Comparing Two Biographies of Ludwig van Beethoven

Introduction: Beethoven's Enduring Legacy

No other name resonates through the canon of Western music like that of Ludwig van Beethoven. While the exact date of his birth has been contested over time — a confusion that Beethoven undoubtedly contributed to, as explored below — it is generally believed that he was born in the latter half of 1770. By the time of his death in 1827 at the age of fifty-six, Beethoven was already recognized as one of the greatest musical talents of his era.

Jones's Contextual and Primary-Source Approach

In his Life of Beethoven, David Wyn Jones attempts to dispel the myth of Beethoven as an isolated musical genius somehow detached from the society he lived in. The problem with figures such as Beethoven, Jones argues in his preface, is that they tend to be deified. Beethoven, as is commonly known, was deified in his own lifetime — a process that has undoubtedly continued since his death. Rather than portraying him as a "single-minded artist" who ate, drank, slept, and lived through music alone, Jones attempts to locate the human qualities of Beethoven while remaining cognizant of those qualities that made him unique.

This outlook surfaces in the methodology Jones employs. As he states at the outset:

"Accordingly this account places less reliance on the rich anecdotal heritage associated with the composer in favour of primary and contemporary documentation. With this emphasis on the context in which the composer lived and worked it is hoped that Beethoven emerges as a more varied musical personality than posterity has often allowed him to be and with his individuality enhanced rather than circumscribed" (Jones xi–xii).

This focus on context and primary sources promises a more objective portrayal of the social circumstances Beethoven existed among. Inherent to this approach is the idea that creative genius cannot be considered apart from the social nexus it was inevitably linked to.

Geck's Method and the Problem of Mythologizing

Martin Geck also acknowledges the difficulties of writing about a figure so revered and deified as Beethoven. In the words of Peter Sheppard Skaerved, who penned the introduction to Geck's biography:

"No composer has been so deeply identified with music in its noblest form. Reading a biography of Beethoven both assists and hinders this identification. It depends on the reader's as much as the writer's point of view whether he or she is seeking a picture of a day-to-day Beethoven or a representation of superhuman greatness. It is difficult for anybody to write, think, or even play Beethoven. His music is part of all of us. To achieve an objective view of him would require us to step outside the collective sense of self that he helped to form. He has moulded our languages of expression, speech, taste, ethics, politics, love, and our every musical breath. In no composer before or since has the intimate grandeur of humanity found a greater unity" (Geck xiii–xiv).

Skaerved's introduction may in many ways be interpreted as an apology for Geck's method. While Geck certainly strives to maintain the objectivity that Jones's study is based on — that is, the utilization of primary sources and an evaluation of the social context that gave rise to Beethoven's genius — he also has difficulty resisting the sort of gossipy anecdotes that, while interesting, do little to dispel the myth of Beethoven as an untouchable god. At the same time, Geck shows how Beethoven himself fostered many of the myths surrounding his genius during his own lifetime.

Geck admits early on that there continues to be some confusion regarding Beethoven's exact birth date. Much of this confusion arises from the fact that Beethoven was not the first-born son of his parents to survive. Two years prior to Beethoven's birth, they had another son also named Ludwig, who died in infancy. For this reason, Beethoven believed he had been born in 1772 rather than 1770, as has commonly been accepted.

Conclusion: Myth, Reality, and the Romantic Genius

At the end of reading the biographies of both Geck and Jones, we are left with an impression of Beethoven that often confirms the stereotype of the Romantic genius at odds with his era. But, as both biographers point out, this is a notion that Beethoven played a major role in fostering himself. As an emblematic figure of Romanticism, Beethoven not only composed some of the most important music of all time; he also gave rise to enduring beliefs about the myth of artistic genius. Ultimately, it may be impossible for a truly "objective" account of Beethoven's life ever to emerge, owing to the fact that mythology and reality are inextricable when considering the legacy of this great man — and the music that continues to live on, all these years later.

Works Cited

Geck, Martin. Beethoven. London: Haus Publishing, 2003.

Jones, David Wyn. The Life of Beethoven. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1998.