Yes, Beethoven did certainly compose "Wellington's Victory..." Amazing that nobody bothers to mention what a terrible piece of music it is-- total, irredeemable dreck, written by Beethoven with at least the partial intent to parody/imitate/employ Malzel's (Beethoven's collaborator on and instigator of this piece) invention-- the panharmonicon.
Yes, he tore up the title page of Symphony #3 (originally named Bonaparate) when he heard that Napoleon had crowned himself emperor. Prior to that, of course, Beethoven was enamored with Napoleon and even considered moving to Paris. Any you know what else? Why Beethoven was subsidized by the decadent German and Austrian nobility. No! Yes! He even wrote pieces on commission for, and dedicated to, them. No! Yes! OMG!!!!!! I think we're much better off not trying to make of Beethoven anything other than what he was-- as Robert Greenberg puts it in his lectures on Beethoven's Symphonies-- "genius and troublemaker." His democracy, his liberty, and freedom, his overthrow of convention is his music. It's all about the music, not Beethoven's politics. (With thanks to Dennis Brasky) ----- Original Message ----- From: "Shane Mage" <[email protected]> To: "David Schanoes" <[email protected]> Sent: Wednesday, September 23, 2009 6:12 PM Subject: Re: [Marxism] In Search of Beethoven ________________________________________________ YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. Send list submissions to: [email protected] Set your options at: http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
