feeling
which awakened its
response
in
me."13
The first hint that this Andante con moto
might
be
programmatic
comes
again
from
Czerny's
On the
Proper Performance of
All
Beethoven's
Works
or
Piano:
In this
movement
(which,
ike the entire
concerto,
belongs
to
the finest
and most
poetical
of
Beethoven's
creations)
one cannot
help
thinking
of
an
antique tragic
scene,
and the
player
must
feel
with
what
intense,
pathetic
expression
his solo
is
per-
formed,
in order to
contrast
with the
powerful
and
austere orchestral
passages,
which
are,
as
it
were,
gradually
withdrawn.
All the means of cantabile
ex-
pression
in the
melody
and
harmony
must
be called
forth,and it is only during he shake that the powerof
tone
rises to the
highest degree,
n order o
die
away
again
to the
gentlest
lament. It must not
be
played
too
slow; though
the
pianist may
restrain
the time
rather
more than the orchestra.'4
196
This content downloaded from 190.43.125.161 on Tue, 25 Aug 2015 14:38:33 UTCAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp -
7/23/2019 Jander, Owen, Beethovens Orpheus in Hades: The Andante con moto of the Fourth Piano Concerto, 19th-Cent
4/19
It is
impossible
to know whether the
idea
of
"an
antique
tragic
scene"
is
an
invention
of
Czemy,
or whether this reflects some remark
he
had
picked
up
from the
composer
himself.
One
thing
we do know:
Czemy
was on the
scene
in Vienna
during
those
years
when
Beethoven was
working
on
op.
58
(ca.
1804-
06)15 ndwhen he performedthe work-first at
the
Palais Lobkowitz in March
1807,
then at
the
Theater-an-der-Wien,
n
December
1808.16
MARX'S DISCOVERY
The scholar who first
began
to
bring
the
Orpheus
program
of
the
Fourth Piano Concerto
into focus was
Adolph
Bernhard
Marx-and
this
almost 125
years
ago-in
his
Ludwig
van
Beethoven,
Leben und
Schaffen.17
Marx was
also
the
author
of a book about
the
operas
of
Gluck. In his chapter on Orfeo ed Euridice he
remarks
that the
famous
Infernal Scene found
its
reflection
in
the music of
several other com-
posers, including
Beethoven.'8
In
his book on
Beethoven,
Marx
elaborates
on
this
point
in
considerable detail:
"Hardly
could two
poems
at
their
very
basis
have
a
closer relation to one
another than that Gluck
scene
and
this
Beethoven Andante. The
opposition
of a
single
person,
who has no
weapon
andno force
except
the
depth
of
his
feeling
and
the
irresistibility
of
his
plea, against
the assembled
force
of a
chorus,
who
deny
and resist
each
advancingstep,
who
shove
back-that
is
the
content
of
the one mu-
sical
poem
as
well
as the
other."'9
In the course of
his
subsequent
description
this
nineteenth-century
scholar's
prose
be-
comes
exceedingly
florid
and
subjective-an
ap-
proach
that tends to
sap
the confidence of the
twentieth-century
scholar.
If
one reads Marx's
prose sympathetically,
however,
one
can cull
from
it some
very
substantial
observations.
First,
he
recognizes
the
obvious
fact that
(at
least
in
the first
forty-six
measures
of
this
movement)
a
dialogue
is
present. Second,
one
partner in the dialogue is a string chorus, which
declaims in
loud,
angry
octaves.
Third,
the
other
partner
is the
solo
piano,
which
"raises
its
voice"
in a
manner
that
is
"gently pleading."
Fourth,
as the music
progresses,
the orchestral
part
asserts itself
in
"severe
denial,"
while the
piano
part
becomes
"only
more
pleading
and
fervent."
Fifth,
the
repeated
staccato exclama-
tions in
the orchestral
part
have an unmistak-
able
similarity
to
the
repeated
"No 's"
of
Gluck's
Chorus
of Furies.
Sixth,
ultimately
the
chorus
"melts
away
in
face of the
urgency
of the
Orphic song." In making the comparison be-
tween
the
Gluck
Infernal
Scene
and the
Beethoven
concerto
movement,
Marx
finds the
latter "more
energetic."
One
might
take
issue
with
this
appraisal,
but
certainly
the
Beethoven
is
more concise:
the
Gluck
lasts
about
twenty
minutes,
the Beethoven
only
about
four,
if
per-
formed
according
to
Beethoven's
time
signature
and
tempo
marking.
Marx's
discovery
is
both
perceptive
and accu-
rate
as
far as
it
goes;
but
it has
two
shortcom-
ings.
To
begin
with,
the
parallel
between the
Gluck
Infernal Scene
and
Beethoven's
Andante
con moto ceases at m. 46 of the latter piece-at
the
end of the
ten-measure-long
decrescendo
n
Gluck's
music,
setting
these lines
by
Calzabigi:
Ah,
quale ncognito
affetto lebile
dolce
a
sospendere
vien
l'implacabile
nostro uror?
Le
porte
tridano
su'neri cardini
e
il
passo
ascino
sicuro
e
libero
al
vincitor
(Ah,
what
unfamiliar,
weet emotion
causesour m-
placable
ury
to be
suspended?
he
gates
creakon
theirblack
hinges,
and eave the
passage
ecureand
free o thevictor )
But
what
happens
to
Orpheus
after
m.
46 in
Beethoven's music? Does the
composer
simply
abandon
the
mythological story,
and continue
with
music
of meditative
character hat is
only
vaguely
relevant? On the
contrary,
there is evi-
dence
that the
story
continues
right
to the
last
measure
of the movement.
This
brings
us to the second
shortcoming
of
Marx's
discovery.
In
dealing
with
the
Orphic
program
in the
Andante
con moto of
Beethoven's op. 58, he discusses only its debt to
Gluck.
The
Gluck
opera,
however,
is
but one
of
several sources
from which
Beethoven
seems
to
have drawn ideas and
inspiration
as
he com-
posed
his
Fourth
Piano
Concerto.
197
This content downloaded from 190.43.125.161 on Tue, 25 Aug 2015 14:38:33 UTCAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp -
7/23/2019 Jander, Owen, Beethovens Orpheus in Hades: The Andante con moto of the Fourth Piano Concerto, 19th-Cent
5/19
OVIDIN
VIENNA,
1791-1805
The
two chief
classical sources
of
the
Orpheus
legend
are
Virgil's Georgics,
book
IV,
lines
453-527;
and
Ovid's
Metamorphoses,
book
X,
lines
1-219,
and book
XI,
lines
1-84.
During
those
years
when Beethoven
was
work-
ing on his op. 58 the latter workwas experienc-
ing
a
peculiar surge
of
popular discovery
in
Vi-
enna-a
circumstance
of
major
importance
to
the
present
study.
By
the
year
1800
Ovid's
Metamorphoses
probably
took the
prize
as
the
most
frequently
published
book
in
the entire
history
of
print-
ing.20
The reason
was
simple:
the Metamor-
phoses
was the most
elaborate
and entertain-
ingly
written source
of
Classical
mythology;
and as
such
it
was
the
best-selling
textbook
of
all time. As often
as this
monumental work
had
been
published
elsewhere
in
Europe,
however--
a hundred times in London, another hundred
times
in the
French-publishing
cities
of
Europe,
and
several hundred
times in
Italy-Ovid's
Metamorphoses
was
not
printed
n
Vienna until
1791.
Censorship
caused this odd
state
of af-
fairs.
Vienna,
capital
of the
Holy
Roman Em-
pire,
was
notorious
for its
extremely
conserva-
tive and
suppressive
censorship,
which for
generations
was
in the hands
of a
commission
of
Jesuits
at the
University.21
To the
Jesuit
mind
Ovid,
author
of
the
Ars amatoria
and the Re-
media
amores,
was
the writer
of salacious
books;
thus all his
works were
banned.22
The breakthroughcame in 1791,duringaper-
iod
of
liberalization.23
n
that
year (the
year
be-
fore
Beethoven moved to
Vienna,
it is worth re-
calling)
a
society
founded for the
purpose
sponsored
publication
of a handsomethree-vol-
ume
edition
of Ovid in German translation.24
This
"Gesellschaft
edition" included 140 il-
lustrations
copied
from
a
sumptuous
Paris edi-
tion
of
Ovid
published
between 1767 and 1771
(see plate
3).
The
names of the members
of
the
Gesellschaft
are
listed
at
the
beginning
of the
first
volume,
including
over a
dozen
people
who
figure
in the
biography
of
Beethoven
(e.g.,
Franz
Joseph
von
Lobkowitz,
in whose
palace
the
Fourth Piano Concerto was
first
performed;
Jo-
sef
Sonnleithner,
the librettist of
Fidelio;
and
Cajetan
Giannatasio
del
Rio,
the schoolmaster
to whom Beethoven
entrusted the education
of
his
nephew).
It
is
clear that
Beethoven knew
many people
in Vienna who not
only
owned Ovid's
Meta-
morphoses,
but had
strong
convictions about
the value of this work. The
introduction of the
Gesellschaft
edition noted
that
German-speak-
ing areas of Europewere distinctly remiss in
their
attention to
Ovid,
and
expressed
the
hope
that
the
presentpublication
might
serve to cor-
rect
that
problem.
And it
did-at least
as
far
as
Vienna
was
con-
cerned. The
Gesellschaft edition was
printed
si-
multaneously
in an
inexpensive
version
(dis-
tributed
by
the
publisher
Joseph
Schalbacher);
and in the
next
fifteen
years-up
to the time
Beethoven
completed
his
op.
58-Ovid's Meta-
morphoses
was
published
in
Vienna,
in
various
editions,
six more
times.25
In
sum,
in a
city
where
this monument of world
literature
had so
long been banned, the Metamorphoseswas is-
sued
eight
times
in a brief
span
of fifteen
years.
It was in this cultural
climate that
Beethoven
composed
his Fourth Piano
Concerto.26
MUSICAL
MODELS
Marx's
recognition
of
the
parallel
between
the Andante con
moto
of
Beethoven's
op.
58
and
the
Infernal Scene
of
Gluck's
Orfeo
was
only
a
startingpoint.
At
least two other
contem-
poraneous operatic settings
of
the
Orpheus
myth
seem
to
have been
known
to
Beethoven
and to have influenced his approach o this un-
usual concerto
movement.27
(There
can be no
question,
incidentally,
that Beethoven knew
Gluck's
opera-he
owned
a
copy
of the
score.28
He was
probably
introduced to the
opera
as
early
as
1785,
when
it
was
performed
n
Bonn.29
It is even
possible
that Beethoven
played
harpsi-
chord or
viola in that
production.)
Another
Orpheus
und
Euridice
that
Beethoven
very likely
encountered
during
his
Bonn
years
was an
opera by
Johann
Gottlieb
Naumann. This
work,
first
performed
in Co-
penhagen
in
1786
with a Danish text
by
Dorothea
Biehl,
had
been
highly regarded by
C. F.
Cramer,
editor
of
the
Magazin
der
Musik.a30
Cramer translated the Danish text into German
and
published
it in his
Magazin
in
1786;3'
and
198
This content downloaded from 190.43.125.161 on Tue, 25 Aug 2015 14:38:33 UTCAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp -
7/23/2019 Jander, Owen, Beethovens Orpheus in Hades: The Andante con moto of the Fourth Piano Concerto, 19th-Cent
6/19
then
the
following
year
he
produced
a
piano-vo-
cal
score of the
Naumann,
which he
published
in Kiel. The
score includes
a
list of
subscribers
in
which one finds the
names of both
Christian
Gottlieb
Neefe,
Beethoven's
mentor
in
Bonn,
and Antonio
Salieri,
one of
Beethoven's teach-
ers in Vienna.
These publications are relevant to the
present study
on
two
counts.
First,
both the
li-
bretto and the
score
contain
a
lengthy
introduc-
tion
by
Cramer that
includes
German
transla-
tions of the
Virgil
and the
Ovid
versions
of
the
Orpheus
myth.
If
Beethoven
had
access to
ei-
ther of these
Cramer
publications,
then he
would have
had
access to
these
Classical texts
in translation
as
early
as
1786
or
1787.
Secondly,
although
the
Biehl-Naumann
ver-
sion is
closely
modeled on the
famous
opera
by
Calzabigi
and
Gluck-the
layout
of acts and
scenes
is
almost
identical-this
Danish
Orpheusintroducesvariousnew elements.
In the
Infernal
Scene,
the
encounter
between
Orpheus
and the
Furies,
there
is an
attempt
to
intensify
the
dialogue
found
in the
earlier
model.
In
the
Calzabigi-Gluck
score
Orpheus's
speech
is
repeatedly
interrupted
by
the cries of
"No "
from
the
chorus. These
cries
are
then re-
iterated: "No
No
No " In the
scene as a
whole,
however,
the music for
Orpheus
and the
music
for the
Chorus
of Furies
co-exist in
large
inde-
pendent
blocks. The
Biehl-Naumann
version
telescopes
the
dialogue
by
shortening
the
speeches
from
each
side,
thus
bringing
the
thoughts
into more
intense
interaction. Here
are the
texts of
Orpheus's
principal
speech
as it
occurs
in the
two libretti.
(In both,
the
text for
chorus
is
italicized and
placed
in
parentheses.)
CALZABIGI--GLUCK
Deh,
placatevi
con me
Furie
(No ),
arve
(No ),
Ombre
degnose
No )
Vi
renda
almen
pietose
il mio
barbaro
dolor
(No
No
No )
Deh,
placatevi,
placatevi
con me
Furie
(No ),
arve
(No ),
Ombre
sdegnose
(No )
Vi
renda
almen pietose
il
mio barbarodolor.
Furie
(No ),
larve
(No )
Om
-
(No )
-
bre
sdegnose (No )
Vi
renda
almen
pietose
il mio barbaro
dolor,
il mio barbaro
dolor,
il mio
barbarodolor.
BIEHL-NAUMANN
Leisern
Lautes seufzt
die
Klage
Ach, erbarmt,
erbarmteuch
mein
Dieses
Leiden,
meines
Wehmut,
Schmelz' in Mitleid eurenZorn
(Nein
Nein
Weg
von
hier
Fleuch,
fleuch,
Sterblicher )
Von des Lichtes
goldnem
Strande
Fiihrt
herab mich meine
Quaal,
Ach,
erbarmt,
erbarmt
euch
mein
(Nein )
Dieses
Leiden,
meine
Wehmuth,
Schmelz' in Mitleid eurenZorn
(Nein
Fleuch,
Sterblicher )
Ach,
erbarmt
Ach,
erbarmt
Erbarmt uch
mein
(Nein
Nein )
Erbarmt
Erbarmt uch
mein
(Fleuch
Fleuch )
Ach, erbarmt Erbarmt uch mein
What
occurs
musically
in the
Naumann
score can be observed
in
plate
1. This
intensi-
fication
of the
dialogue
between
Orpheus
and
the
Furies is
distinctly
similar to
what occurs in
Beethoven's
Andante
con moto
at mm.
26-38.
Nothing
in
the Gluck score
is
quite
like
this;
Beethoven
thus
probably
took
this detail
from
Naumann.
KANNE'S
ORPHEUS
The
Orpheusopera
that
has the most
intrigu-
ing
relationships
to
Beethoven's Fourth
Piano
Concerto,
however,
is a version
that was
pre-
miered in Vienna
itself,
at the
Hoftheater,
in
November
1807,
only
eight
months
after the
first
performance
of
the
concerto. The
libretto
and
score of
Orpheus,
eine
grosse
Oper
in
zwey
Aufziigen
were both
prepared
by
the same
man,
Friedrich
August
Kanne
(avery
early
nstance
of
the
Wagner
phenomenon).
Kannewas
himself
something
of a
phenomenon.
Educated n
theol-
ogy
and
philosophy,
he
was an
exceedingly
learned
man. He was
a
linguist,
historian,
aes-
thetician, and journalist-and he was also a
fairly
prolific,
and not
unsuccessful,
com-
poser.32
Kanne and
Beethoven
became close
friends
over
the
years.
Kanne was
among
the
few
people
199
This content downloaded from 190.43.125.161 on Tue, 25 Aug 2015 14:38:33 UTCAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp -
7/23/2019 Jander, Owen, Beethovens Orpheus in Hades: The Andante con moto of the Fourth Piano Concerto, 19th-Cent
7/19
whom Beethoven
addressed
with
"Du." His
best-known role in
the world
of
scholarship
was
as a
journalist-champion
of
Beethoven's
music,
especially
during
the
1820s.33
WarrenKirken-
dale has advanced
the
plausible
suggestion
that
Kanne
was
probably
the "learned
specialist"
who assisted Beethoven in
the
many
liturgical
and theological problems involved in the com-
position
of the Missa
solemnis.34
(Kanne
him-
self
composed
a "Missa
solemnis,"
and
also
wrote
a
history
of
the
Mass,
which,
alas,
has not
survived.)
How
early
in
their
acquaintance
Kanne
and
Beethoven
became
good
friends,
and
how
soon
they might
have
developed
a vital
exchange
of
ideas,
we do not know. We
do
know that
they
were introduced
to
one
another
in December
1804,
as
is
reported
in a
letter from
Georg
Au-
gust Griesinger
to
Breitkopf
und
Hirtel,
for
whom
he served
as an
agent:
Kanne
rom
Delitzsch s nowhere.
I
have ed him
to
Haydn,
Beethoven,
ndothers.He
appears
o have
no
small
opinion
of his own
talent,
nor doeshe
doubt
thathewill
havesuccess
herewith
that alent.
Given
the
competition
mong
he
trulygreat
masters
here,
however,
hat
will
not
be so
easy. Haydn,
Mozart,
Vogler,
Beethoven,
Salieri
are
all native here.
One
must
not
just
equal
these
to
gain recognition,
ne
must
surpass
hem.3as
One
thing
Beethoven
and
Kanne
enjoyed
in
common
during
these middle
years
of the
first
decade
was the
friendship
and
patronage
of
Prince
Lobkowitz,
in whose
palace
Kanne was
frequentlyaguest.36As earlyas 1807Lobkowitz
had
become a member of the
company
of
vice-
directors
of the
Royal
Imperial
Court Theater
(i.e.,
the
Hoftheater);
andit is
probably hrough
Lobkowitz's
influence that
Kanne
obtained the
commission to
compose
his
Orpheus
for that
theater.37
At
that
time,
of
course,
it
was in the
so-called
"Eroica-Saal" f the
Palais Lobkowitz
that Beethoven's
Fourth Piano
Concerto
was
first
performed.
We cannot
know what
communication oc-
curred between Beethoven
and
Kanne
on
the
subject
of
Orpheus.
(Their
mutual
patron,
one
of the
sponsors
of the 1791 Gesellschaft
edition,
was
certainly
interested in
Ovid.)
That there
was some communication
between them
on
this
subject
seems
clear,
as we shall
observe
in
a
moment.
We do know that
during
1804
Beethoven
was
deeply
involved in
the
problem
of
finding
a libretto
that
would
satisfy
his
aspi-
rations as an
opera
composer.
He must
surely
have been
intrigued
by
the ideas of
another
composer
who
himself
was the author
of
his
own libretto.
And
the libretto
of
Kanne's
Orpheus
is
cer-
tainly fascinating. One observes immediately
its
differences
fromthe familiar
model of
Calza-
bigi
and
Gluck.
Frimmel
speaks
of
Kanne as
be-
ing
"highly
gifted,
and in
regard
to
indepen-
dence and
originality
of
spirit,
very
much like
Beethoven."38
There is
no
better
evidence
of
Kanne's
originality
than
this
libretto.
For
example,
it
is unified
by
repeated
refer-
ences to
the theme
of the
power
of
song.
No
fewer
than thirteen
pages
mention
"die
Macht
der
T6ne,"
"deiner
T6ne
Zauberkraft,"
"die
Kunst der
T6ne,"
"geheimnisvolle
T6ne,"
etc.39
The
opera
concludes
with a
chorus
that is
an en-
comium to the powerof music.
Whereas the
Calzabigi-Gluck Orfeo
s struc-
tured in three
acts,
Kanne
designs
his
libretto in
two
(as
he
declares on the
title
page).
In
Calza-
bigi
the two
parts
of
the
Orpheus-in-Hades
epi-
sode-Orpheus's
encounter
with
the Furies and
his
breaking
of the
vow--are
placed
at
the
be-
ginnings
of acts
II and III.
Kanne
sharpens
he fo-
cus on
these
two
moments of the
drama
by
plac-
ing
them at the ends
of his
two
acts.
Kanne's
originality
is
particularly
evident at
these
two
places
in
his
libretto. His
act
I
finale is
a
fast-moving
affair,
like
the
stretta at
the cli-
max of an opera-buffainale. Itconcludes with a
burst
of
spectacle.
The Furies
thrust
their
flam-
ing
torches toward
Orpheus--but
he,
protected
by
the music of
his
lyre,
strides
through
this
wall of
fire
and
arrives
at the
portal
to
Hades in
triumph.
One detects the
ghost
of
Calzabigi
n the text
of
the
act
I finale.
In
general
Kanne
has
taken
the
expansive
and artificial
speeches
of the
Italian
librettist,
put
them on
high heat,
and
reduced
them to their
very
essence.
For
example,
when
Calzabigi's
Furies
spy
the
approach
of
Orpheus
they enquire
in
lofty language:
Chi
mai
dell'Erebo
Fra
e
caligini
Sull'orme
d'Ercole
E di Piritbo
Conduceil
pi6?40
200
This content downloaded from 190.43.125.161 on Tue, 25 Aug 2015 14:38:33 UTCAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp -
7/23/2019 Jander, Owen, Beethovens Orpheus in Hades: The Andante con moto of the Fourth Piano Concerto, 19th-Cent
8/19
Nei
A s e t s C h o r . N e l
Orpheus.
-L
H a r m
S i e
m i n
H a r m S i t -
N e t i M 0
a e n g t e t a
J E - t e
f a b
M i c h
Q u a d l
b a m t o r
b a r m t
e a c h
w i s s
i s s
f e s
L e i d e n
NeiO
Net.
C h o r .
or h.Cho
*Orph.
dog
med-li
den
-
dea
Nei, nei,
borther- ra See
min
Harm
eeemin farm
og
Sie-
veet
Nei,bort
bortherfr
Mit-keid
nres
Za s/Neni fleuch,Starkli
cAr
eak,sr
-
aban*;
aekser.Larmt,rbarmteah
ein
Neit,
eg,
wegp
h
erI
*
Cher orpk.............................orp...
4~dogm1- deat. de. Net
.
k fee*
at se
........h
ott,
bart,
mate
dog
mos .
6are~erarm
ac
mit
Nis,
is
or-
baest
er6aret
dsk
ain
leshi
ew~tasher
barstar-are4t-
0
Plate
1:
Biehl-Naumann,
Orpheus
und
Euridice,
piano-vocal
score
(Kiel,
17
This content downloaded from 190.43.125.161 on Tue, 25 Aug 2015 14:38:33 UTCAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp -
7/23/2019 Jander, Owen, Beethovens Orpheus in Hades: The Andante con moto of the Fourth Piano Concerto, 19th-Cent
9/19
(Unter
btm
ffa"rflten
Zonnet llfiren
bit
ttf'tn
tinj
unb
man
ff-t
be
ingang
in
bit
Unttrrot,
4Uretb
met
*trt
earotn
mit
,[(amtaneU
bStivorttten.)
0
re
tj~en
te c
ce t.
Orpbens NOtbb6r
ter
6
eiter,
?rpbe
U6.
24
$anbte
frob
bet
ed?-edendbabd
Etb0
r.
a[ etoermgot
O
bier
n
noe'n
lb
o
r.
-ltmmdr6ffnet
ft
bi'd
tbor.:
S
o
I
tri9t mt finetr
Q)ta
40[ baWte
lautt or
arfusl (atbor
*or,
SU
O
u be
.
Sumnr
a
nfinet
i
btes
t4to
Plate 2: Friedrich
August
Kanne, Orpheus,
ibretto
(Vienna,
1807),
act
I
finale.
libretto (Vienna, 1807), act
I finale.
(Who
can this
be,
who from
Erebus,
hrough
he
murkiness,
n the
paths
of Hercules nd
Pirithous,
i-
rects
his
footsteps?)
Kanne
takes
these
five
lines,
strips
them of all
Classical
allusion,
and
boils them
down
to a sin-
gle
line
of
seven
monosyllables:
Ha Wer
wagt
es
hierzu
nah'n?
(Hah
Whodares
pproach
his
place?)
As a result of this
incisive
approach
he entire
text of the first-act finale of Kanne's Orpheus
fits onto
a
single page
of
a
printed
libretto
(see
plate 2).
One is
amazed
to discover that
the one-
line
speeches
on this
page
(the
opening
lines,
in
particular)
can be
placed
under
the
opening
phrases
of
the Andante
con moto of Beet-
hoven's
concerto,
and
they
seem
to be
saying
exactly
what the music is
saying."4
The
orderof
speeches
is
reversed
(Orpheus speaks
first in
Kanne,
the
Furies in
Beethoven--on
the model
of
Gluck's
Infernal
Scene);
but the
message
is
the same.
STER
Q
UE
FRAGORSTA
GNIS A
UDITUS
AVERNIS"
Kanne's
act
II
finale is
equally interesting,
and,
for the
purposes
of
this
present
Beethoven
study, equally
relevant. This finale
(as
ex-
plained
earlier)
deals with the
episode
in the
Orpheus
story
where the hero
breaks
his
vow,
turns
around to look at
Euridice,
and loses her a
second time.
Kanne
fills this scene with
great
theatrical
suspense
by
means of the elaborate
expansion
of a
single
line that is found in
Virgil's
account
of this
episode:
"In that mo-
ment
all
his
toil
was spent.
The
ruthless ty-
rant's
pact
was
broken. And
three times
a
crash-
ing
noise was heard in the
swamps
of
Avernis."
In Latin:
"Terque fragor stagnis
auditus
Avernis."
2
This
imagery
of the three
crashes
(presum-
ably
three strokes of
lightning
and
thunder)
s
so
vivid that even
in
situations where artistswere
depicting
this scene-and
basing
their
concep-
tion
on the narrative of
Ovid-they
would bor-
row
these
three
dramatic crashes from the ac-
count
of
Virgil.
A
good example
is found in
the
illustration of this scene that
appeared
n the
1791 Gesellschaft edition of Ovid's Metamor-
phoses (see plate 3).
Although
this
depicts
Ovid's
Orpheus story,
there are
three
unnatural
but dramatic shafts
of
light
in
the
sky,
clearly
the artist's
representation
of
Virgil's
ine.43
The
setting
for the act II
finale
of
Kanne's
Orpheus
is
"a
forest
region
with
the
rocky por-
tal to Hades
in the
background."
Three
charac-
ters
(plus
a
chorus)
are
on
stage:
Abrastos,
the fa-
ther of
Euridice;
Echion,
the
High
Priest of
Apollo;
and
Chares,
a
friend of
Orpheus.
They
are
discussing
their
concern for
Orpheus
and
Euridice. The first rumble of thunder is heard.
Echion says:
Hold on
A
battle of the
elements
Suddenly
arises.
Threatening
storms
Inform
me that the
dark
mystery
Will
soon be resolved before our
eyes.
202
This content downloaded from 190.43.125.161 on Tue, 25 Aug 2015 14:38:33 UTCAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp -
7/23/2019 Jander, Owen, Beethovens Orpheus in Hades: The Andante con moto of the Fourth Piano Concerto, 19th-Cent
10/19
MR,
1??i
rl_ rz
too
1z
ii
:::
::~nlr~g~l.Z"I? xo
q.:~i'~s?????
A01
o
m
.
B40
:Air
Plate 3:
Orpheus
and
Euridice,
from the
Vienna
Gesellschaft
edition of
Ovid's
Metamorphoses
(1791).
By
permission
of the
Houghton Library,
Harvard
University.
The thunder increases. ("Der Donner wird
stdirker.")
The
chorus exclaims:
Hah The
wrath
of
the
elements
Threatens
mightily.
Storm
and
night
Ragelike a flood of the sea.
Strokes of
lightning
Are
pursued
by
thunder,
Mountain
and
valley
Tremble
dreadfully.
O
Zeus,
assist
us
in
your
mercy
Protect us in
this
night
of
terror
203
This content downloaded from 190.43.125.161 on Tue, 25 Aug 2015 14:38:33 UTCAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp -
7/23/2019 Jander, Owen, Beethovens Orpheus in Hades: The Andante con moto of the Fourth Piano Concerto, 19th-Cent
11/19
Whereupon
the
lightning
and
thunder
break
forth with
maximum
violence. At
this
moment
Orpheus
and
Euridice
suddenly
appear
at the
entrance
of the
cavern of
Hades.
Euridice
cries
out
"We
are saved "
Orpheus--a
moment too
soon--turns
around to
look at
Euridice ...
and
instantly
she
vanishes.
("Orpheus
sieht
sich
nach ihr urn; in diesem Augenblick verschwin-
det
sie.")
There is in
this
scene
not a
hint
of
resem-
blanceto the
treatment
by
Calzabigi
and
Gluck.
Kanne's focus is all
on
theatrical
and
visual
sus-
pense.
There
is no
pleading Euridice,
leading
us
to
wonder
whether or
not
Orpheus
will
break
his
vow.
Kanne
has
taken
that
one line
from
Virgil
and
exploited
it
for all
of its
theatrical
po-
tential.44
How
does
this relate
to
the
situation
in
Beethoven?
The reader
can
find
the
answer
to
this
question by
referring
to
mm.
55-60 of
the
Andante
con
moto
of
op.
58
(pp.
208-09 of
this
article).
In
order to
appreciate
fully
the
originality
and
ingenuity
of
Beethoven's
treatment
of
Virgil's
three
crashes,
however,
a
few
remarks are
in
or-
der
on the
subject
of the
piano
for
which
Beethoven
composed
his
Fourth
Piano
Concerto.
THE
VIENNESE
SIX-OCTAVE
FORTEPIANO
In
truth,
no
study
of
the
innovative
qualities
and the
poetic
content of
Beethoven's
Fourth
Pi-
ano
Concerto can be
pursued
without
a
keen
awareness of
the new
piano
for
which this
work
was
composed:
the
Viennese
six-octave forte-
piano.
At no
point
in the
entire
history
of
the
pi-
ano
was the new
instrument of
the
moment so
innovative in
structure,
or so
poetic
in
its
tonal
resources.
On
the
classical
five-octave instru-
ment Beethoven
had been
using
up
to the
time
he
began
sketching
op.
58,45
this
concerto
would
not
only
have
been
unplayable;
it
would
have
been--quite literally-inconceivable.
The
conception
of the Fourth
Piano
Concerto,
the
vision
of
that
work,
was to
a
very
important
de-
gree
begotten by
the new
resources of
the Vien-
nese six-octave fortepiano.
How
different was
this
instrument?46
Range.
The
Classical five-octave
fortepiano
had the
typical
range
FF-f"',
the
same
range
of
most
eight-
eenth-century harpsichords.
Whereas the
six-octave
range
of
contemporaneous
English
pianos
was
CC-
c"",
on the Viennese
six-octave
pianos
the
twelve
new notes are all
at the
top:
FF-f
.....
This new
range
at the
top
of the
keyboardwas,
practically
and
aes-
thetically
speaking,
New
Space
n
Western
music.
Stringing.
Whereas
most five-octave
fortepianos
had
been
double-strung,47
he
typical
six-octave
instru-
ment was from
top
to bottom
triple-strung.
A
double-
strungfive-octave instrument will have 122 strings,
a
triple-strung
six-octave instrument
219
strings.
And
these latter instruments
were
normally
fitted
out with wire
of heavier
gauge.
Weight.
The
resulting
increase
of tension within
the
frame
of the new instrument
required
much
heavier
construction
throughout.
A
typical
five-octave
forte-
piano
weighs
about 155
pounds;
a six-octave
Vien-
nese
fortepiano
weighs
at least twice as
much--and
this
change
occurs in Vienna
virtually
overnight.
Dynamic
range.
The limit of the
dynamic
range
found in the
repertoire
or the five-octave
instrument
is
pp
to
ff.
Even in the
very
first
piece
that
Beethoven
composed
for the six-octave
piano,
however-the
Appassionata
Sonata-the first movement con-
cludes with
a
dramatic
decrescendo
from
ff
to
ppp,
the first
triple-piano
he ever
specified
in
his music
for
the
piano.
And in the coda
of the third
movement
Beethoven has
a climax marked
fff
(similarly,
the
first
triple-forte
found in his
keyboardmusic).
The
una corda
pedal.
The six-octave
Viennese
forte-
piano,
triple-strung throughout,
is an
instrument
that can
produce
a
true,
absolutelyperceivable,
shift
from una
corda,
to due
corde,
to tre corde.
The
una
corda
on such an instrument
is
hauntingly
beautiful
and
evocative.48 To shift the action
from the
una-
corda
position
to the full tre-corde
position
produces
only
a
slight
increase
in
volume;
what
is
exciting
is
the unfolding of the timbre of the instrument.(In he
world of
organ
music,
this is rather
ike
opening
the
swell-box shades
on an
open-shallot
French
trom-
pette,
and then
closing
the shades
again.)
The
change
is
subtle,
but
hair-raising.
There is no other
passage
in the
literature
where
the
shifting pedal
is used
so
dramatically
as in
the
Andante
con
moto
of the
Fourth
Piano
Concerto,
where
it
depicts
Orpheus
breaking
his
vow,
and
turn-
ing
around
to look at
Euridice.
The
damper pedal.
On the
five-octave
fortepiano
he
damper
rail is raised
by
a knee
lever;
and with
the
dampers
raised
the instrument
produces
an
amaz-
ingly harp-like
tone. This was
not a
standard
tech-
nique for the control of tone or for the creation of a
legato line;
it was
distinctly
a
special
effect.
On
the
six-octave
Viennese
fortepiano,however,
the
damper
rail is now
controlled
by
the
far-more-convenient
damperpedal.
As a result of
this
mechanical innova-
tion,
and the fact that the less
transparent
one of
the
heavier instrument
somehow invites the
use of the
204
This content downloaded from 190.43.125.161 on Tue, 25 Aug 2015 14:38:33 UTCAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp -
7/23/2019 Jander, Owen, Beethovens Orpheus in Hades: The Andante con moto of the Fourth Piano Concerto, 19th-Cent
12/19
raised
damper
ail,
he
undamped
rpeggio uddenly
assumes
great
mportance
s a hallmark
f
musical
style.
The FourthPianoConcerto s
permeated
ith
this
new sound.
ndeed,
roma
technical
tandpoint,
the
undamped
rpeggio
s the touchstoneof the
po-
etic character f this
impressively
Romantic
work.
The tonal resources of the
Viennese six-oc-
tave piano manifest themselves in the Andante
con moto
especially
in three
ways.
To
begin
with,
there is
Beethoven's instruction that the
piano part
should be
played
una
corda
through-
out.49
Secondly,
there
is
that
amazing
moment,
discussed
above,
when
Beethoven
departs
from
that instruction and
requires
that the
piano
action be shifted to
play
the full
three
strings
of
each note.
(Since
the
first
of
these effects cannot
be
produced by
a
twentieth-century piano,
obvi-
ously
the second effect is
impossible
as
well.)
The
third
magical
use of the
resources of
the
contemporaneous piano
occurs at mm.
47-48,
49-50, and 51, where, for the first time in the
piece
Beethoven
indicates that
the
damper
pedal
should be
depressed (and,
of
course,
the
damper
rail
lifted).
This
effect occurs at
the end
of that
ten-measure-long
decrescendowhich
de-
picts
the Furies
yielding
to
the
song
of
Orpheus.
When
I
have
played
this
movement for
friends,
using
my
own
six-octave Viennese for-
tepiano,50
I
have
known
them-just
at m.
47-
to
gasp.
The
passage
reminds me of
that
line in
Gray's Elegy:
"Or waked to
ecstacy
the
living
lyre."
These measures
involve a
conscious evo-
cation of the sound of the
harp.And
why?
At this
point
in the
story
Euridice
has
been
yielded
over to
Orpheus,
who
guides
his wife
through
the
hazardous
gloom
of the
Underworld with
the
protective
music of
his
lyre.51
MUSICAL FORM:
PROGRAM
FORM
Any
readerwho has
made a
close
study
of
the
second
movement
of
this
concerto
is
aware that
to
try
to relate this
work to
any
of
the
recurring
forms of slow movements of
Classical
concer-
tos is futile. My own conviction is that any at-
tempt
to
analyze
the form of
this
movement
without constant
reference to
its
Orphic pro-
gram
is
equally
futile.
The most
intelligent
and
sensitive
essay along
these lines is
that
by
Klaus
Karner,
who starts out
by
discussing
Marx's
Gluck-Orpheus
discovery,
but then dismisses
that idea
and
goes
about
analyzing
this
compo-
sition
with
a determined
avoidance of
any
refer-
ence
to
poetic
content or
program.52
In
my opinion,
to
analyze
this work without
program
misses the
point
of
the
form. I divide
the
movement
into five sections-five
musical
sections and five programmaticsections.
I:
mm. 1-38.
Orpheus
ddresseshe hostileFuries f
the
Underworld.
Based on
Gluck, Kanne,
and
Naumann,
going
back to
Virgil
and Ovid. A
dialogue
between
he orchestra
nd he
piano,
with
phrases
f
ever
shorter
engths.
II:mm.38-47.The Furies rewon over
by
the
Orphic
song.
Based
on
Gluck,
going
back
to
Virgil
and Ovid.
This
section
s
one
protracted
ecrescendo.
III:
mm. 47-55.
Orpheus,
ow
playing
is
lyre,
guides
Euridice
through
the
gloom
of the
Underworld.
Based
on
Virgil
and
Ovid,
and
reflecting
the tradi-
tion that Orpheus's yre has protectivemagic. Piano
solo,
with four
pizzicato
chords n the
strings
o em-
phasize
he
harp
magery
f the
piano
arpeggios.
IV:
mm.
55-64.
Orpheus
breakshis vow
and looks
back at Euridice. Based
directly
on
Virgil
and Ovid.
For
olo
piano.
V:
mm.
64-72. Euridice
alls back nto the
darkness
and
is reclaimed
by
the Furiesof the
Underworld.
Based
directly
on
Virgil
and Ovid. The orchestrare-
enters,
with material
recalling
he
opening
of the
movement.
These
five
musical-programmatic
sections
are,
asIview
it,
incontrovertible. Less
klipp
und
klar is the
specific
detail
within these sections.
Here we must of
necessity
enter the realm of
speculation.
The
following program
is
speculative.
In the
several
years
that
I
have been
pondering
this
matter
I
have entertained more than one inter-
pretation
for various
"moments" in
this
pro-
gram.53
Whereas
I
strongly
suspect
that in this
movement Beethoven set out to
create a
piece
of
music that would
be,
in
every
phrase
and
every
gesture, totally programmatic,
it
is essential
that we recognize that, lacking the composer's
own definitive
explanation,
we cannot
presume
to have
unveiled Beethoven's
plan.
With that
important
caveat, however,
I
present
the
pro-
gram
on the
following pages
for the
reader's
con-
sideration.
205
This content downloaded from 190.43.125.161 on Tue, 25 Aug 2015 14:38:33 UTCAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp -
7/23/2019 Jander, Owen, Beethovens Orpheus in Hades: The Andante con moto of the Fourth Piano Concerto, 19th-Cent
13/19
PROGRAM
Andante
con moto
[
=
42]
Strings
f
sempre taccato
...,
..
. ..
;
I
T
IL
M~IO
i
.
0.
i
i
l
FURIES:
a
Wer
wagt
es hier
zu
nah'n
(Ha
Who
dares
approach
this
place )
(Kanne,
act
I,
sc.
xiii,
line
2)
6
.
Solo*
inolto antabile
-..
i ' "
me
"
imT -
,",
ORPHEUS:
ch wandle froh
die
Schreckensbahn.
(I
tread his
path
of
terrors
gladly.)
(line
1)
Strings
f
s
pemire
tacca
o
I/
"
-..-,
,
,.
FURIES:Ha
Verwegner
geh
zurUck
(line 4)
(Hah
Trespasser,
go
back )
19
Sl
1olto
es.ressio
-
i
..F-H
ORPHEUS:
ch suche meines Lebens
Gliick. (line 3)
(I
seek
the
joy
of
my
life.)
*Beethoven'sannotation:
"Wiihrend
es
ganzen
Andantes
hat
der
Klavierspieler
ununterbrochen die
Verschiebung
(una
corda)
anzuwenden,
das Zeichen
'Ped.'
bezieht
sich
ausserdem
auf den zeitweisen Gebrauchdes
gew6hnlichen
Pedalzuges."
During
he entire
Andante
the
pianist
should
employ
the
shifting pedal
[una corda]
uninterruptedly;
he
symbol
"Ped."
refers o the occasional use of the
customary
pedal.)
206
This content downloaded from 190.43.125.161 on Tue, 25 Aug 2015 14:38:33 UTCAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp -
7/23/2019 Jander, Owen, Beethovens Orpheus in Hades: The Andante con moto of the Fourth Piano Concerto, 19th-Cent
14/19
26
Solo
"
z
=
0Strings
I
emirest
I
cat
scll/
Mgf
i
.
.=-
of s-
,
i
= F
M"
"
PI-IT=1 -
_
I
I
=4 ,-
,
--ILm
1 1
11I
ll:-:"
'
.
-
.
"'
,
l
-'
.,
.J
J I J
)
.
"
I.:I.
I.
F%
1
.+
A'
i.
A'-
.
.
.
FURIES:
Du
betiubst
nicht
unser
Ohr.
ORPHEUS:
Er6ffnet
mir
das dunkle
Thor.
FURIES: Nimmer
6ffnet
sich
diess
Thor.
ORPHEUS:
Ihr Saiten
rauscht im
hellen
Chor.
(lines
6-9)
(You
do not deceive
us.
Open
to
me the dark
portal.
Never will
this
portalopen.
You,
strings,
resonate
in
clear
chorus.)
Solo
pp
pp
SIr'n-gs--T
"
i
d"d
,
,
=f
-
=-
Strings
f
wi
-a"
FURIES:
uriick
Zuriick
Zurick
(Kanne,
ine
13)
(Go
back
Go
back
Go
back
Have
pity
Have
pity )
ORPHEUS:
rbarmt euch
Erbarmt
euch
(Naumann)
38
43
Stri
4Mgs
R
Mbs
I1
-
-1.
S
A
-
-=z2
~
3F
Og
'kPP
Drawn-out
decrescendo,cf.
Gluck,
"Ah
quale
incog-
nito
affetto ..."
and
"Le
porte
stridano
..."
(see
p.
197).
("Ah,
what
unfamiliar
sweet
emotion
causes
our
implacable
fury
to be
suspended?",
"The
gates
creak
on their black
hinges,
and
they
leave
the
pas-
sage
secure
and free
to the
victor ")
207
This content downloaded from 190.43.125.161 on Tue, 25 Aug 2015 14:38:33 UTCAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp -
7/23/2019 Jander, Owen, Beethovens Orpheus in Hades: The Andante con moto of the Fourth Piano Concerto, 19th-Cent
15/19
Solo
.
...
I
I
*F
l~j,
...., I
Strings
pizz.
, .....
Piz
,
Orpheus,playing
his
lyre,
leads
Euridice
hrough
the
gloom
of
the
Underworld
my
own
gloss
of
Virgil
and
Ovid).
52
ifl,
rR
I
R
a
- ,
"""
~
~
-
..
.
.
"
-"
,--- -
-
--.
L
, der::so.
Orpheus
s
concernedforhis
wife,
out of
longing
and
fear
("aus
Sehnsucht,
und
aus
Furcht":
1791 transla-
tion of
Ovid).
due
e
poi
tre corde
55
a
3
corde
cresc.
in'al
/
ft
-
?
Cum
subita
incautum dementia
cepit
amantem
...
restitit,
Eurydicenque
uam
iam
luce sub
ipsa,
immemor
heu
victusque
animi
respexit.
(Virgil,
488-91)
(A
sudden
frenzy
seized
Orpheus,
unwary
n
his
love
.... He stopped, and on the very verge of light, un-
mindful,
alas and
vanquished
in
purpose,
he
looked
back
on
Euridice,
now his
own.)
56
a
3
corde
--------
S6
6
6
6
6
A
d'
rB-I
t
1
Ibiomnis
effusus labor
atque
immitis
ruptatyranni
foedera,
terque
fragor stagnis
auditus
Avernis.
Illa
'quis
et me'
inquit
'miseram et
te
perdidit,
Orpheu,
quis
tantus
furor?'
(Virgil,
492-95)
(In
that moment all his toil was
spent;
the
ruthless
tyrant's pact
was broken. And three
times a
crash
was heard in the
swamps
of
Avernis.
She
cried,
"What
madness,
Orpheus,
what
dreadfulmadness
has ruined
my
unhappy
self and
thee?")
208
This content downloaded from 190.43.125.161 on Tue, 25 Aug 2015 14:38:33 UTCAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp -
7/23/2019 Jander, Owen, Beethovens Orpheus in Hades: The Andante con moto of the Fourth Piano Concerto, 19th-Cent
16/19
60
due.
oi
una orda
Solo
dimrnizn
a
al
Et
protinus
illa
relapsa
est.
(Ovid,57)
(And
nstantly
she
slippedback.)
j
j
Et
ex
oculis
subito,
ceu fumus in
auras
commixtus tenuis ...
(Virgil,
499-500)
(Andstraightaway
rom his
sight,
like
smoke
mingling
with thin
air
...)
62
a
tempo
0 L
:-
Lax*.
fugit
diversa
..
(Virgil,
500)
(.
.. she
vanished
afar.)
arco
S t r i n p
s
a r c o
En
iterum
crudelia
retro
fata vocant
conditque
natantia
lumina
somnus.
(Virgil,95-96)
(Lo,
again
the
cruel
fates
call
me
back,
and
sleep
veils
my
swimming
eyes.)
70
Strings
LY?
-q
i i
...
revolutaque
rursus
eodem
est.
(Ovid,63)
(...
and
she
fell
back to
the
place
whence she
had
come.)
69
(Le-
be-
wohl )
Supremumque
vale'
quod
iam
vix auribus
lle
acciperet
dixit
...
(Ovid,2-63)
(She
spoke
one
last
"farewell,"
which
scarcely
reached
his
ears.)
Solo
k
3
S.,,.
,,
Bracchiaque
ntendens
prendique
et
prendere
certans
nil nisi cedentes
infelix
arripit
auras.
(Ovid,
58-59)
(And
he stretched out
his
arms,
eager
to
clasp
her or
to feel her
clasp. Unhappy one,
he
claspednothing
but
the
yielding
air.)
209
This content downloaded from 190.43.125.161 on Tue, 25 Aug 2015 14:38:33 UTCAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp -
7/23/2019 Jander, Owen, Beethovens Orpheus in Hades: The Andante con moto of the Fourth Piano Concerto, 19th-Cent
17/19
CONCLUSION
To the reader who reacts to
the
above
pro-
gram
with
enthusiastic
acceptance
I
can
only
repeat
my
earlier caveat. All of the
above
may
be
nothing
more than an
amazing array
of coinci-
dences. Since Beethoven himself never
pro-
vided the authoritative key for this piece, the
solid
evidence
which
the
scholarly
mind re-
quires
will
probably
never be
forthcoming.
Any
decision,
therefore,
regarding
he
presence
of a
program
in the
second movement of
Beethoven's Fourth
Piano
Concerto
must,
in a
sense,
remain
a decision for the
individual
lis-
tener. As
Czerny
reports,
"[Beethoven]
knew
that music is
not
always
so
freely
felt
by
the
hearerswhen a
definitely
expressed
object
has
already
fettered their
imagination."154
The scholar who reactsto the
above
program
with cautious
disbelief, however,
should con-
sider the following. In the past 175yearsmuch
has
changed
in
music. Our concert
halls are
big-
ger.55
We use
larger
orchestras.
The
instruments
of our time are
specifically
designed
to
project
in
large
spaces.
These modern
instruments have
a heavier
timbre,
which tends to make
slower
tempi
more reasonable and
acceptable.
And,
as
regardsgeneral
attitudes toward
pro-
gram
music,
the
pendulum
is forever
swinging.
Beethoven is said to have
remarked,
in
1823,
that
audiences were
no
longer
so
poetically
sen-
sitive as
they
had been a
few
decades
earlier.56
Our
end-of-the-twentieth-century experience
with
the
Andante
con
moto of
Beethoven's
Fourth
Piano Concerto-it
must be
granted-is
a
very
different
experience
from that
which
J.
F.
Reichardt described in
1808: "a
masterpiece
of
beautiful sustained
melody,
which
he
actually
sang
on
his
instrument,
which
awakened its re-
sponse
in
me,"
and
which
Czerny
likened to
"anantique tragicscene."
But the straws of
change
are n
the wind
these
days.
In the
years
ahead,
quitepredictably,
here
will
be
performances
of the
concerto which will
change
our
perception: they
will
occur in
smaller,
more intimate
performing spaces;
the
piano
will
be a six-octave
Viennese
instrument
(or
an excellent
replica
thereof)
able to commu-
nicate the
original
poetic
characterof
this
piece;
the
string players
will
use
instruments
of
appro-
priate
character
(with
gut strings,
lighter
bows,
etc.);
there
will
be
fewer
of
these
instruments;'7
the
piece
will be
performed
n
2,
not
4;
the
tempo
will be Andante con moto, not Lento or Largo;
and all of the
musicians involved
will be
seek-
ing
to
communicate
the
often-told
story
of
Orpheus,
overcoming
the
hostility
of
the
Furies of the
Underworld
with the
Power of
Song, regaining
his beloved
Euridice,
but then
breaking
his
vow and
losing
his wife a
second
time.
When we hear
this work
performed
in this
manner we shall be
better
qualified
to
judge
the
credibility
of a
program
here.
Only by
ridding
ourselves
of our
habits of
anachronistic
per-
formance will we be in a
position
to
perceive
this work
as it was
originally created,
t
to
grasp
ts
original poetic
content.
%
NOTES
1In
all
the references
to Beethoven in the
complete
writings
and
the
published
correspondence
of
Liszt,
I have
yet
to find
this remark
o which the
music
journalists
so often allude.
2Essays
n Musical
Analysis,
vol. III:
Concertos
(London,
1936), p.
80ff.
3Liszt
wrotea
symphonic oem Orpheus 1854)
orwhich
he
provided
n
ntroductory
ssay.
He knew
Gluck's
Orfeo
ed Euridice
ndwrote an
essay
about hat work
(Gesam-
melte Schriftenvon FranzLiszt [Leipzig,1910],IV,23-31).
Liszt
performed
Beethoven's
Fourth
Piano
Concerto,
andar-
ranged
t for two
pianos.
4Neal
Zaslaw,
in "Mozart's
Tempo Conventions,"
Interna-
tional
Musicological
Society
CongressReport
11
(Copenha-
gen,
1972),
720-33,
remarks,
"Evidence
exists that
the
slow
Andante
originated
only
in the
nineteenth
century" p.
722).
SLondon
CS
6856,
recorded n
1973.
6Czerny,
On the
Proper
Performance
of
All
Beethoven's
Works
or
the Piano
(London,
n.d.);
facs.
edn.,
ed. Paul
Ba-
dura-Skoda
Vienna,
1970),
p.
110.
7FranzLiszts
Musikalische
Werke
Leipzig,
1908),
I,
2
(Sym-
phonische
Dichtungen
No.
4);
with an
English
translation.
sSee
fn.
3.
9E.g.,
Abraham
Veinus,
The
Concerto
(New
York,
1945),
p.
138: "The
reader s asked to
believe,
if
it
gives
him
any
plea-
sure,
that the slow
movement of the fourth
Beethoven
piano
concertodepicts Orpheus amingthe wild beasts.However,
this was not
Beethoven's idea. The
interpretation
eems
to
have startedwith Liszt."
101
am
persuaded, ncidentally,
that the
op.
58 is
a
cyclic
work and that it
should
eventually
be
recognized
as
Beethoven's
"Orpheus"
Concerto.
The
present
article,
of
course,
deals
only
with the
second
movement.
"Czerny,
p.
60
fn.
12By
he end of the
eighteenth
century
t
became
customary
210
This content downloaded from 190.43.125.161 on Tue, 25 Aug 2015 14:38:33 UTCAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp -
7/23/2019 Jander, Owen, Beethovens Orpheus in Hades: The Andante con moto of the Fourth Piano Concerto, 19th-Cent
18/19
to use
"Adagio"
oosely
in reference
to
second movements
of
symphonies
and
concertos,
regardless
of the
actual
tempo
markings.
SeeDavid Fallows's
article
"Adagio"
n
The New
Grove
Dictionary
of
Music and Musicians
(London,
1980),
vol.
1,
pp.
88-89.
'3Source
Readings
n
Music
History,
ed.
Oliver
Strunk
New
York,
1950),
p.
738.
14Czerny, .
110.
'5Kurt
Dorfmiiller,
Beitrilge
zur
Beethoven-Bibliographie
(Munich, 1978),p.
315
(regarding
he
genesis
of
op. 58).
'6Regarding
Czerny's activity
in Vienna
during
hese
years,
see
Alice Mitchell's
article
on
Czerny
in The New
Grove,
vol.
5,
pp.
138-41.
'7Berlin,
1859.
Although
this work was
published
in Ger-
many
a
total
of seven times
prior
to
World
War
I,
it was
never
translated.
'8Gluck
und die
Oper (Berlin,1863),
I,
297ff.
19Ludwig
van
Beethoven,
Leben und
Schaffen
(Leipzig,
1902;
1st
edn.,
1859),
II, 77ff.
20Since
or
many generations
throughout
Catholic
Europe
t
was forbidden
to
publish
the
Bible
in
vernacular
transla-
tions,
it
was
only
in
the nineteenth
century
that
the Bible
became the world's most
frequently
published
book.
21Anton
Mayer,
Wiens
Buchdrucker-Geschichte,
1482-
1882
(Vienna, 1887), II,
109-16.
22Elsewhere
n
Catholic
Europe
Ovid'sworkswere banned
for use
in
schools,
but
allowed
for
privatereading;
hus
theywere
frequently
published.
In
Vienna, however,
the atti-
tudes
of
the censors were
unusually
severe.
23This
liberalization
is
described
by
Frank
T.
Brechka,
Gerhard
van Swieten and His
World,
1700-1772
(The
Hague,
1970),
p.
124ff.
24This
1791 German transl.
is not based
directly
on Ovid.
Rather
it
is
a transl.
of
an
expurgated
Frenchversion
(first
pub. Amsterdam, 1732,
and
used
again
in the Paris edn. of
1767-71), by
the Abbe
Antoine
Banier
1673-1741),
a
Jesuit.
25A
German
transl.
by AugustRode, 1794;
a
German
ransl.
by
J.
H.
Voss, 1799;
the
original
Latin
text,
pub.byJ.
V. De-
gen,
1803;
a
satirical
version in
doggerel
verse
by
Gottlieb
Milller, 1804-07;
the Latin
text,
ed.
by
Fr.
X.
Schonberger,
1805;
that same edited
text,
with a
simultaneous
transl.,
also
in 1805.
26Thebest indication of the
Viennese
Ovid
rage
in
these
years
is
the
Miillersatire,
which was
published
n
a series
of
small volumes between 1804 and 1807. The volumes con-
taining
the
Orpheus story
(books
X
and XI
of
Ovid)
wereis