Ludwig van Beethoven's religious beliefs

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The role of religious belief in the work of the celebrated composer Ludwig van Beethoven is a matter of disagreement among scholars.

Beethoven was born and raised a Roman Catholic, and he composed many religious works, among them the Mass in C and the Missa Solemnis. Lyrics references within his Ninth Symphony are both deistic (Cherub and God), and pagan/mythological (Elysium). It is also documented that Beethoven never attended church and he had a mistrust of priests. Beethoven's teacher Joseph Haydn said he considered Beethoven an atheist, while his friend and biographer Anton Felix Schindler felt he was "inclined towards deism." It is also known that Beethoven became enamored with Pantheism as espoused by Goethe and, as evidenced by the Ninth Symphony, Schiller. Of Goethe, Beethoven said, "he is alive, and he wants us all to live with him. That is why he can be set to music."

"In matters of religion Beethoven was sensitive and uncommunicative. According to Schindler, he declared that one ought not to discuss religion or thoroughbass. His belief in a personal God is undisputed; pantheistic interpretations of a few outbursts of a religious feeling for nature among Beethoven's written words will not stand up to close examination. His religious views derived from the "enlightened Catholicism" of the Rhineland, but they were permeated by an intensity that involved not only his emotions but his whole personality and set him on a course of his own, which diverged considerably from that of the Age of Reason. He saw to it that his nephew went to confession and fulfilled his religious obligations; whether he had only educational ends in view when insisting on the observance of those duties, or whether it corresponded to his own practice, must remain a matter for surmise. The way in which Beethoven matured inwardly under the hard trials and blows of fate is evident, above all, from his last recorded utterances. On the 14th March 1827, barely a fortnight before his death, he wrote to Ignaz Moscheles in London: "...Indeed, a hard lot has fallen upon me! But I resign myself to the will of destiny, and only ask God constantly to grant through His divine will that, so long as I must still suffer death in life here, I am protected from penury. This will give me the strength to bear my lot, however hard and grievous, with resignation to the will of the Almighty." It is recorded that, as he lay dying, he said, "Plaudite, amici, comoedia finita". In the sketches for the Missa solemnis, among the drafts for the mighty Fugue at the end of the Credo the same thought is found: "Applaudite amici!" Here, at the words "et vitam venturi saeculi", there comes to the fore the fundamental idea which gave Beethoven strength in all the trials and tribulations of his life: the sufferer sees a gleam of radiant light - the hope of life everlasting. This light, and awe before the last and eternal things, brighten the depths at Beethoven's life and work."

Beethoven's faith in God as experienced through art is an important theme in his conversation books, his belief that art is a force unto itself, and that "God is closer to me than others of my art", infuse his search for redemption through and in music. This view seems to be complementary to Pantheism, and not necessarily the view and faith he was born into. The reference to a single God would make this statement equally complementary to Christianity, however.

While Beethoven was on his deathbed, his friends convinced him to allow a priest to administer the last rites even though he supposedly protested. Upon the priest finishing the rites and leaving the room Beethoven uttered the words, "Applaud, my friends, the comedy is over." Not only is it disputed as to whether or not this event took place, it is also disputed as to whether Beethoven was referring to the rites or to his life. Rumors abound that his final words, "Not yet! I need more time!" were accompanied by the shaking of his fist toward the stormy sky.

It is known that in his final years Beethoven referred to Missa Solemnis as "the crown of his life's work". Missa Solemnis is composed in accordance with the standard Musical Catholic Mass, which is to say that the text is similar to that of Schubert or, say, Bruckner's Masses. However, this does not constitute evidence that Beethoven died a Catholic any more than his having written The Creatures of Prometheus indicates he died a believer in the Greek Pantheon. (The "Choral" Symphony #9 features references to the Greek fields of "Elysium", a heavenly sort of place.)

Somewhat further afield, Beethoven evidently had an interest in Hinduism. According to the Web site "A Tribute to Hinduism", "He was first introduced to Indian literature by the Austrian Orientalist, Joseph von Hammer-Purgstall (1774-1856), who founded a periodical for the dissemination of Eastern knowledge in Europe as early as January 1809". The fragments of Indian religious texts that have been discovered in Beethoven's diary Tagebuch (entries 61-65)^[1], are partly translations and partly adaptations of the Upanishads and the Bhagavad Gita.

[edit] References

1. ^ Solomon, Maynard. Beethoven Essays. ISBN 0-674-06379-1.

Ludwig van Beethoven
Life and work • Musical style and innovations • Beethoven and his contemporaries • List of works