In this provocative analysis of Beethoven's late style, Stephen Rumph
demonstrates how deeply political events shaped the composer's music,
from his early enthusiasm for the French Revolution to his later
entrenchment during the Napoleonic era. Impressive in its breadth of
research as well as for its devotion to interdisciplinary work in music
history,
Beethoven after Napoleon
challenges accepted views by illustrating the influence of German
Romantic political thought in the formation of the artist's mature
style. Beethoven's political views, Rumph argues, were not quite as
liberal as many have assumed. While scholars agree that the works of the
Napoleonic era such as the
Eroica Symphony or
Fidelio
embody enlightened, revolutionary ideals of progress, freedom, and
humanism, Beethoven's later works have attracted less political
commentary. Rumph contends that the later works show clear affinities
with a native German ideology that exalted history, religion, and the
organic totality of state and society. He claims that as the Napoleonic
Wars plunged Europe into political and economic turmoil, Beethoven's
growing antipathy to the French mirrored the experience of his Romantic
contemporaries. Rumph maintains that Beethoven's turn inward is no
pessimistic retreat but a positive affirmation of new conservative
ideals.
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