The Romantic Image of Beethoven: Contes Fantastiques in Le Revue et gazette musicale de Paris, 1834-40
                                                                    Allison Star
 
                Following the July 1830 Revolution, France became the educational, literary, cultural, and musical capital of Europe.  Its burgeoning industrial society could now afford the privileges previously restricted to the aristocratic élite, such as ownership of instruments, musical education, and subscriptions to concerts.  Paris became the music capital of Europe, and earned a reputation for highly skilled musicians. (1)   The most popular musical events were the grand operas of Rossini. This musical preference began to change, however, with the introduction of a new series of instrumental concerts performed at the Société des Concerts du Conservatoire, which prominently featured Beethoven’s symphonies and other orchestral works. (2)  Beethoven’s controversial music caused heated debates between conservative theorists and liberal artists, and sparked both a musical and a literary commotion, which was stirred up by the powerful influence of the press.

                The important publishing trade and the expansion in music life favoured the establishment of a specialist press devoted exclusively to coverage of the arts.  One of the most widely read of these new arts journals was the Revue et gazette musicale de Paris, established in 1834 by Maurice Schlesinger. Schlesinger’s editorial philosophy for this journal was published in a brief mission statement in the inaugural issue of January 5^th, 1834. (See first image of handout, under “photo” on website, cited below.)  In this preface, Schlesinger expressed the aim to uphold the higher order of “poetry” over the vulgarity of the salons, the banality of consumerism, and empty piano virtuosity.  His purpose was to introduce to the French public a new type of arts journal modeled on the most popular German-language journal, the Leipzig Allgemeine musikalische Zeitung (1798-1848).  This journal regularly featured the writings of E.T.A. Hoffmann, mixing didactic music criticism with fantastical stories.  Hoffmann’s complete works were translated into French in 1830, creating a craze that lasted until about 1834. Schlesinger’s rédaction inferred similar didactic and aesthetic literary ideals as Hoffmann, yet only imitated the broader beliefs of his writings.

                Schlesinger’s conception of the true character of his journal is fully revealed only in the feature that followed his mission statement. (Please see page 4 of handout.) Here, in place of the expected academic essay, historical article, or opera review, he placed a fictitious story by the popular writer Jules Janin, titled Le Diner de Beethoven.  Modeled on Hoffmann’s Tales, it portrayed Beethoven as a warm-hearted, alienated and misunderstood genius.  The commission, placement, and style of the story declared the artistic credo of the journal as rooted in the liberal beliefs of German Romanticism.  Moreover, it established a new journalistic format that departed from the contemporary editorial ideals of prominent conservative theorists, such as François Fétis, who advocated professorial music criticism.  This new, entertaining form of French fiction, subtitled the conte fantastique,  became a regular feature on the front page of the Gazette.

                Schlesinger designed the genre of conte fantastique specifically to promote Beethoven with artistic integrity, rather than as a commodity.  To achieve this goal, he commissioned and selected stories from over one hundred artists of le jeune France, who represented the musically literate and the literary elite.  Included were Victor Hugo, Honoré de Balzac, Alfred de Musset, Alfred de Vigny, George Sand, Hector Berlioz, Franz Liszt and Richard Wagner. (Please refer to the handout for the list of writers and their fictional stories in 1834-40.)  The most eminent literary contributors to the Gazette included an avant-garde literary group known as the Paris Cénacle, led by Victor Hugo.  This controversial group rejected traditional rhetoric and intellectual philosophy in place of personal narrative, creative liberty and originality of form.

                For many Young Romantics, Beethoven was an important visionary.  In the preface to Hernani (1830), Hugo stated that Beethoven’s symphonies were models of the new fusion of tragedy and comedy, which superseded verbal drama and opera because of the instrumental “vagueness.”  This instrumental vagueness was the complement to the literary “poetic idea.”  French literary enthusiasts of Beethoven’s symphonic music assumed that he spoke his thoughts and emotions, and revealed his “life” in the subjective manner of the lyric poet.  Accordingly, the idea of a personal narrative, or “poetic idea” in Beethoven’s music generated a surge of interest in his biography.  The exploration of the drama and mystery of his music led to a new literary ideal, the attempt to capture the capricious and ephemeral experiences of music through the poetic use of metaphor and imagery.

                This new literary style is illustrated in the stories published in the contes fantastiques published in the Gazette. Schlesinger aimed to promote the idea of Beethoven’s music as a reflection of his “image” by commissioning fantastical stories that directly mention Beethoven’s name or music, or that indirectly present Beethoven in the guise of a fictitious musician. (As you see on the handout, a majority of the stories allude to Beethoven’s biography, indicated on the list as “Beethoven’s image,” BI. This image, in effect, generated additional stories about musicians within the same parameters, indicated as MI or musician’s image.)  These musicians are portrayed as alienated geniuses, living in a superior spiritual realm apart from the masses, and suffering the attacks of the philistines who are unable to comprehend the true message of their art. In the Gazette, these fictitious musicians assume the iconographical image of Beethoven himself, with long, disheveled hair, a gloomy expression and a brooding temperament.  In personality, they are deeply compassionate, but often melancholy and yearning, a symptom of their need to create in solitude.  These musicians are projected as a lone protagonist removed from society, tormented by genius. Nature provides these protagonists with a divine sanctuary, a refuge of chaos and creativity.  Schlesinger selected stories to portray Beethoven to this image.  Central to this image was his commitment to originality and to modern music.  The contes fantastiques were skillfully designed to prepare readers indirectly for subsequent articles in each issue that advocated the profound sacred and moral significance of the artist and his place in society.  As a result, the promotion of Beethoven’s image in the contes fantastiques transformed Beethoven into a Romantic ideal that set a paradigm for the Romantic artist in France.

                The image of Beethoven, presented in the Gazette as an aloof genius, only comprehended by a select few, set a prototype of artistic elitism. The superiority of artists as set apart from the masses found a particular corollary in French socialist philosophies of the 1830s that stemmed from Rousseau’s image of the “noble savage” existing in an unbound, natural state.  The artist was raised to the status of a peaceful political and spiritual leader who promoted resolution through art.  This was a powerful idea for a war-weary generation who had lost faith in heroic deeds and the established order, and had turned instead to creative deeds and the individual as the measure of all things.  There were no philosophical systems to support these new beliefs, and orthodox Christian dogma was abandoned.  For the Young Romantics, art became the new religion.  Beethoven’s music represented the highest of the arts because of its connections to the spiritual world, and hearing it was expressed as a religious experience.  In the hands of the coterie at the Gazette, the genre of conte fantastique became a sort of parable that at once appealed to the general public, yet conveyed a spiritual passion and a religious devotion to Beethoven as the poet-priest.

                This image of Beethoven was to continue in the Gazette through the next decade.  An illustration of Beethoven in the image of a demi-god appears in the story by Hector Berlioz, titled “The Rings of Saturn” (1838).  In this story, the narrator jibes at thoughtless “philistines” who reject Beethoven and his music.  The story takes place at what was then a popular form of mystical entertainment – a séance, where Beethoven’s spirit is to be summoned.  The narrator begins by identifying the chief revelation that came to him at the séance: that beauty is an absolute that can be agreed upon equally by “scholars, doctors, and the single-hearted” as well as by those “unpossessed of either taste or knowledge.”  The narrator confesses that he had previously never held any firm opinion on “these grave subjects of controversy.”  Then, he invites readers to follow him into the mysterious realm of the unknown: “you must be absolutely guided by your interior sense.”  With interest piqued through this unsettling mystery, readers proceed to learn of the narrator’s discovery of the true meaning of beauty.

                Beauty is transmitted through the tool of the medium’s “deal table,” which implies both a game and a scam.  The spirit of Beethoven is then summoned from the rings of Saturn.  The medium explains vaguely that Beethoven lives there because of his “rough and capricious character,” and because of some “unavowed antipathy for Mozart,” who lives in Jupiter (in reference to Mozart’s Jupiter Symphony). The medium assures the gathering that he is on good terms with the great man, and is so kindred with Beethoven that he is not afraid to demand his presence.  The narrator is amazed at Beethoven’s obedience, given his reputation in life for rebelliousness: “See the effect of death and how that changes your character!”

                The medium then calls upon Beethoven, the demi-god, to dictate a new sonata through the tapping legs of the deal table.  The result, in the narrator’s opinion, is a full-blown piece of
nonsense, "utter stupidity.”  He is affronted by the composition, for what represents beauty in the realms of the spirit world goes against a natural development of genius.  He concludes with the underlying moral: “How can we believe, after that, in the absolutely beautiful?”  This story jabs at biased conservatives who dismissed Beethoven’s music based on preconceived notions of absolute beauty, yet because of Berlioz’s good-humored ridicule and witty banter, readers can draw these conclusions without feeling an opinion is forced.  Berlioz encouraged readers, as amiable confidants, to rely on their own inner senses and impressions to evaluate the beautiful, and to be receptive to the divine message of Beethoven.

      The religious image of Beethoven as creator of spiritual music is furthered in Richard Wagner’s simple tale of the pilgrim in Une visite à Beethoven (1840).  The successful serialization of several stories, such as those by Alexandre Dumas, and Honoré de Balzac, which appeared in earlier issues, inspired Schlesinger to stretch Wagner’s story over four issues to suspend the reader’s anticipation.  As Wagner reported, “this little work created quite a sensation, and was received with very marked approval.” (3)  The vibrant music scene had enticed Wagner to move to Paris (September 1839) with his wife Mina and their Newfoundland dog Robber, in pursuit of an illustrious career.  However, his career in Paris was unsuccessful: he lived in abject poverty, and his dog was stolen. (4)  His homesickness and struggles resulted in a fantasy story that describes a visit to Beethoven, whom he never met bud idolized.  Wagner had first heard Beethoven at the Conservatory concerts, where he “caught a fever, fell ill, and when I recovered became a musician.” (5)  His epiphany became the basis for his fictional visit to Beethoven as the product of deep inner necessity: “als das tiefe, innige Bedürfnis einer enthusiastischen Seele.” (6)

                This literary mini-series unfolds as a religious parable.  Its narrator is a thinly-veiled version of Wagner himself, a struggling composer in Paris, trying to earn enough money to travel to Vienna.  Hearing Beethoven’s music leads this pilgrim-narrator to worship it above all other music, and to experience a sort of communion and religious euphoria: “To steep myself in the depths of his genius became my sole delight, so much so, that I came to imagine that his genius had entered into me.”  Here, Beethoven’s art conveys a spiritual message that inspires religious devotion and a pilgrimage.

                After producing several excellent gallops, the composer-narrator has enough money to travel from Paris to Vienna on foot.  Once there, he fasts and prays.  On the third day, he attempts to visit Beethoven, who is described in familiar imagery as untidy, with long scruffy hair, and a gloomy expression.  The narrator communicates with the deaf Beethoven through a form of antiphonal response: “At last in a hoarse voice he…interrupted me by picking up a sheet of paper and pencil, ‘Use these,’ he said. ‘I cannot hear.’ Of course I knew all about Beethoven’s deafness and had prepared myself.  But it smote my heart to hear that hoarse, broken voice say: ‘I cannot hear.’  To be poor and joyless, one’s only solace one’s sovereignty in the realm of sound, and have to say: ‘I cannot hear.’ “  In a flash, the pilgrim empathizes with Beethoven’s psychic and physical pain, and realizes the paradox of Beethoven’s existence in the world of sound as a deaf musician.

                Beethoven’s unorthodox behavior is explained as a symptom of his physical handicap and his deep need to create.  Wagner’s own need to create confers with the moral that artists are of greatest social value when they can have artistic freedom: “People think I ought to write what they consider good and beautiful; they forget that…I can only compose as I feel…”  The story ends with a Romantic credence: “I believe in God, Mozart and Beethoven.” (7)  On one level, Wagner’s adventurous and playful events capture readers through the witty use of religious hyperbole; on another level, these images present a profound belief in the sacredness of creativity.  Beethoven’s image is promoted as a god, whose poetic creations reflect a divine message of spiritual advancement.

                The spiritual and mystical image of Beethoven is inferred in George Sand’s “Carl.”  This story appeared in the popular serialized format, published as three installments in 1837, and placed prominently on the front page. (8)  Carl is a masterfully written, slightly macabre conte fantastique that illustrates the influence of Beethoven’s compositional techniques on literary style.  Sand’s narrative unfolds much like the motivic unfolding of Beethoven’s late compositional style (as well as the music of her friend Berlioz) , using the devices of reminiscence, foreshadowing and the interruptive present, intermingled with dream sequences.  A mysterious mood opens each installment and a precursor of terrible things about to occur.

                “Carl” is an example of stories featured in the Gazette based on the character of Beethoven in the guise of the archetypical musician.  The story begins with a grief sequence, as the narrator mourns the death of his friend Carl, who was a famous musician in Vienna.  Through reflections, readers learn that Carl was prevented by his father from studying music, which, because of his poetic nature, almost caused him to go mad.  The narrator explains how Carl frequently sought relief from madness and anxiety in the Tyrol Mountains, “pour arracher de son esprit la pensée de cultivar ses dispositions naturelles…” (9)  The narrator recalls how when they were young, they traveled to the mountains together and, on one occasion while resting, the sleeping Carl seemed to be a dead body.  Overcome with anxiety and an immense sense of melancholy, the narrator sings a religious chant as prayer and consolation.  Here, Sand’s story becomes a multi-media event, with the program enhanced by accompanying “mood” music, inserted as printed musical excerpts, which could easily have been played or sung by most home-amateurs on the piano.  In this scene, the story introduces a main theme (example 1, like Berlioz’s idea of an idée fixe) –a tune of five bars, in D major, 4/4 time marked espressivo.  All at once, Carl moves: “tout-a-coup le jeune Carl s’enlève.”  Music, thus implied, has the power to resurrect the dead.  The sacredness of music flows into religious metaphor, as the young Carl arises well and happy, and marches ahead on the trail alone, singing, and lost in thought.

                The main theme transforms through various states and emotional scenes throughout the story.  In an eerie scene in the mountains, under a full moon, the narrator appears to see the ghost of his dead friend Carl, and he hears chanting night sounds.  For courage, the narrator sings the words with the melodic theme, now transformed into a religious-like gothic chant, transposed into the “black-keyed” D flat major.  The narrator is surprised to hear a ghostly response in B flat major! The mood, the music, and the time perspective are uplifted through a vision of eternity when the narrator sees an angel pass overhead.  Here, the main theme becomes transformed into an angelic hymn with a spiritual message of hope, in the home key of D major.  The consoling power of music is reinforced in the rare journalistic offering that follows this installment – a full-page musical excerpt for voice and organ by Fromental Halévy that presents a simple hymn setting of the main theme.

                The third installment of “Carl” builds on similar shifts of time, and the idea of madness.  Carl, as a young man, does not speak, but only sings the main melody, obsessively chanting.  Sand’s story resolves when the narrator is struck with inspiration upon the mount to take Carl to Vienna to study piano and organ.  Carl shows great talent, regains his health and happiness, and is made whole through the full development of his genius.  Sand’s “Carl” supports the moral that both true art and the poetic soul have a duty to humanity and to eternity.

                The contes fantastiques of Berlioz, Wagner and Sand illustrate the promotion of Beethoven’s image in the Gazette as a colourful, unconventional artist, tormented by a need for solitude and a need to create.  In the parable-like genre of the conte fantastique, the Romantic image of Beethoven represents a Romantic artistic ideal: that of the true poet and spiritual leader.  These stories are important historical records of literary styles, artistic beliefs, public fashion, political movements, and provide an insight into the reception of Beethoven in France during the early stages of canon formation.  Through the artistry and the innovation of their content, these stories illustrate that Beethoven’s image was not promoted as a consumer product, but as a governing aesthetic by which to judge other artists and other works.  As a Romantic ideal, Beethoven’s image created a utopian paradigm that also benefited the Gazette’s promotion of both Berlioz and Chopin.  Ultimately, the Romantic image of Beethoven cultivated in these stories was that of the poet-priest, an image that persisted well into the twentieth century, in marked contrast to the nineteenth-century development of the German image of Beethoven as hero.

 

1.       The annual increase in concerts (1830-40) was documented: in Paris, 78 to 383 concerts (up by 491%), compared to London, 125-381 (up by 305%) and Vienna, 111-163 (up by 47%).  See William Weber, Music and the Middle Class.  The Social Structure of Concert Life (New York, 1975): 16.

2.       The Paris Conservatoire was officially founded in 1793, but began this series under the new direction of Charles Habeneck in 1828.  Habeneck was instrumental in premiering Beethoven’s Nine Symphonies in Paris, 1828-37.

3.       Richard Wagner, My Life (New York, 1911), I: 23:13.  This story was republished in the original German in Wagner’s collection.  At the time of publication, Wagner had to pay a large translation fee; the story was published serially on 19, 22, 29 November and 3 December, 1840.  It was publicly saluted by Heinrich Heine, and Hector Berlioz referred to it in the Journal des Debats. 

4.       This became the basis for his next story in the Gazette, titled “Un musician étranger a Paris.” (VIII/9-12: 31 Jan – 11 Feb, 1841).

5.       Robert L. Jacobs and Geoffrey Skelton, Wagner Writes from Paris (New York, 1973), 65.

6.       Richard Wagner, Dichtuengen und Schriften, 10 vols. (Frankfurt, 1983), 5: 93.

7.       Jacobs and Skelton, Wagner Writes from Paris: 101.

8.       January 1, 8, 16^th, GM, 1837.

9.       Sand loved Beethoven’s Pastoral Symphony. See George Sand, Lettres d’un voyageur

*Handout: please see “Photos” on my website --http://starpianostudio.musicteachershelper.com

 

               

 

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