Here’s an essay from our friend, Maria Popova, aka The Marginalian about that creative maestro, Ludwig van Beethoven and his “Ode to Joy” from his Ninth Symphony.
Popova tells us a tale of Beethoven’s resilience and persistence:
“Day by day I am approaching the goal which I apprehend but cannot describe,” Ludwig van Beethoven (December 16, 1770–March 26, 1827) wrote to his boyhood friend, rallying his own resilience as he began losing his hearing. A year later, shortly after completing his Second Symphony, he sent his brothers a stunning letter about the joy of suffering overcome, in which he resolved:
Ah! how could I possibly quit the world before bringing forth all that I felt it was my vocation to produce?
That year, he began — though he did not yet know it, as we never do — the long gestation of what would become not only his greatest creative and spiritual triumph, not only a turning point in the history of music that revolutionized the symphony and planted the seed of the pop song, but an eternal masterwork of the supreme human art: making meaning out of chaos, beauty out of sorrow.
The goal which I apprehended but cannot describe speaks of the ineffability of that initial creative spark, that we need to articulate through the medium of our cultural calling.
Beethoven’s world sounds a lot like our own, as we try to fashion ‘meaning out of chaos, beauty out of sorrow’. No matter what form the chaos and sorrow you are going through takes, may your urge to create music that stands against, resists that chaos and sighs the sweet sigh of sorrow, be stirred in your hearts and minds. May you articulate the initial ineffability of that creative moment. May you bring us joy!
https://www.themarginalian.org/2022/05/17/beethoven-ode-to-joy/?mc_cid=a...
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Definitely, Geoff Hall. Especially when I work on the logline, which I do right after coming up with an idea.
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I studied a lot of Classical composers, esp. Beethoven. His form was clear - like others within the Classical period. Yes, a lot of Chaos to beauty, esp. in recapitulation section. In my Webinar with...
Expand commentI studied a lot of Classical composers, esp. Beethoven. His form was clear - like others within the Classical period. Yes, a lot of Chaos to beauty, esp. in recapitulation section. In my Webinar with Fabiana Claure, one of her business advice is the V-I, as the Dominant is discussing (Dissonance) the problem, where the Tonic is the resolving the problem. Classical period if full of V - I, except the recapitulation. (many dissonances).
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Maurice Vaughan ah, I can’t do that at the idea stage, Maurice. I have to work on the story and characters a little more and then I’ll get a feel for the possibilities. Forever tweaking it though, as...
Expand commentMaurice Vaughan ah, I can’t do that at the idea stage, Maurice. I have to work on the story and characters a little more and then I’ll get a feel for the possibilities. Forever tweaking it though, as new ideas may unexpectedly pop up on the surface of the page. Writing is full of surprises!
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Kerry Kennard that’s an intriguing take on the process when I think of writing a screenplay. Dissonance and resolution. Excellent.
Could you please outline the different sections in a symphony please,...
Expand commentKerry Kennard that’s an intriguing take on the process when I think of writing a screenplay. Dissonance and resolution. Excellent.
Could you please outline the different sections in a symphony please, it will help me and probably others, get our heads around this form and perhaps create an analogy for the writing process.
Finally, in terms of music outside of the classical era, say with Messiaen or Schoenberg (especially his earlier work, before he lost my attention). What forms do they employ for the Modern 20th Century listener that we could perhaps utilise in a ‘modern’ form of storytelling?
Apologies for this latter question. I’m trying to get my head around the shift in expectations of the audience in classical and modern periods.
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I personally think Beethoven should be included in every soundtrack!