What do you think?
Rate this book
Beethoven Hero
Bringing together reception history, music analysis and criticism, the history of music theory, and the philosophy of music, Beethoven Hero explores the nature and persistence of Beethoven's heroic style. What have we come to value in this music, asks Scott Burnham, and why do generations of critics and analysts hear it in much the same way? Specifically, what is it that fosters the intensity of listener engagement with the heroic style, the often overwhelming sense of identification with its musical process? Starting with the story of heroic quest heard time and again in the first movement of the Eroica Symphony, Burnham suggests that Beethoven's music matters profoundly to its listeners because it projects an empowering sense of self, destiny, and freedom, while modeling ironic self-consciousness.
In addition to thus identifying Beethoven's music as an overarching expression of values central to the age of Goethe and Hegel, the author describes and then critiques the process by which the musical values of the heroic style quickly became the controlling model of compositional logic in Western music criticism and analysis. Apart from its importance for students of Beethoven, this book will appeal to those interested in canon formation in the arts and in music as a cultural, ethical, and emotional force--and to anyone concerned with what we want from music and what music does for us.
In addition to thus identifying Beethoven's music as an overarching expression of values central to the age of Goethe and Hegel, the author describes and then critiques the process by which the musical values of the heroic style quickly became the controlling model of compositional logic in Western music criticism and analysis. Apart from its importance for students of Beethoven, this book will appeal to those interested in canon formation in the arts and in music as a cultural, ethical, and emotional force--and to anyone concerned with what we want from music and what music does for us.
400 pages, Paperback
First published November 13, 1995
3 people are currently reading
36 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
August 7, 2024
How To Love And Overcome Beethoven's Heroic Music
In "Beethoven Hero" (1995), Scott Burnham, Professor of Music at Princeton University and a leading Beethoven scholar, offers two complemetary approaches to the music of Beethoven's heroic period. As Professor Burham reminds us, this music consists of a relatively small body of work from Beethoven's middle period, primarily the third and fifth symphonies, the "Emperor" concerto, the "Waldstein" and "Appassionata" piano sonatas, and several overtures. Yet, for many listeners, these works have come to be regarded as the greatest achievement of Western music and, more importantly, as the paradigms by which other music is heard and judged.
Much of Professor Burnham's study is devoted to explaining the nature of Beethoven's heroic music and the reasons for its power and appeal. He finds that this music has been found by virtually all listeners to speak of the human condition in terms of suffering and struggle and the overcoming of suffering through will, persistence, and self-actualization. Thus, Professor Burnham offers an analysis of the first movement of the Eroica symphony which shows that listeners who hear this music in terms of a programmatic, extra-musical interpretation (the struggles and ultimate victory of a hero) describe the work in ways essentially similar to those listeners who use more formalistic, strictly musical descriptions. (in terms, for example, of the long, ambiguous exposition, the new thematic material in the development, the horn call that begins the recaptitulation, the expansive coda). Professor Burnham then follows this discussion with his own analysis of the first movement of the fifth symphony which tries to show in musical terms how this work retains its hold over the imagination of many people.
Professor Burnham then discusses how Beethoven's heroic style became paradigmatic for all music. There is a difficult but fascinating discussion of the work of four 19th and 20th century musical theorists, A.B. Marx, Hugo Riemann, Heinrich Schenker, and Rudolph Reti, and their use of Beethoven. Broadly speaking, these theorists took Beethoven as their model, tried to determine in their various ways the structural, thematic, and harmonic patterns they found in Beethoven's music, and then made these patterns normative for considering all music. Their work, for Burnham, shows both the enormous influence of Beethoven and how his work became paradigmatic through what is essentially circular reasoning.
Following this musical analysis, Professor Burnham changes his focus and finds that Beethoven's music captures the worldview of his time in Germany which he finds rooted in Goethe, with its focus on the self and on concepts of change and becoming, and Hegel, with its focus on consciousness and transcendence. Hegelian idealism has, for the most part, lost its philosophical appeal; but its goals and values remain moving in Beethoven's music in a way that bare philosophy could never realize. This discussion and the discussion of musical theory are the pivotal sections of Burnham's book.
This leads to the second main theme of Burnham's analysis. While he does not for a moment deny the power or appeal of Beethoven's music, he argues that listeners and critics have been too ready to accept it as the sole paradigm and as the model of what music should be. Thus, he argues, the heroic style incorporates a set of musical and ethical values but, grand as they are, there is no reason for them to be exclusive. He points out that other music that does not conform to the heroic paradigm is sometimes given short shrift simply because it is "not Beethoven". Professor Burnham's prime example is the music of Schubert (p. 155, p. 167). Every reader will recognize the tendency Burnham describes and think of other cases.
The goal of this book, I think, is to encourage the appreciation of Beethoven (The book seems to me to overstate the regard in which his heroic music is held in a definitely skeptical, anti-heroic age such as our own.) but to recognize that there are other ways of hearing music and of appealing to the heart. This is an excellent goal both for specialists in music and for the non-specialist music lover. Professor Burnham writes (pp 167-68)
"[I]t is time to dissolve the terms of this our happy thralldom, to forsake the comforts of our insular domain, place our sails in the way of new winds, and face the dangerous promise of an open sea. We must look away from the Work as a world and toward the World in the work. Only then may we acknowledge that we interact with music in ways that speak of so much more than the singular experience of the heroic style ... And that is how we may best continue to honor Beethoven Hero, by staying in touch with the hero within ourselves and others, the hero whose presence is music."
The details and analyses in this book are difficult in places but its goals are clear. This book is for serious lovers of music. It will deepen the reader's appreciation for Beethoven's heroic music while weakening the stranglehold that his works have sometimes exerted on the musical imagination.
Robin Friedman
In "Beethoven Hero" (1995), Scott Burnham, Professor of Music at Princeton University and a leading Beethoven scholar, offers two complemetary approaches to the music of Beethoven's heroic period. As Professor Burham reminds us, this music consists of a relatively small body of work from Beethoven's middle period, primarily the third and fifth symphonies, the "Emperor" concerto, the "Waldstein" and "Appassionata" piano sonatas, and several overtures. Yet, for many listeners, these works have come to be regarded as the greatest achievement of Western music and, more importantly, as the paradigms by which other music is heard and judged.
Much of Professor Burnham's study is devoted to explaining the nature of Beethoven's heroic music and the reasons for its power and appeal. He finds that this music has been found by virtually all listeners to speak of the human condition in terms of suffering and struggle and the overcoming of suffering through will, persistence, and self-actualization. Thus, Professor Burnham offers an analysis of the first movement of the Eroica symphony which shows that listeners who hear this music in terms of a programmatic, extra-musical interpretation (the struggles and ultimate victory of a hero) describe the work in ways essentially similar to those listeners who use more formalistic, strictly musical descriptions. (in terms, for example, of the long, ambiguous exposition, the new thematic material in the development, the horn call that begins the recaptitulation, the expansive coda). Professor Burnham then follows this discussion with his own analysis of the first movement of the fifth symphony which tries to show in musical terms how this work retains its hold over the imagination of many people.
Professor Burnham then discusses how Beethoven's heroic style became paradigmatic for all music. There is a difficult but fascinating discussion of the work of four 19th and 20th century musical theorists, A.B. Marx, Hugo Riemann, Heinrich Schenker, and Rudolph Reti, and their use of Beethoven. Broadly speaking, these theorists took Beethoven as their model, tried to determine in their various ways the structural, thematic, and harmonic patterns they found in Beethoven's music, and then made these patterns normative for considering all music. Their work, for Burnham, shows both the enormous influence of Beethoven and how his work became paradigmatic through what is essentially circular reasoning.
Following this musical analysis, Professor Burnham changes his focus and finds that Beethoven's music captures the worldview of his time in Germany which he finds rooted in Goethe, with its focus on the self and on concepts of change and becoming, and Hegel, with its focus on consciousness and transcendence. Hegelian idealism has, for the most part, lost its philosophical appeal; but its goals and values remain moving in Beethoven's music in a way that bare philosophy could never realize. This discussion and the discussion of musical theory are the pivotal sections of Burnham's book.
This leads to the second main theme of Burnham's analysis. While he does not for a moment deny the power or appeal of Beethoven's music, he argues that listeners and critics have been too ready to accept it as the sole paradigm and as the model of what music should be. Thus, he argues, the heroic style incorporates a set of musical and ethical values but, grand as they are, there is no reason for them to be exclusive. He points out that other music that does not conform to the heroic paradigm is sometimes given short shrift simply because it is "not Beethoven". Professor Burnham's prime example is the music of Schubert (p. 155, p. 167). Every reader will recognize the tendency Burnham describes and think of other cases.
The goal of this book, I think, is to encourage the appreciation of Beethoven (The book seems to me to overstate the regard in which his heroic music is held in a definitely skeptical, anti-heroic age such as our own.) but to recognize that there are other ways of hearing music and of appealing to the heart. This is an excellent goal both for specialists in music and for the non-specialist music lover. Professor Burnham writes (pp 167-68)
"[I]t is time to dissolve the terms of this our happy thralldom, to forsake the comforts of our insular domain, place our sails in the way of new winds, and face the dangerous promise of an open sea. We must look away from the Work as a world and toward the World in the work. Only then may we acknowledge that we interact with music in ways that speak of so much more than the singular experience of the heroic style ... And that is how we may best continue to honor Beethoven Hero, by staying in touch with the hero within ourselves and others, the hero whose presence is music."
The details and analyses in this book are difficult in places but its goals are clear. This book is for serious lovers of music. It will deepen the reader's appreciation for Beethoven's heroic music while weakening the stranglehold that his works have sometimes exerted on the musical imagination.
Robin Friedman
February 4, 2015
Scott Burnham's Beethoven Hero was written the same year as Tia DeNora's Beethoven and the Construction of Genius (1995), and both books ask the same question: how did Beethoven come to be considered the paradigm for serious music? However, Burnham's book is totally the opposite of hers -- where she considered the question from the viewpoint of sociology without much reference to the musical content itself, he considers only the music and the later descriptions of it, without any reference to socioeconomic factors (even in the chapter on Cultural values).
A contemporary criticism of Beethoven's early works was that they piled up too many ideas, rather than taking one or two and developing them properly. This same criticism could be made of Beethoven Hero. The book considers Beethoven reception from many different perspectives, and doesn't do justice to any of its insights.
The first chapter, "Beethoven's Hero", discusses the "programs" that have been attributed to the Eroica Symphony in particular -- in addition to Napoleon, it has been "read" as about Prometheus, Hector, Beethoven himself, "humanity" and so forth. I admit I have always hated this kind of "criticism", since I was in fifth grade and a "music appreciation" teacher played some instrumental work (I don't remember what, but I'd be willing to bet it was by Beethoven) and told us to write an essay on what we "heard". Everyone else heard storms and battles and so forth; I got a D because despite my best efforts all I could hear was an orchestra playing music.
In the short second chapter, "Musical Values," Burnham gives his own "reading" of Beethoven's music, with special attention to the Eroica. This sticks more or less to music, so it hasn't much connection with the first chapter.
The third chapter, "Institutional Values," switches to a history of music theory, and tries to show that all the major theories of music since Beethoven's time have been based on Beethoven's "heroic style" as a paradigm. He discusses the theories of A. B. Marx (naturally, since he wrote his dissertation on Marx), Hugo Reimann, Heinrich Shenker, and Rudolph Reti. This was the most difficult chapter for me, not being a musicologist.
The fourth chapter, "Cultural Values," switches to a discussion of the ethical and aesthetic values of the "Goethezeit". He discusses Beethoven in a sort of impressionistic way as a synthesis of Goethe and Hegel, with references to the Phenomenology (this chapter has a few passing references to Adorno, but since Burnham entirely ignores socioeconomic reality in discussing the spirit of the time, his perspective is totally different from Adorno's, and leaves me with the feeling that it is just hanging in the air).
The fifth chapter, "Beethoven Hero," gives the author's views on how we should and should not react to Beethoven. It was very vague and unconvincing to me. In particular, he seems to give Beethoven's music a far greater influence on modern life than I think is realistic -- most people today don't listen to Beethoven or classical music at all, much less base their view of the world on the first movement of the Eroica.
He does all this in 160 pages.
A contemporary criticism of Beethoven's early works was that they piled up too many ideas, rather than taking one or two and developing them properly. This same criticism could be made of Beethoven Hero. The book considers Beethoven reception from many different perspectives, and doesn't do justice to any of its insights.
The first chapter, "Beethoven's Hero", discusses the "programs" that have been attributed to the Eroica Symphony in particular -- in addition to Napoleon, it has been "read" as about Prometheus, Hector, Beethoven himself, "humanity" and so forth. I admit I have always hated this kind of "criticism", since I was in fifth grade and a "music appreciation" teacher played some instrumental work (I don't remember what, but I'd be willing to bet it was by Beethoven) and told us to write an essay on what we "heard". Everyone else heard storms and battles and so forth; I got a D because despite my best efforts all I could hear was an orchestra playing music.
In the short second chapter, "Musical Values," Burnham gives his own "reading" of Beethoven's music, with special attention to the Eroica. This sticks more or less to music, so it hasn't much connection with the first chapter.
The third chapter, "Institutional Values," switches to a history of music theory, and tries to show that all the major theories of music since Beethoven's time have been based on Beethoven's "heroic style" as a paradigm. He discusses the theories of A. B. Marx (naturally, since he wrote his dissertation on Marx), Hugo Reimann, Heinrich Shenker, and Rudolph Reti. This was the most difficult chapter for me, not being a musicologist.
The fourth chapter, "Cultural Values," switches to a discussion of the ethical and aesthetic values of the "Goethezeit". He discusses Beethoven in a sort of impressionistic way as a synthesis of Goethe and Hegel, with references to the Phenomenology (this chapter has a few passing references to Adorno, but since Burnham entirely ignores socioeconomic reality in discussing the spirit of the time, his perspective is totally different from Adorno's, and leaves me with the feeling that it is just hanging in the air).
The fifth chapter, "Beethoven Hero," gives the author's views on how we should and should not react to Beethoven. It was very vague and unconvincing to me. In particular, he seems to give Beethoven's music a far greater influence on modern life than I think is realistic -- most people today don't listen to Beethoven or classical music at all, much less base their view of the world on the first movement of the Eroica.
He does all this in 160 pages.
April 24, 2014
Not worth the price, but if you can get a borrowed copy from the library and you are interested in a select few of Beethoven's heroic works, pick it up to read. It's only 160 pages which include many examples from music, so it is very short. It might be that I'm not a musicologist so I didn't fully appreciate it, but I wouldn't recommend this book to people.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews