MSC HST 70 Lecture Notes - Lecture 10: Rondo, Minuet
Document Summary
Music is an extension of the composer (personally connected) Before beethoven, music and musicians were not taken seriously (musicians were regarded as servants, low in the social class ladder) After beethoven, music"s importance was elevated and more respected. Vienna was a center of music in europe. Also during the time haydn became an internationally renowned composer. The ability of art that is not grounded in reality is uniquely capable of transcending its own time (contested notion) Beethoven"s works were thought to transcend reality. His music speaks to audiences much past his own time. Solomon"s biography was a psychoanalysis of beethoven"s life. Controversial book because of problems inherent in writing from a psychoanalytical perspective. With the aid of his music, beethoven wrapped himself in a protective cloak of his own daydreams. Freud writes that unsatisfied wishes are the driving power behind fantasies; every separate fantasy contains the fulfillment of a wish, and improves on unsatisfactory reality. (solomon, p. 27)
