I remember as a kid, sitting in our apartment on an Air Force base in Germany, listening to the radio. As I recall, we had one English language radio station, run by the military. There was a daily classical music program that I’d sometimes listen to, a refreshing window in an otherwise dark and empty time.
The announcer was a soft-spoken man who used the second movement of Beethoven’s piano sonata #8 as the program’s theme song. During one show, he talked about how he’d grown up hearing his sister practice this piece, and I thought that was delightful.
Music was a family investment, and it makes the announcer’s memory even more touching. He wasn’t remembering a famous masterpiece; rather he was remembering a sound that drifted through the house while his mother did chores and his sister patiently practiced the same passages over and over, with the piano representing a big economic commitment by the parents.
The song is not really happy, but not really sad. Not complicated, but not simple. The left had plays a steady pattern that promises stability. To me, knowing the announcer’s sister (I imagined her in lat elementary school), made the music accessible, and have me hope that beautiful things might grow out of childhood.
The song was almost, but not quite, contentment within its beauty. For the announcer, the Adagio cantabile wasn’t really “Beethoven.” It was the sound of boyhood home.
Although the movement is wonderfully sandwiched between two musical hurricanes, I prefer to see it as a stand-along piece.
Beethoven’s Piano Sonata No. 8 in C minor, Op. 13
Ludwig van Beethoven’s Piano Sonata No. 8 in C minor, Op. 13, commonly known as Sonata Pathétique, was written in 1798 when the composer was 27 years old and was published in 1799. It has remained one of his most celebrated compositions.
First 8 measures of the second movememt of Ludwig van Beethoven’s Piano Sonata No. 8 in C minor (Pathétique), Op. 13 By Craig Stuart Sapp – Own work, CC BY 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=18555836
The sonata Pathétique was an important success for Beethoven, selling well and helping create his reputation as a composer, not just as an extraordinary pianist. Not only was it instantly popular, it also exposed the world to the characteristics that Beethoven would continue to develop in the coming years.
Original Beethoven scores (autograph manuscripts) are incredibly rare and highly prized historical treasures. Because Beethoven was notorious for his messy, heavily scratched-out handwriting, these manuscripts offer a fascinating look into his compositional process.
At the premiere of his 3rd Piano Concerto, Beethoven’s designated page turner discovered the score was almost entirely blank. Because the concerto was a last-minute work in progress, Beethoven had never actually written out the solo part. He memorized the entire piece and performed it from memory, leaving the page turner with practically nothing to follow.
Gemini
I wanted to show some original Beethoven scores from our Library of Congress, but it appears to be as dysfunctional as the rest of our government.
The Cost of the Score
Elder G breaks down some of the economics of 1800 Germany:
Since there wasn’t a unified Germany in 1800, prices varied from one state to another, but we can make reasonable estimates for central German-speaking Europe around 1800.
Item
Approximate cost
Loaf of rye bread
2 to 5 pfennigs
Pound (about 500 g) of potatoes
1 to 3 pfennigs
Dozen eggs
8 to 15 pfennigs
Pound of butter
20 to 40 pfennigs
Wool shirt
1 to 2 thalers
Good leather shoes
2 to 4 thalers
Winter coat
8 to 15 thalers
Upright or square piano
150 to 300 thalers
Fine Viennese grand piano
300 to 500+ thalers
Now let’s put that into perspective.
A common laborer might earn 80 to 150 thalers per year, depending on the region and whether work was steady. A skilled craftsman could make 150 to 250 thalers, while professionals and merchants earned considerably more.
So a respectable piano might cost:
one to three years’ wages for a laborer.
a full year’s income for a skilled artisan.
Imagine buying a new car today for someone making $45,000 a year. That’s roughly the level of commitment. As Germany unified and shifted to the gold standard, the Thaler was retired from circulation in 1873 and replaced by the German Gold Mark at a rate of 3 marks per thaler.
Note: a thaler was approximately one ounce of silver. Thaler is short for Joachimsthaler, or “from Saint Joachim’s Valley”, a silver-rich region in Bohemia.
A newly engraved edition of a single piano sonata typically sold for about 1 to 2 thalers.
That sounds inexpensive until you remember wages.
For a laborer, that represented roughly three to seven days’ wages, sometimes more.
Imagine paying perhaps $300 to $700 today for one piece of sheet music. That isn’t an exact inflation conversion, but it gives the right sense of sacrifice.
Semi-Sequitur
When the pianist and composer Ignaz Moscheles discovered the work in 1804, he was ten years old; unable to afford to buy the music, he copied it out from a library copy. His music teacher, on being told about his discovery, “warned me against playing or studying eccentric productions before I had developed a style based on more respectable models. Without paying heed to his instructions, however, I laid Beethoven’s works on the piano, in the order of their appearance, and found in them such consolation and pleasure as no other composer ever vouchsafed me.”
PfennigGroschenThaler The “Wildman” Thaler of 1704 needs its own BLOTT.
Vienna at the Ladle & Lube!
BEETHOVEN NIGHT: No applause between courses.
Our offerings, curated by Elder G:
Rye Bread
A dense rye loaf would have been one of the staples of everyday life in German-speaking Europe. Wealthier families enjoyed white wheat bread, but rye bread was common and filling.
Baked Apples with Raisins
Apples were abundant and stored well through the winter. Baking them with raisins, honey, or a little sugar made an elegant dessert.
Roast Pork with Caraway
Roast pork seasoned with salt, pepper, and caraway was common throughout Austria and southern Germany. This is probably the centerpiece of the buffet.
Parsley Potatoes
Here’s the one historical hiccup. Potatoes certainly existed by Beethoven’s time, but they were usually boiled, mashed, or served in simple stews. The modern “parsley potatoes” presentation became much more fashionable later in the nineteenth century.
Beef Soup with Root Vegetables
This would have been almost mandatory.
Beef broth with carrots, turnips, celery root, onions, and perhaps dumplings was a cornerstone of Viennese cooking.
Lamb’s Lettuce with Walnuts
A fresh green salad would have been somewhat seasonal but certainly possible. Lamb’s lettuce (corn salad) is one of Europe’s oldest cultivated salad greens.
Glazed Carrots
Carrots were common, although the sweet glazed preparation probably reflects nineteenth-century French influence more than everyday Viennese cooking.
Braised Red Cabbage with Apples
Red cabbage cooked slowly with apples and vinegar has deep German roots and pairs beautifully with roast pork.
Cheese Spätzle
Delicious…but a little anachronistic. Spätzle itself certainly existed, but the rich baked cheese version (Käsespätzle) became popular somewhat later and is associated more with Swabia and the Alps than Vienna.
