Page:Pratt - The history of music (1907).djvu/431

 climax—all these may again and again be discerned. These. qualities escape verbal statement in analyzing given cases, simply because words are too concrete to describe the abstract plot implied, though, of course, the tone-forms by which the plot is enacted are themselves intensely concrete. Beethoven therefore verged closely upon 'program-music,' but he himself warns us against too definite a visual or verbal interpretation of what is meant. In this dramaticness of conception he is again highly modern.

No one can possibly overlook the tremendous sincerity and seriousness of purpose in Beethoven's art. He came at a time when to make music was chiefly to offer a refined amusement to the privileged and luxurious. He himself, notwithstanding the utter democracy of his nature, was always dependent upon aristocratic patronage and was impelled to express himself in terms that only high mental culture could understand. Yet he made no bid for ordinary popularity, offered no concessions to the tastes of patrons, made no displays to catch attention from either the unlearned or the learned. He attempted only what he felt to be worthy in itself, what appealed to his own exalted manhood, what he believed was inherently true and beautiful. His success, in his own day and since, shows how truly representative he was of the ideal human spirit. We now know, much more than did most of those who were then defining the principles of æsthetic criticism, that in such sincerity and seriousness, when proceeding from an essentially noble character, lies the finest possibility of art.

For all these reasons—and more that might be given—we do well to exalt Beethoven as the founder of modern musical art.

Beethoven's works may be succinctly classified thus:—(a) For the piano alone, 32 large sonatas for 2 hands and one for 4, with over 100 smaller pieces, including many variations and dances; (b) for piano with other instruments, 5 concertos, 1 triple concerto, 8 trios, 3 quartets, 1 quintet; (c) for chamber instruments, 9 violin-sonatas, 1 violin-concerto, 5 'cello-sonatas, 1 horn-sonata, 5 trios, 16 quartets, 2 quintets, 2 sextets, 1 septet, 2 octets, besides some other pieces; (d) for orchestra, 9 symphonies, 12 overtures, with other incidental numbers for dramas, 1 choral fantasia, perhaps 10 minor works; (e) for voices, 1 opera, 1 oratorio, 2 masses, with about 10 cantatas or similar works, several concert-solos, almost 250 songs, including about 160 written to Scotch, Irish and Welsh words at the suggestion of George Thomson of Edinburgh, 18 canons. A standard complete edition is published by Breitkopf & Härtel (1862-1904).