Quotes about Beethoven and his music by other composers and musicians

[hal9000]

"It is almost five years now since I have completed an original composition, a time during which I have had to transform myself from a composer to a listener. The vacuum which this left me has not been filled, but I have been able to live with it, thanks, in the largest measure, to the music of Beethoven ..." ~ Stravinsky

I stumbled upon this quote on this video, and it made me realise there's no real good source of quotes by other composers/musicians on Beethoven, or at least not one that is easily found by me. I know there must be some real gems out there, so that's what this thread is for. Post your favourites.

[Sorrano]

There is a book out (not sure if it is still in publication) that deals largely with impressions of other composers of Beethoven that knew him. There is quite a bit of material there.

[Peter]

Thomas Beecham frequently disparaged Beethoven (and others!!), though he frequently conducted the symphonies - "Even Beethoven thumped the tub; the Ninth symphony was composed by a kind of Mr. Gladstone of music."

"What can you do with it? It's like a lot of yaks jumping about."
--Beecham on Beethoven's Seventh Symphony

[hal9000]

There is a book out (not sure if it is still in publication) that deals largely with impressions of other composers of Beethoven that knew him. There is quite a bit of material there.

Do you happen to have the name of the book?

"What can you do with it? It's like a lot of yaks jumping about."
--Beecham on Beethoven's Seventh Symphony

A far cry from "the apotheosis of the dance". Glenn Gould called the 7th "the anticipation of disco music". It's difficult to gauge Gould's sincere thoughts on Beethoven, since he's often times contradictory - at times I'll be watching him talk with enthusiasm about his music, and at others he'll be less than favourable.

[Peter]

A far cry from "the apotheosis of the dance". Glenn Gould called the 7th "the anticipation of disco music". It's difficult to gauge Gould's sincere thoughts on Beethoven, since he's often times contradictory - at times I'll be watching him talk with enthusiasm about his music, and at others he'll be less than favourable.

Yes Beecham has to be taken in the context of his humour - for example his opinion of the Harpsichord "two skeletons copulating on a tin roof in a thunderstorm." Or his thoughts on Bruckner's 7th "In the first movement alone, I took note of six pregnancies and at least four miscarriages."

And finally Sir Thomas Beecham was once asked if he had played any Stockhausen. "No," he replied, "but I have trodden in some."

[Michael]

Not to mention Beecham's remark to a lady cellist which I actually am not going to mention.
However, I cannot forgive his dismissal of the late Beethoven quartets: "Written by a deaf man and should only be listened to by a deaf man!"

[Peter]

Not to mention Beecham's remark to a lady cellist which I actually am not going to mention.
However, I cannot forgive his dismissal of the late Beethoven quartets: "Written by a deaf man and should only be listened to by a deaf man!"

A sentiment that Tchaikovsky unfortunately shared - he only really admired Beethoven's middle period works and particularly hated the late quartets.

[Michael]

"Beethoven always sounds to me like the upsetting of a bag of nails, with here and there an also dropped hammer." - John Ruskin.

[AeolianHarp]

"Beethoven always sounds to me like the upsetting of a bag of nails, with here and there an also dropped hammer." - John Ruskin.

Ruskin was talking ****t!

[AeolianHarp]

Not to mention Beecham's remark to a lady cellist which I actually am not going to mention.However, I cannot forgive his dismissal of the late Beethoven quartets: "Written by a deaf man and should only be listened to by a deaf man!"

What an oddbodd....

A far cry from "the apotheosis of the dance". Glenn Gould called the 7th "the anticipation of disco music".

He needed his head examining. WT@?! Disco??? Nothing could be further from disco...

[Peter]

Ruskin was talking ****t!

I don't think we can just dismiss these opinions simply because we don't share them - it's interesting that people such as Tolstoy (who like Tchaikovsky adored Mozart), and composers such as Delius and Britten reacted to Beethoven negatively and I wonder why? Something in them could not respond to Beethoven and this is true of many people for other composers as well. It's rare I think to find someone who has a truly eclectic taste. I recall a friend who couldn't stand any music after the 17th century!

"Mozart died too late rather than too soon." - Glenn Gould - bizarre!

[Michael]

I don't think we can just dismiss these opinions simply because we don't share them - it's interesting that people such as Tolstoy (who like Tchaikovsky adored Mozart), and composers such as Delius and Britten reacted to Beethoven negatively and I wonder why?

According to Tchaikovsky, Tolstoy was notoriously unmusical, but he surely couldn't have been that bad if he liked Mozart. However, Tolstoy did call one of his shorter novels "The Kreutzer Sonata" after Beethoven's piece.

I don't think it was intended as a compliment to Beethoven, however, as a performance of the work incites the "hero" of the story to murder his wife! (Not because of her piano playing, I hasten to add.)




.

[hal9000]

It seems a lot of the more melody inclined composers adored Mozart but not Beethoven. I can sort of understand, since Beethoven is primarily a motivic composer; his themes are generally (not always of course) built out of notes from the scale and by themselves pretty ordinary, but special enough to build huge constructs out of. Funnily enough, Mozart was becoming a more motivic composer the older he got, at least in his string quartets and symphonies. At least Schubert had sense.

[Peter]

It seems a lot of the more melody inclined composers adored Mozart but not Beethoven. I can sort of understand, since Beethoven is primarily a motivic composer; his themes are generally (not always of course) built out of notes from the scale and by themselves pretty ordinary, but special enough to build huge constructs out of. Funnily enough, Mozart was becoming a more motivic composer the older he got, at least in his string quartets and symphonies. At least Schubert had sense.

Yes I think you've hit the nail on the head regarding Tchaikovsky and explains why he disliked Beethoven's later works and detested Brahms' music. Strange though that Dvorak (also primarily a melodic composer) much admired Brahms!

Another musical quote, sorry not about Beethoven!
Someone commented to Rudolph Bing, manager of the Metropolitan Opera, that "George Szell is his own worst enemy." "Not while I'm alive, he isn't!" said Bing.

[hal9000]

There's a quote I'm looking for that I remember reading (not sure about the authenticity). It was Beethoven on the difficulty of his works (perhaps in reference to the Hammerklavier), and how a greater depth can be explored through difficulty. Does anyone know the verbatim quote?