Humour in Beethoven's Music

[robert newman]

Wonder if anybody can help make a list of funny/humorous music by Beethoven.

I know of a number of canons such as one written by Beethoven specially for the visiting Fiedrich Kuhlau (1786-1832) on a pun of Kuhlau's own surname ‘Kuhl, nicht lau’ (meaning 'cool, not lukewarm'). Another is the Beethoven canon to Abbe Stadler - (first two phrases written in Italian and the last in German in a sort of mocking style).

But apart from these personalised canons are there any examples of humorous or satirical compositions in Beethoven's music ? (I still think of his use of 'Turkish music' as satirical, for example. Are there more obvious examples of Beethoven's humour in his music ? The 3rd movement of the Pastoral Symphony - 'Peasant's Merrymaking' etc.) ?

Must surely be more than this.

[Nightklavier]

Rondo a Capriccio in G op. 19 'Rage about a lost penny' comes to mind for me. The frantic and light melody is... well, funny and cute.

[DavidO]

Originally posted by robert newman:
But apart from these personalised canons are there any examples of humorous or satirical compositions in Beethoven's music?

Consider the loopy coda from the 4th mov't of Symphony No. 2. It is boisterous & comic & damned engaging. The hiccuping, burping, belching & farting motives throughout the end of the movement seem to exemplify--in carrousing, boffo music--Beethoven's gastrointestinal distress. Apart from its playfulness & inventiveness, I consider the coda a veritable Rabelaisian joke. At one point (round about measure 165), you can practically hear the "belching"--alternating between winds & strings--reach a raucous (& painful) climax, only to subside with a couple of relaxed burps-under-the-breath as the key resolves to D major.

This coda is the greatest music ever written about irritable bowel syndrome!

[robert newman]

Tes, from the 4th Movement of the 2nd Symphony - that is just outrageously wonderful.

[Hofrat]

Originally posted by robert newman:

Tes, from the 4th Movement of the 2nd Symphony - that is just outrageously wonderful.

Dear Robert;

There is Beethoven's setting for Goethe's "The Flea." The end of the song is absolutely hilarious with Beethoven instructing the pianist to thump two keys at a time with his thumb in order to squash the flea!

As for belching, we have the opening of the finale of the "Archduke Trio."


Hofrat

[Zevy]

Muss es sein? Ess muss sein!
That is a pretty funny episode...

[Peter]

The slowing down of the theme in the 4th symphony finale at the end, before the final rush. He does something similar at the end of the 1st & 5th piano concertos. Many of the scherzos also abound with humorous touches, just think of the 7th symphony 3rd movt. Then there is the delightfully witty slow movement of the 8th symphony - Beethoven wasn't always quite as serious as many take him!

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'Man know thyself'



[This message has been edited by Peter (edited 08-28-2006).]

[Rod]

I always think immediately of the scherzo from the string quartet Op131 in this context.

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"If I were but of noble birth..." - Rod Corkin

[Fidelio]

WoO 205 Musical quips in letters.....especially one to Zmeskall.

Fidelio

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Must it be.....it must be

[Zevy]

Scherzo of the 7th symphony!

[Michael]

First two movements of Piano Sonata Opus 31 No. 1. The second movement in particular is a complete send-up of florid virtuosic keyboard writing.

Michael

[robert newman]

This is great. Thanks.

[Nightklavier]

Originally posted by Rod:
I always think immediately of the scherzo from the string quartet Op131 in this context.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I didn't think there was a "scherzo" movement from this string quartet?

[Rod]

Originally posted by Nightklavier:
Correct me if I'm wrong, but I didn't think there was a "scherzo" movement from this string quartet?

The Presto of op131 is in effect a scherzo, in the most literal sence of the term possible.

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"If I were but of noble birth..." - Rod Corkin

[Frankli]

The thing is, Beethoven's music is full of humor, everywhere, but even his jokes are serious. His jokes are never isolated occurrences, but always a part of a bigger structure. They are not just meant to make us laugh. And some aren't longer than a measure.
In his early works, I often get the feeling that he ridiculizes the musical mores of his time, with bizar modulations, weird contrasts.
Just a handful of jokes, taken from some piano sonatas:

- the trio from the op. 2/2 scherzo
- the in length growing arpeggio in the refrain from the rondo of the same sonata
- the grotesque second theme from op. 2/3
- the hilarious start of the development in this sonata
- the masterful game of misguiding in the op. 7/2 rondo and the stretching of the refrain theme
- the op. 31/1 theme from the 1st movement, one big joke, and therefore the whole movement
- the way he treats the thrill in the slow movement
- the coda from the last movement
- the op. 31/3 scherzo (was in fact the very first time that Beethoven made me laugh)
- op. 54 2nd movement. Is it a joke? If not, what else?

- His three sets of bagatelles are packed with jokes

In his late works you can find very grim, and even sad jokes:

- sonata op. 109, where the variations on this incredibly beautiful theme are brutalized into (controlled) chaos, by more or less tearing the theme into pieces (Schubert did exactly the same some years later)
- the presto from the op. 130 Quartet, where a minuet-like structure is raped
- near the end in the original Great Fugue finale; short moment, easily missed: after a relatively peaceful coda that causes the reassuring feeling of being survivors from a battle, all of a sudden the terrifying fugue subject starts again, but it is immediately overruled by a contrasting unisono passage. Yes, it's a joke, but a cruel one.

Well I could go on for hours collecting jokes from Beethovens oeuvre.

Oh, and we shouldn't forget the duet with two (obligato) eyeglasses WoO 32.