7/25/2019 Beethoven and Cesar Franck
1/15
Beethoven and Cesar FranckAuthor(s): R. V. DawsonSource: Music & Letters, Vol. 11, No. 2 (Apr., 1930), pp. 110-123Published by: Oxford University PressStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/726340.
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2/15
BEETHOVEN
AND
CESAR
FRANCK
The
Church
whichwas
once
the mother
f
poets
no
less
than
of
saints,during he last twocenturieshas relinquishedo aliensthe
chief
gloriesof
poetry
f the chief
glories
of
holiness
she has
pre-
servedforher
own. The
palmn
nd
the
laurel,
Dominic
and
Dante,
sanctity
nd
song,grew
together
n her
soil;
she
has retained
he
palrn, but
forgone
he
laurel.
Poetry
in
its widest
sense,
and
when not
professedly
rreligious,
as
been
too
much
and too
long
among,
many
Catholics either
nisprised
r
distrusted;
too
much
and
too
generallyhe
feeling
as
been that
it is att est
superfluous,
at worst
pernicious,
most
often
dangerous.
AND n theveryyear thatFrancis Thompsonwrote hosewords,Cesar
Franck
was
blending
sanctity
and
song, and
entwining palm and
laurel.
After
years
of
conscientious
oil
and
humble
aspiration,
his
poetic
spirit
was
at last
bringing
orth
he fruit
f
sinmple
aith,
and
fusing
holiness
and
beauty.
In
the
next
year he
died,
little
known nd
still
less
understood,
but
leaving
a
small
band
of
disciples
through
whose
devotion
nd
energy
his
music
has
becorne
known
throughout
theworld.
And
this
understanding
as made
men
take
neasure
of his
stature,
and
speculate as
to
his
spiritual
ancestry.
The natureof his work,both n inspiration nd form, nvitescom-
parison
with
Beethoven,
and
Vincent
d'IIidy
immediately
grasped
such
affinities
s
may be
discerned; but
true
as
his
observations
may
be,
he
does not
express
the
fundamental
difference
etween
the
spiritual
experiencesof
the
two
composers.
He
approaches
his
com-
parison
from
the
point
of view
of
form,
and
argues that
Franck
trod a
new
path
only
roughly
ndicated
in
certain
of
Beethoven's
latest
works;
but
although
he
says
that
Franck
only
wrote
when
he
had
some
experience
o
embody,
he
does
not
interrelatehe
spiritual
and formalaffinitiesnd
divergencesof
the two
composers.
It
so
happensthat
the
comparison
f
Beethoven
and
Franck
forms
most
illuminating
ommentary n
the
transfusion f
spiritual
environment
and
the
inspiration
f
genius,
and,
at
the
same
time,
from
more
intimately
musical
point of
view,
illustrates
he
reaction
of
content
on
form.
The
most
significant
works
of both
these
musicians
are
inspired
by
the
deepest
penetrative
perception,and
reveal
unsur-
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BEETHOVEN AND CESAR FRANCK
111
passed
sincerity
nd faith,
but by most dissimilarpaths was
spiritual
affirmationttained. And
so, in form, he classical structure
which
bothuse is made plastic by the warmth f their creativegenius, and
bears the unmistakable mpress
f their
differences.
I
The extent
to which Beethoven and Franck represent he spirit of
their age, and the degree
n which they help to form his
spirit, are
questions ncapable of preciseanswer; for the genius perceives what
is
implicit
n.
hiis
spiritual
nvironment,
nid
yet
is the leader of those
same people of whom his
environments composed. It is as though
the artist pluimibshe subconscious of a people, revealing
deas and
tendencieswhich only became assimilated nto the ordinary
material
of
consciousness y a mostgradual process.
And
even then
the artist's
perceptions ecome
coloured
n
tlle process of expression
by his own
mnostntimate nd individual ntrospection. And it is
on the degree
of this
particularly
ndividual
element
that
the
fundamental ifteren-
tiationbetweenromantic nd classicalreallyrests. The classical mind
is
characterised
y
a
greater elf-effacement,
nd
in
its
finer
momentts
works from the widest possible
foundation;
t
grasps
the most per-
manent elements
and winnowsout
the
transient;it
conceives
these
elements
as
the
product
f
the
largermind,
the
mind of the
age,
and
does not
strive
to
leave the impress
of
individuality
writ
large,
but
leaves
it,
almost
unconsciously, ubtly
and
surely
writ. In conse-
quence,
the classical
forms
re
clearlv
defined,
but
slightly
flexible-
highly crystallised,yet
keenily
ensitive.
The romantic
is in
his
extremestmoments he antithesis f this. The mind,thespirituality
of
his
environment,
e sees in his
own,
or
refracted
hrough
his
own,
and
often
fails
to
dissociate
the
one
from
the other.
Instead of
his
spiritual process being synithetic
nd
basically
rational,
it becomes
analytical and intuitive;
t
tends mostly
to
emotionalism,
nd often
attains
a
morbid querulousness.
So
if
the
classical
attitudehas the
virtueof
breadth
of
view and
comprehenisiveness,
he
romantic
may
claim
a
greater ntimacy
nd
depth;
but neither
of these
tendencies
carried o
an
extreme
s
healthy.
A classicism
forgetting
hat a
sense
IL
hlumours essentialto a sense ofhumanity, s cold and sterile, ts
bleak
and
uncompromising
solation
will
attract but
few,
and them
often
for
effect
r
from
a
sense
of
curiosity.
It
is,
in
fact,
a
false
classicism,
as
false
as
the
romanticism
whose
introspection,
owever
penetrative,
ecomes circumscribed
nd
morbid,
nd whose
landscape
becomes a
parade ground
forfantastic
magery.
But
departing
from
extremes,
there
is
a
space
wherein a balanced
judgment
can blend
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112
MUSIC AND
LETTERS
the classical
nd
romantic
lements otheirmutual
dvantage.
Such
artists
s
Milton
nd Mozart
tandat
the
classical xtreme
f
such
a fusion, ettheir ympathiesindpersonalitiesre implicitn their
works.
Standing
earer
o
romanticism,
nd
surveying
ankind
ith
perhaps
profounder
enetrationhan
either
Milton or
Mozart,
s
Beethoven,
who
rested
ecure
n
a
position
where none
but the
greatest
enius ould
tand,
nd
remained ecause e
could ee
beneath
the
ephemeral
lements f
his
ideologicalnvironment.
is
insight
gave
him
just
view
of human
progress,
viewas
unassailable
nd
even
more
prophetic,
han
that which
ame
before
with
Rousseau's
constructivedeas
of
human
ociety,
r
that
which
ame
later
with
Darwin ndthedevelopmentfscience. In Beethovenheromantic
and
classical
elements,
he
subjective
nd
objective
ttitudes,
eem
to
be blended
n
perfect
roportions,
ut
Franck,
n
spite
of
his
adherence
o,
and
adaptation
f
classical
form,
was much
more
individualisticn
content,
nd
had
not
nearly o
mighty
mind s
Beethoven.
Turning
o
the
surroundingsn which
Beethoven
as cast
such
light,
there
s
revealed
Europe
more
minutely
nalysed
han at
any otherperiod. It is impossible o crystallisell the significant
events nd
ideas
into
few
entences, ut
t
is
essential
o
point o
more
general
endencies
f
the
century,s
a
prelude o
the
compre-
hensionf
Beethoven's
utlook.
The
period s
conventionally
egarded
as
one
of
spiritual
eclineon
the
one
hand,
and
of
rather
ncom-
promising
ationality
n
the
other, n
fact,
the age
of
reason.
Superficially
his
s
so,
but
the
mplications
f
uch
view re
unsatis-
factory,
or
heypoint
o an
eternal
onflict
f reason
nd
soul,
and
thisbased
on
the
assumption
hat
piritual
nsight
s
insusceptible
f
rational ffort,nd that the intellectmustbe lulled,rather han
quickened
yspiritual
motion.
Such
a
view,
rom
he
spiritual
ngle,
is
clearly
repared o
countenance
dhesion
o
outworn
radition
nd
dogma,
nd
apart
from
uch
a
passive tate
of
mind
being
cceptable
to
priests,
t found
o
effective
enial
mong
he
rationalists.
orso
keen
were
hey
o establish
he
omniscience
f
reason
hat
hey
ver-
looked
he
higher
nd
more
bstract
ctivities
f the
intellect,hose
activitieswhichwe
regard
s
merging nto
the
perceptions
f
the
soul.
And
the cause
of
rationalists
as
further
itiated
by
their
ideas becomings dogmaticnd rigid s thedogmas ftheChurch
they
derided;
yet
for hose
deas
men
made a
revolution
s
deep
and
far-reaching
s
any
precipitatedn
the
cause
of
the
Church.
'La
Revolution
era donc
deologique
t
dogmatique,'
t was
remarked,
and ike ll
causes
fought
or
rinciples,
elentless,
ogical
nd humour-
less,
t
wrought
tremendous
onvulsionn
all
but
man
himself.
But
those
years
which
were
forminghe
material
or
Beethoven's
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BEETHOVEN
AND CESAR
FRANCK 113
spiritualynthesis
id see a
positive
ecline
n the
spirituality
f
the
Church, quite
unconnectedwith
the direct
challenge
of
the
Philosophes. The great eaders,Fenelon ndBossuet,for nstance,
had
been replaced y smaller
men,while
he Church s
a
whole
was
divided
ythe
ction
f
Josephism,
allican ndFebronian
endencies,
and
the germane
ntagonismf
deas of
the
supremacy
f
the
Bishop
ofRome nd of
papal nfallibility.
n
its
moredomestic
spectslso,
it was
losinggrip.
The
life
of the
upper
lergy
was
one
of
luxury;
services
were
becoming
xcuses
for
concerts,
nd
preaching
was
declining.
Louis XVI once remarked
fter
sermon,
If the
Abbe
had
only aid a little bout
Christianity
here
s
no
subject
which
he
wouldhaveleftuntouched.'As Dr. Pullansays, Amid hepeach-
coloured
marble,
he
gilded
cornices,
the
floating
herubs,
and
columns wistinghemselves
n
sympathy
ith
tatues f
saints
who
writhe
n
eloquence
r
ecstasy,
t.
Benedict nd
St.
Bernard
ould
only
have come
as
visitors,
ll
at
ease
if not
ndignant.'
Nor
was
Protestantism
n a
more
healthy tate,
while
on
the other ide
the
sons
of
the
ge ofreasonwere
ccumulatingnowledge
nd
contesting
their
deas with
ssiduity
nd conviction.And on a humbler
lane
than that of philosophy,deas of freedomnd social justicewere
finding
xpression.One has
only
to
look into
the
highways nd
byways
f
iterature,
nd to
recall
xamples
uch
as
Marivaux's
Jeu
de l'Amour t
du
Hasard
where
parental
uthority
s
disregarded,
or
Beaumarchais's Barbier
de
Seville
'
whereCount
Almaviva's
rank
is impotent ithout
he
cunning
f
Figaro.
There were, hen,
two main
sources
of inspiration, he
direct
spirituality
f
the Church,
arrnished
y neglect
nd
crusted ver
with
dogma ikely
o repelthosenot
prepared o
movepatientlynd
go deep,andthe ntellectualspiration fthePhilosophes,ttractive
equally
to
the
dilettante
nd
the seriousthinker.
The
practical
experience f the Church xtended ver
centuries, ut
much of it
had
been rejected r
ill-garnered;he
Philosophes
ad ranged nly
overthe
fields
f
verbiage
nd
theory.
Moreover,oth
ystems ad
deficienciesn
common, hey
were
two narrow
nd toorigid; but
while
hey ontended
itterly,eethoven
ameto
manhoodn a world
which
ought hefusion
f
ntellect nd
soul,whichwas
finding irst
principles
nd
despairing
superstructure,nd
whichwas
eeking ruth
alongtheroadof abstract erfectibility,ather han that ofhuman
progress.
Beethoven'sntellect ecame
the focusof two
seemingly
opposed
endencies,
nd
by
abstractinghespirit
f Christ
rom he
encumbrance
f
he
Church,
nd
dissociating
eason rom
ts
attendant
materialism
nd
idolatry,
t
brought
ogether purified
pirit nd
an
ennobled
eason or
heprocreationf
a
love-begottenaith nd a
hope
unmoved y the
ephemeral
isillusion fevents.
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6/15
114
MUSIC AND
LETTERS
Cesar
Franckwas bornfive
years
before eethovern's
eath,
and
into
a world
eacting
n
almost
ll
its aspects
ronm
he one
in
which
Beethoven ad lived. Following 815, theyears hatshattered ew
hopes brought ack old faiths, nd gave the world
n
place of
a
spiritual evaluation, religious evival. During hose
years,
men
sought o derive uture
spiration
rom
ast xperience,ndtosubsti-
tute a readjustmentora revolution.They would
brookno com-
promisewith he
anti-god heyhad defeated, nd spurned he prin-
cipleswhichhad been
parodied y their
xponents-liberty
hat
had
degeneratednto icence, quality
hat had
merely
hifted
he
centre
of
gravity
rom
ristocracy
o
bourgeoisie,
nd
fraternity
vershadowed
bytheguillotine.The ruleofthe deologistsadfaded n thetwilight
of
theirgods, and
war-worni
ations elt
that the old is
good.
The
volcano,men hoped,
was extinct, ertainlydormant,
nd
kings,
statesmen nd prelates
nited
o
uproot
ll
tracesof
the eruption.
But
sedulous s they
were
n
bringing ack theancien
regime n its
outwardorms hey ouldnot
revive
ts
spirit. There was
a
feeling
thatmankind
ad entered
pon
a
new
era,
had inherited ew
hopes
and aspirations.Andmoreover,herevolutionary
lement as almost
moredangerousn defeat han thad been n victory. t had been
driven nder,
but
was chastened
y experiencend realised he
dis-
parity
etween
ts
philosophy
nd
man's psychology.Aware f its
deficienciesoth
n word
nd deed, t moved
orward
ore autiously,
ramifyinghrough hewhole amut f man's activities.
The revolu-
tionary ttitude
recipitatedutbreaks ll over Europe,and loosed
pent-up ationalities,
ut t was n the ntellectualnd
spiritual
man-
cipation
f
mankind hatthe
deepest ignificancef the
centuryay.
Rationalism hat et
out
s a crudeutilitarianismecame
efinednd
enlighteneds yearswentby. The scientificpirit, s weunderstand
it, applied ts infinite
iligence
nd
critical cumen oevery spect
of
life.
But
at
firstt
was
a
rough ool,roughly sed,
and
sought oreduce
the wholerange
of
man's
experience
o
concreteaws. It fell nto
conflict ith
he
Church,
nd
goodCatholicslosed he
door ndretired
within
heir
wn
house;
and
they
had a
worthy
ouse.
The
vitality
of the Catholic
hurch
hroughout
he nineteenth
entury
as
almost
greater
han
n
the
days
of Hildebrand
r
of
the
Counter-Reformation,
for t survived conflictmoreprofoundhan any precipitatedy
thepoliticalntagonism
f
he
mediwval
tate,
r
thedoctrinal
ttitude
of
Protestantism.
t was faced
by positive rreligion
nd
a
grossness
of
outlook
which vershadowed
iner
erceptions,
nd
certainly
rove
some of
the
keenest
ensibilities ithin
he
Church.
They
felt hat
they perceived
omething
mightier
han the works f
reason,
nd
found
he Church
trongy
o withstand
ssmlt,
for
t
emerged
rom
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7/15
BEETHOVEN
AND
CE:SAR
FRANCK
115
the shadows f Napoleonic
omination
ith
he
set
purpose
f
resus-
citating
ts
weakened
ingdom
ver the souls of men. There
was
thepoliticalspect fthisrevival,herestorationfthePapal States,
thereligious actor
n
the
BelgianRevolution,
he
Sonderbund
nd
theKulturkampf,
hen
ven
Bismark
was
remindedf
Canossa.
But
the
day
of a
political
hurch
ad
gone,
nd
the re-establishment
f
the
Jesuits as
a
more owerfuline
of attack. More
ignificanttill,
however,
as the influence
f
Alphonsus iguori, ulminating
n
the
proclamationy his disciple,
he
renowned
io
Nono,
of
thedoctrine
of
Papal
Infallibility.
nd at
the same
time,
ome
of
the
most
dis-
tinguishedrenchwriters,
hateaubriand,
e
Maistre,
e Bonald nd
Lamennaisweredevotiingheir bilitiesothedefencefChristianity,
and
seeking
o catholicise
iberalism;
while
n
Germany
here
was
an
opposite endency,most
marked
n
the writingsfDollinger,
o
intellectualiseatholicism.
But
the lasting victory ay
with
the
authoritarianrinciples
fUltramontanismnd
the
closing
f
thedoor
to the
ntellectualnd national haracteristicsf the
century.
So,
as
in
Beethoven's
ime,
here
were
wo
broad
urrentsf
mental
and
spiritual
ctivity,
eeminglymutually xclusive,
ut
here
the
choicewasmoredifficult. n the one handwas an intellectualism
stabilised y experience,
onvincing,
nd
day by day ustifyingtself
byworks;
on the
other
hand was
the
Church,
watchfulnd
active,
visiblymanifesting
he
Kingdom
f
God
that
t
preached,
nd
ustify-
ing
tself
y
faith.
n
this
tmosphere
esar
Franck
grew p. Eight
years
after
his
birth,Belgium
evolted
gainst
her
arbitrary
nd
anomalous nion
with
Holland,
nd
religion
was
a
leadingfactor
n
the
revolt. During is earlymanhood e sawin
Francethe gradual
victoryfUltramontanism
ver he Gallican
radition,fter conflict
extendingverforty earsfromheRestorationf1814. And n his
music, ranck
xpresses spiritualtatewhichmust
havebeen hat f
many sincere
Catholics
uring hose anxiousyears-the doubt, he
yearning,
hedawningnsight
nd theglorious
ffirmation.e stands
as a supremeexample of
intuitive onviction f the
beauty and truth
of the
Church's
eaching,
conviction otpassively ssumed,but
mysticallyttained.
The
differencesetweenhe religious erceptions
f Beethovennd
Franck,
nd
their pproachhereto eem most
xpressivelymbodied
in the words Seek andye shall find: Knock nd it shall be opened
untoyou.'
There re,
after
ll, only woways fattaining aith, he
one
by
building
t
up stepby step,
the
other
by
waiting eceptively
and
acceptingnquestioningly. he former
rocess s infinitelyhe
rarer,
nd
also themore
aluable, or t makes positive ontribution
to the
spiritual eritage fcivilisationy extending
omeelement f
Vol.
1.
3
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8/15
116
MUSIC
AND
LETTERS
originality,
f
not
n
basis,
certainly
n
synthesis.
There s
profound
truth
n what
rofessor hitehead
as
said:
There is
very ittle
real first-hand
xpression
n
the
world.
By
this
I
mean that most
expression s what
may
be termed
respon-
sive
expression,
namely, expression
which
expresses
intuitions
elicited by the
expressionsof others. This
is as
it
should
be;
since
in
thisway what
s
permanent,mportant
nd widely
pread,
receives
more nd more
clear
definition.
But there is need
for something
more
than
this
responsive
expression.
For
it
is
not true that
there s
easy
apprehension f
the
great
formative
eneralities.
They are
embedded
under the
rubbish
of
irrelevant
etail.
Men
knew a
lot
about
dogs
before
theythoughtof backbones and of vertebrates. The great intui-
tionswhich
n
their
respective
rovinces et
all
things
ight, awn
but slowly upon
history.
With
this
prevalenceof
responsive
xpression,we tare
sed
to
a
learned
literature
and
to
imitative
conduct.
When we get
anything
which
is
neither
earned
nor
imitative,
t
is
often
very
evil.
But sometimes
t is
genius.
Now
in
the light of
this,
the
differentiationf
Beethoven and
Franck
becomes more
clear.
Beethoven built
up his
faith on the
widest possible foundations, he revaluation of accepted ideas, the
widening f
conceptions
nd the
deepeningof
penetration. His
work
is typicalof the mind
which
submitsthe
notions
of a past age
to the
criticism
f
present
knowledge,
nd
thereby
osters
constant djust-
ment and
a
gradual
process
of
evolution.
Branches of
dogma that
had withered nd ceased
to be
fruitful,
e
cut
away,
unrestrained
y
any
access of
sentimentality,nd in
consequence of his
perceptions,
he
stands among
the great
geniuses of
the
world. Without
dding a
factto man's stockofknowledge, e took, as Shakespeare did, all that
mankind
grasped, and
made
it
new. He
gatheredup
all
the
attain-
ments
and
aspirations
ike
so
many
threads,
and
wove their
diversity
into a
wonderful ew
fabric.
He gave
the world
re-examination
nd
a
new
synthesis,
new
expression voking ts
proper
response.
How
different
as
the
faith
f
Franck His
expression
s
responsive
expression,
ess
comprehensive,
more
intimate,
but
not
nearly
so
significant.
His
view
was
limited
by
the
Church;
he
accepted
its
dogmas and
traditions.
His
attitude
then,
is
not
synthetic,
or he
acceptsmeeklythesynthesishe is given,the synthesis fthe Roman
Catholic
Church,
and
awaits
patiently
the
affirmation
f
its truth.
His
contribution
ould
not
be
to the
comprehensive
spect
of
spiritual
life; he
was not
synthetic,
ut
analytic.
And
here
he
cannot
ead,
he
can
only
affirm he fact
of
affirmation.
His
expression
s
responsive
expression
it
by
his own individualattainment.
He cannot
take
his
faith
and show the
process
by
which
it
was
built
up,
but
he
can
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BEETHOVEN AND
C-ESAR
FRANCK
117
take
the
faithhe
has
received
nd
disclose ts
beauty
and
its
holiness.
He can
persuade others
to wait
patiently
until revelation
comes
to
them,he cannotlead themto revelation. He is intuitive,mystical,
and
only
to be
approached
n
the
spirit
of his
own
works,
with
patience
and with
humbleness of
heart.
It must
not
be
inferred,
however,
that
Franck was
in
any
sense
a
thorough-going
omantic,
for
had
he been
he
would have
been
drawn
to
the vital
romantic
orms
bout
him,
instead
of
being
moved
to
classical
expression
which
had
been
continued,
but
only
slightly
developed
since
Beethoven's
time.
But
it
seems clear
from
the
nature
of
his
individualism
hat
he
had
a
pronounced omantic train
in his thought. His
singular
naivete
and that
intensely
personal
idiom
are
unmistakable
igns of it.
But
along
with
these elements
of
romantic
egoism,
there
seem
to
be
traces
of
another
egoism,
a
classical
egoism
which Mr.
Lascelles
Abercrombie
as
differentiated.
In
'
Romanticism'
he
says:
In
this
matter
of
egoism,
some
comparison
seems
possible
between
classicism
and
romanticism.
For oftenenough we
hear
of egoism in poets pre-enminentorthe classicism of their art:
Milton and
Goethe,for
example.
But
this
is not
the
egoism
we
have
ust been
considering;
ot the
poet's
sense
of
such
importance
in
himself
hat he
forgets
r
discredits he
importance f
the world
he
must
inhabit;
or
perhaps
mnakes
ts
importance
epend
on
its
ability,o
nourish
his
regard for
himself.
Milton
and
Goethe
(I
exclude
the
latter's
adolescent
egoism) were
interested
n
them-
selves,
and
deeply concerned
o
cultivate
themselves,
precisely n
order
that
they
might
be fit and
able
to
make
the
world
their
topic.
They
devotedtheir
rt
to
the
truth
f
t, and
to the
destiny
of
its
people;
and
just
because
they felt
themselves
apable of
an
adequate consciousness fthe worldwerethevso vividly onscious
of
themselves.
So
with
Beethoven,
but
Franck's
'
adequate
consciousness
was
limited
o
the
Church, nd
this
classical
egoism
he
blended
with
that
other
egoism
of an
intensely
personal
type.
His
general
experience
seems
to be
not
unrelated
o
that of
St.
Francis of
Assisi, and
uncon-
sciously
he
wove
into
the
fabric of
Catholic
Christianity
hreads of
what
Dean
Inge
has
distinguished
s a
third
type
of
Christianity,
the Platonic or mysticaltype. Beethoven had
much
more
of
the
classical
and
less of
the
romantic
element,
almost
to
the
entire
exclusion
of
mysticism,
nd
even if
one
sees
this
in
his
latest
works,
it
is
because
he
has
completed
his
synthetic
rocess,
and
had
turned
to
the
analysis
of
all
its
implications.
Franck
received
a
faith
and
justified t
before
himself,
Beethoven
built
up a
faith
and
justified
it
before
mankind.
But
Franck
seemed
to
be
clingingto
a
passing
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118
MUSIC,
AND
LETTERS
order f
hings. As
Deain
nge
says,
cclesiasticismas been
from
he
highest oint
f
view
failure, nd
there s a
pronounced
ovement
from uthorityo experience,nd a craving or faithunafraid f
scientific
rogress.
Franck
blended
elements of
authority
nd
experience,
ut
Beethovenooked
to
a
higher
authority
han an
obscurantist
nstitution,
nd found
t to
be based
uipon
he
cumula-
tive
experience
f
mankind.
He
grasped he
fundamental
ecessity
of
fusing
ntellect nd
soul,that
the one
may
support,
nd
the
other
uplift; nd to all who
realise
this
necessity,
eethoven
must
be
a
mighty
rophet,
evealing
ll
thathad
ain
mplicit
n
Christ's
eaching
of
human
rotherhood,nd
pointing
ut
the
broad
oad
to attainment.
But whatevermaybe the relative alue of theirrespectivex-
periences, e
rest
profoundly
onvinced
hat
each
of
them
found
y
his own
path,
he
affirmation
f
his
faith,
hat
he who
ought
ound,
and
to him
that
knocked
t
was
opened.
II
Turningnow
from
he
spiritual
nvironmentnd
perceptionsf
Beethoven nd
CesarFranck
to the
works
n which
hey
mbodied
these
perceptions, e
realise
thatnot
only
werethey
menof
keen
insight
whohad
somethingo
express,
ut artists
eeply
oncerned
withthe
actual
expression. They
were
both
artists
redominantly
classical
n
their
onceptionsf
form; nd in
his
essayon
'
Brahms
and
the
Classical
Tradition,' ir
Henry
Hadow has
describedhe
classical
omposers
'
one
whopays
hehighest
egard
ohis
medium,
whoaims before ll things t perfectionf phraseand structure,
whose deal
is
simple
beauty, nd
whosepassion
he
love of
style.'
Clearly
uch statement
an
only
pply
n
entirety
o such
classicist
as
Mozart,
nd
even
he,
in
his
latest
days, seemsto
have added
to
this
particularly
absolute
aspiration
certain
piritual
ontent.
But
Beethoven
nd
Franckboth
had
something
erypositive o
say,
and
much of
their
greatness
ies in
their
having
adapted
form
o
content
ith
he
minimum
eparture
rom
he
dignitynd
lucidity f
classical
tyle.
But
the
very
factof their
having
omethingo
say
militatedgainsttheiradoption f a purely lassicalstructure,or
the
ultimate
oal
of
the classical
omposer
s
beauty,where
ontent
and
form
re
one. But
beauty,
bsolute
eauty,
s
always
beyond,
elusive
ven to
him
who
pursues
eauty
or
beauty's
ake,
who
feels
it
is
the
be-alland the
end-all
here,
and
for
whom
eauty s
truth.
Such
a
one
is
the
lover
of
Mozart,
ut the
poet
has
told
us
more,
'
Beauty
s
truth,
ruth
eauty-truth
is
beauty,
nd in
thisturn
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BEETHOVEN
AND
CESAR FRANCK
119
of phrase there is enfolded the difference between Mozart
and
Beethoven. The one soughtbeauty and disclosed ts truth, he other
pursued truth nd revealed ts beauty. For beauty and truth re one
only where the two roads meet, and when the day is bright and
the
horizon clear
there
is
sometimes keen second
of
exquisite oy,
when we seem to see theirmeeting.
Beethoven and Franck, and the former articularly ecause of
his
explicit nunciation, re inclined to make the more profound ppeal,
for ruthhas always been associated withChristianity, hereasbeauty
as an end in itselfhas frequently een associatedwith pagan outlook.
So
narrow
view
is
declining,
but
there
s
still a desire
among
some
to derive frommusic an emotional uplift s remote fromreligionas
fromthe higher paganism. But when Beethoven came upon the
classical style, it was tending, except in the hands of Haydn
and
Mozart, to become a formula. Beethoven had to infuse a new
vitality, nd he did it by humanising the intellectualand spiritual
aspiration
to
beauty, just
when it was in
danger
of
becoming
too
rarefied nd of osing tself n the vacuousnessof llimitable pace. He
introduced
n
element of
emotion such as
is
inseparable
from
pro-
foundconviction, eplacedconventionalwit by spontaneoushumour,
and
grace by majesty.
His
structural daptations arred one by
one
on
the sensibilities of his hearer, but they ceased only
with
his
death;
and
now we
can
see
that
he entirely ransformedhe Mozartian
sonata form,yet left unimpaired ts fundamental rinciple
of
clearly
defined
contrast
of
movements. The noblest example
of
this,
the
FifthSymphony, mbodiedmany of his changes, but it has withstood
the
wolfings
f
hungry
riticism nd
now
scarcely
feels
the
impotent
pecking f
academic
bills.
The
fulfilment
f
his
blended spiritual
nd
artistic aim culminatedin the Choral Symphony,and up to the
momentof its
completion,
he
had
been mainly concerne'd
with
the
sonata
form,
but
the latest quartets and sonatas reveal a constant
attention
o
two othergreat forms, he variation nd the fugue,while
there
is
found
a
cyclical
treatment
based
on
melodic, harmonic
and
rhythmic
elations.
And
here
it
is,
in
these
latest
innovations,
that
Vincent D'Indy saw the beginning f the road his mastertrod.
Beethoven,
the
noble
outcome of
classic force,who began by
writing urelyformal ymphonicworks,beforehe won the place
of
a
genius
in the
upward progressof his art, marked out by
the
works
f
his
third
period 1815-1827)
new
road, and although
he himself
did
not travel
far
along it, he left t open for such of
his
successors
s
were
endowed
with a
sufficientlyobust empera-
ment
to
force
their
way along it, knowing
lso
how to avoid the
dangers heymight ncounter.
The
question nvolved
no
less than the transformation,r rather
the
renovation,
f the sonata
form,
that
admirable basis of all
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120
MUSIC
AND
LETTERS
symphonic rt
which
had
been
accepted
by
all musicians
from
he
seventeenth
entury onward
by
virtue
of its
hiarmonious
ogic.
Beethoven
indicated
the
manner of this
renovation, omewhatunconsciouslyperhaps, but not the less surely,by associating
with'the
architectural
lan
of the
sonata
two other
forms
which
had,
so far,
been
essentially
divided
from
t.
One,
namely the
fugue,
had
enjoyed,
with
J. S.
Bach
and
his
predecessors nd
contemporaries,
moment f
neffable
plendour;
the
other,
the
great
variation-form-which,
et
me
say
at
once,
has
nothing
in
common
with
the "theme
and
variations
('
theme
varie )
which
was
the
joy
of
Haydn's
audiences, and
the despairof
pianists
of
the romantic
chool-had already
been
anticipated
y
that universal
pirit,
J.
S.
Bach,
anrid
n
a
few
very
rare nstancesby someother omposers.These
two
forms,
traditional
perhaps, but
from
which
the
vitality
appeared to
be
gradually
ebbing
away,
were
employed
by Beethoven
to
revivify
he
languishing
orm
f
the
sonata, and
this was
the
point
of
departure
f a
new
system
of
musical
struc-
ture which
was,
however,
olidly
based
upon
classical
tradition.
Now
when
Beethoven
had
built
up
his
faith in
the
freedomof
mankind,when he had
completed
the
comprehensive
ynthesis,
he
turned nuponhimself nd explored ubjectivelyhe mplications fhis
faith; he
employed,
quite
naturally,
two
forms
which are
funda-
mentally
nalytic,
the
fugue
and
the
grand
variation,
and he
unifidd
the
aspects of
his
contemplation
v elements
of a
cyclical
treatment.
Then
came
Franck
some
years
later with
an
objective
faith
subjec-
tively
ustified, nd
a
spiritual
process
broadly
consonant
with
that
of
Beethoven in
his
last
years.
Naturally, he
too
used
analytical
forms
o
investigate he faith
he
had
received, and
developed sonata
form
on
these
new
lines.
But
Brahms,
whose
spiritual
outlook was
somewhatakin to that of Beethoven beforethose last years, pre-
servedthe
essentials of
sonata
form,or
as
d'Indy
prefers,
ontinued
sonata
form,while
Cesar
Franck
developed t.
But
it
is
not
mpossible
to
opine
that
Franck
developed
away
from
it,
and
by
destroying
the
contrastof
movements,
approached
a
form of
monologue and
took
a
step from
ymphony
o
symphonic
oem.
Few
composers of
high
standing
have
written
o
much
that is
unworthy
s
did
Franck,but
neglecting
his
dross, we
may
single
out
both fromhis works and those of Beethoven, the ones whichhave
immediate
bearing
on
spiritual
development. With
the
otherswe
are
not
concernedhere,
except
perhaps
to
mention
Psyche
where
the
Christian
ymbolism
hat Franck
found n
the
classical
myth
serves
rather
to
indicate
that his
faithwas
at
times
more
an
obsession
than
a
possession, than
to
vindicate
any
originality
f
treatment.
But
reverting
o
the
works of
profounder
meaning,
Beethoven's
progress
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BEETHOVEN
AND
CESAR
FRANCK
121
to
affirmation
eems to halt
briefly
n three
succeeding peaks
of
attainment,
the Third, Fifth
and
Ninth
Symphonies.
The
Third
representsthe firstphase of his belief in the goodness of a freed
mankind.
It
was
writtenwhen
French
revolutionary
deas
pervaded
Europe,
and
at
a
time when
Beethoven
was
still
regarding
uonaparte
as a hero
and
deliverer.
Consequently
his thoughtwas of
a
political
and
social
freedom,
freedomborn
of
justice and
equality,
and
the
spiritual
spect of
a
heroismby
which
this was to be
accomplished
e
enshrined
in
the
Eroica.
But
by
the time
he
wrote
his
Fifth
Symphony
he
had
been
disillusioned
nd
fetterswere
again
clinging
to
man, but
there
was still a
freedom
within
his
grasp,
a
freedom f
will. And it is the essence of the conflicts f freewill which he
expresses in the
Fifth
Symphony.
Whether
or not we
attach
any
significance o his
specific
mention
of fate
in
connection
with
the
opening
phrase,
there s
little
doubt hat
his
Europe must
have
seemed
in
the hands
of a
fate,a
fate
that had inflicted
he
defeatsof
Ulm
and
Austerlitz,
Jena,
Auerstadt
and
Friedland in
twenty
months.
And
even
ignoring his fateful
nvironment, ne
must remember
he
had
reached
that
period of
his life
comparable
to
Shakespeare's
tragic
period,
nd
quite
apart from
hat
he was
undergoing n
intellectual nd
spiritualevolutionwhichwas bound some day to bringhim face
to
face
with
the
idea
of fate.
But
fate
is not a
spiritual
conception,
it
is
not a
source of
strength, ut
a
confession
f
weakness,
and it
offers
n
explanationonly
to
thosewho
will
not look
beyond
t,
but
denies that
fundamental
reedom
or which
Beethoven
was
seeking.
So he
met this
unspiritual
antagonist
and
vindicatedthe
freedom
of
his
will.
After
hree
symphonies
f joy
such
as one
might
expect
after such
a
triumph,
came
the last,
the
Ninth,
perhaps
the
most
comprehensiveutteranceever made by man. Sixteen years after
the Fifth,
and ten
after
the
Eightlh
Symphony,
t
came
when his
outlook
was
matured,
his soul
revealed and
his
experience
garnered.
And
then
he
surveyed
the
whole
scene of
life, its
decisions and
conflicts,
ts
moments
of
abysmal
darkness,
the
holiness
of
dawning
light,
and the
transcending
oy
of
affirmation.Can
one
wonder
that
the
sonata
form
was
suited to
the
embodiment f
his
experience?
It
allowed
him
to
build
up and
express ividly
ach phase
of the
problem
he
was
facing; it was
a
synthetic
tructure
with
synthetic
content.
Franck's
most
significant
workswere
written
n
the latest
period
of his
life,
and
even
had
he built
up a
faith
we should
be
unable
to
trace
the stages.
But his
life
and his
works ell us
that
he
received
a
faith, and
his
entire
spiritual
process
was
the
passage from
doubt
to
certainty. It is
a state
revealed n
most of
his best
works, nd
the
differences
etween
them exist
not
in
problem
but in
musical
presen-
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122
MUSIC
AND
LETTERS
tation,
nd
so,
as
he
analysed
his
ccepted
elief
ntil
t
became
n
ingrown
aith,
e
expressed
imself
n
analytical
orms
nd
developed
cyclical xpression.To emphasisehis sameness fhis process ne
has
only
to
recall
those
complaining,
oubting,
uestioning
hemes
with
which
his
works
egin,
or
nstance,
he quintetallegro
of
the
first
movement),
A
the
symnphonic
ariations,
and
the
symphony,
EX
3
while n each case therefollows ne of thosethemeswhichhave
been described
s
moonlit.
And
then
pervading
verything
s
the
Franck
diom,
but
beautiful
nd mystical
hough
t
be,
we
cannot
help
remembering
hatFranck
wrote language
of
his
own
and
spoke
bouthimself;
eethoven
eveloped
he
language
f
his
time
and
spoke
about
mankind.
This
means
no
disparagement
f
either
Franck
or
his
art,
forhe
infused
ll
his
music
with
he
goodness
f
his
soul,
and
even
his
defects,
is
occasional
iffuseness
nd
heavi-
ness,
resulted
rom
his
conscientious
orkmanship.
And
he
who
wouldunderstandhe fullness f Franck'smessagemustwait as
Franck
did,patiently
nd
receptively,
ntil
ll
is
revealed;
ut
t
will
be
revealed
ofew,
nd
they
will
ive
n
a faith
which
was
clouded
ut
never
clipsed,
nd
which
hone
forth
ot
with
flood
f
glory,
ut
with
serene
pervasive
ight,
uffusing
hatsoever
is
hands
found
to
do,
with
simple
ove
whose
radiance
asseth
ll
understanding.
Of
all
this
he told
in
a
symphony,
hose
oveliness
eems
hardly
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15/15
BEETHOVEN
AND
CESAR
FRANCK
123
consistent
withdoubt,
but how
different
s
that openingtheme
from he
one
which
bursts
from
he
mysteriously
regnant
ntro-
duction fBeethoven'sNinth ymphony.And thenhowconsonant
is
the nterweaving
f the
slow
movement
nd
scherzo
with
he
out-
lookthat
has
never
known
he blackness f despair,nor the
almost
blinding
lory
f sudden
realisation,
nd
how remote hat
delicate
scherzo
heme
romhe headlong, rantic ushof Beethoven's
econd
movement.
Finally,
here
s that
yclical
weaving
fthemes
inding
the
last
movement
o those
which
had
preceded
t, and
wholly
different
rom
he
reminiscences
f the
past that Beethoven
ncor-
porated
n the
choral
finale.
There
eems
no
shadow
fdoubt
hat
in broadmanipulationf symphonic orm,both Beethovenand
Franck
worked
rimarily
t the
dictate
f
theirnner xperience,
nd
theme
y theme
we
can
see contrasted
he
spiritual
dventurer
nd
thespiritual
ome-lover,
he
character
f
'Ex
and
of
Ex s
And so,
in
this
comparison
f
Franck nd Beethoven,
e
see how
close
each
was
to
his environment,
ow
they
used he
aspirations
f
theirspiritual
nsight
nd
artistic
enius,
how the derivation
nd
development
f
Franck
fromBeethoven
may
be more fully
under-
stood
n
spiritual
han
on
purely
musical onsiderations,
nd
finally,
how
they
howed hat by
the
most
diverse
outes
may
men
attain
what lone
s
wholly
orth ttaining, living
aith.
B.
V. DAWSON.
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