Of Cabbages and Kings

In the USA it is the time of the presidential inauguration and transition of power from one administration to another, and this year, tensions have never been higher. So, this leads me to ask, especially at the time we also celebrate the birthday of Martin Luther King Jr.; What makes a hero? Who is your hero? And perhaps the most prescient question, have you ever felt betrayed by your hero?

All of these questions are asked and answered by what some claim is the most important symphony ever written, Beethoven’s Third Symphony, usually referred to as The Eroica Symphony. (“Eroica” is the Italian word for “heroic.”) The musical reasons of why this symphony changed classical music forever are familiar and well-documented by music historians and theorists. Here is a great analysis by Leonard Bernstein. But that, dear readers, is not the subject of this writing. Let’s explore Beethoven’s understanding of heroism, and our own.

Before Beethoven’s Third Symphony was known to us as “The Eroica”, Beethoven named this work “Buonaparte,” after Napoleon Bonaparte. To many Europeans living at that time of the French Revolution, Bonaparte was looked to as an inspirational leader who would lay the foundation for a new republic in France, and who could set the scene for political and structural revolution across Europe. He was the embodiment of Liberté, égalité, fraternité!

But revolutions are tenuous things, and powerful men don’t often behave in ways that benefit a needy populous. The proverbial saying “Power corrupts; absolute power corrupts absolutely” is the one that best describes Napoleon Bonaparte, and when he crowned himself emperor, Beethoven went apoplectic with rage, ripping through Bonaparte’s name on this symphony under construction. His assistant who brought him the news, quotes Beethoven as saying “So he is no more than a common mortal! Now, too, he will tread under foot all the rights of Man, indulge only his ambition; now he will think himself superior to all men, become a tyrant!” This disillusionment is one that I think we’ve all experienced. I feel it now. Our government here in the USA is being rattled to the core, and knowing who to trust is not easy. Those in power are often guided by selfish quests for steeling up their own authority, and you trust them at your peril.

If there is any hope or inspiration in this story of the Eroica Symphony and Napoleon, it is that the music actually exists. Beethoven did NOT destroy the entire symphony. He moved on past his anger to create a masterpiece of a courageous archetypal hero that is victorious in battle, a leader with integrity that represents the values of the Enlightenment, justly loved and revered. It is an extraordinary musical journey, and it is an homage to hope. Though a young man in his early to mid 30’s when this symphony was composed, I like to think that the reason Beethoven continued with this symphony, after his disappointment with Napoleon, was that he became more focused on his own personal journey, writing and composing his own life, his own struggles both physical and interpersonal, and his own inner conflicts, marching on to personal and artistic victory. That gives me courage.

Here is a beautifully filmed and recorded clip of one of the most powerful musical sections, which an old friend of mine described as “cascades of music.” They truly wash over the listener.

This performance was led by Claudio Abbado, conducting the Berliner Philharmoniker and filmed for posterity in Rome in 2001. What a performance! If you want to see and listen to this entire symphony you will need to subscribe, since it benefits the Berlin Philharmonic.

Though this is not a film, here is a magnificent recording with period instruments from the London Classical Players.

As for the topic of political tyrants and poetry, that is an easy answer. Beethoven’s radical contemporary, Percy Bysshe Shelley, and his famous poem, still resonate today more than ever.

Ozymandias

I met a traveller from an antique land
Who said: “Two vast and trunkless legs of stone
Stand in the desert . . . Near them, on the sand,
Half sunk, a shattered visage lies, whose frown,
And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command,
Tell that its sculptor well those passions read
Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,
The hand that mocked them, and the heart that fed:
And on the pedestal these words appear:
‘My name is Ozymandias, king of kings:
Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!’
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare
The lone and level sands stretch far away.”

Governments wax and wane. Dictators all fall. But heroes and heroes’ tales can live forever. Just like Martin Luther King Jr. Just like the Eroica Symphony. I am not giving up on the USA, and I pray that we all find true heroes in our lives. Until next time we meet, enjoy music, dive into poetry, and thanks for visiting thetonepoet.com.