property, plant, and book publishers are ahead of their time. So we now celebrate the Fontane, the basement and the Escher-year, but in 2020 we all have to expect a Beethoven anniversary, and now the first tribute to appear in books. In addition to the music journalist Eleonore Büning Karl-Heinz Ott submits his dispute with the “titans”, whose iconic Image of sinister expression, wild mane – adorns the book cover, on a gold background.

Yes, Beethoven is the gold standard of classical music; with him began a new era or even the future, such as Richard Wagner said (and even said). With Beethoven, the music takes leave from the Ideal of the Beautiful and Moderate. The composer as a Creator of new worlds of sound, as a breaker of traditions, as a developer and Explorer: Beethoven becomes the “role model” for all who come to him for a genius (rightly or wrongly). With him, the subjectivity of music.

Beethoven but also the scale in the instrumental forms of the Sonata, string Quartet, Symphony and its successor under Stress. Because, actually, these forms are auskomponiert with him. Without Beethoven, Brahms, Bruckner, Mahler, and Yes even Schönberg. His work even has a retrospective characteristic: “Mozart and Haydn, we are not able to perceive, as there would have been no Beethoven,” writes Ott. “We always listen to with him, and through him whether we want to or not.”

musical experience

Karl-Heinz Ott has written six novels, but also a book about Handel, and worked for many years as a musical dramaturge and conductor of the incidental music at various theatres, including in Basel. He knows how to “pick up his reader,” and the most blatant clichés, the mane and the Da-da-da-daaaa-motive.

Also in the further course, there’s Ott, not scholarship and does not scare you with technical jargon, but spices up his presentation with anecdotes or digressions in the time history. So the reading device to a effort free course through life, work, and the time of Beethoven. It is a book more for the laity than for the connoisseur, although the Latter encounter, again and again, on Details, or references that were previously unknown. to be able to

to read music would be helpful, because Ott the nine symphonies, which are at the center of his book, one sentence at a time, and illustrated his remarks with themes and motifs. This work explanations are the least original part of the book, they hardly go beyond what one finds in the concert leaders. Linguistically, however, Ott of this stands out clearly, because he tried again and again to describe not the structure, but the effect of passages. Music as an experience. Since the speech of the “broom-like Pawing” or “schnarr is duck noises”, and about the end of the first movement of the “Eroica” is the title of it: “screaming Fortissimo fanfares, noise, bliss, Bum, the end.”

The real charm of the book comes from the thematic chapters, in front of and between the analyses. As Ott writes about the joke in the music or the Penetration of the wind instruments. On the political collection of the “Ninth” – from Hitler through Stalin to Leonard Bernstein’s “freedom, beautiful gods, anthem, and Macrons inauguration ceremony sparks”, to Europe.

Ott shows in these chapters that much of what appears to us as self-evident cultural practice, is a historically relatively new phenomenon. Pure instrumental music, not served to the accompaniment or entertainment, but serious listening is required, came only in the 18th century. A century of public recognition. Here is a great power Ott philosophical barrel, a recapitulation of the dispute between Rameau and Rousseau, of Kant, the music at the bottom of the arts (because of reason), to Schopenhauer, who settled at the top (because you captured the “drive the crowd in his Intangibility”). To Schlegel and the romantics, and Nietzsche, finally, to Lyotard and Derrida, everything is clear and understandable.

quasi-religious trains

Ott is not upon yourself, to be able to explain everything. In fact, the fascination for instrumental music, without words, “reflects nothing and nothing expresses” remains a beautiful mystery.

It was in Beethoven’s time (and not his work, is conceivable), that the relationship to music took on quasi-religious features, the music to “entmytho-oriented prayer” was, as Adorno put it. That concert visitors listened to with reverence – when young Mozart was quite dangle is still on the side. Vienna had a room to Beethoven’s time, no concert, you had to Dodge to the Theater or noble palaces. The composer of the “rage over a lost penny” of the music industry today is worthy of a Golden nose, was a life of noble patrons. Also, we learn in this wise, with Verve and enthusiasm-written book.

(editing Tamedia)

Created: 15.03.2019, 18:19 PM