The Late Beethoven and the New Synagogue

DAILY DOSE of BEETHOVEN (May 19, 2020)

We have recently presented a comparison of fugues from the three Beethoven's String Quartets: No. 4 in C minor, Op. 18; No. 9 in C major, Op. 59, No. 3; and No. 14 in C♯ minor, Op. 131. Whereas the first two were humorous, while the third expressed a profound sorrow. Today we take a closer look at it.

Beethoven, born in 1770, grew up in a time of great, sweeping change, and of great hope. In 1779, Gottfried Lessing wrote a play called Nathan the Wise, as a plea for religious tolerance. His character Nathan, the wise Jew, was based on the great Jewish philosopher Moses Mendelssohn, known as the German Socrates, whose influence founded the Haskalah, or Jewish Enlightenment. Moses' grandson, Felix, became a great composer, and as we shall see in a future episode, fan of Beethoven.

In 1782, the same year as Mozart was discovering Bach at the salon of Baron von Swieten, Mozart's patron, Emperor Joseph II, passed an Edict of Toleration, which removed many, but certainly not all of the restrictions on Jewish people within the Hapsburg Empire.

Beethoven, a great fighter for human freedom, accepted a commission from the Jewish community to compose music for the dedication of a new synagogue in Vienna. He was given copies of several Jewish prayers and hymns, including the Kol Nidre, so that he could steep himself in the spirit of the culture. For reasons unknown to us, the project was not carried out. But Beethoven took the music into his heart, and it very much affected his String Quartet Op. 131.

The included 5-minute audio, compares aspects of Op. 131 with the Kol Nidre, so you can judge for yourselves! Listeners who know more about this history than we do, we encourage you to please comment!

https://soundcloud.com/user-385773006/batns