So my
introduction to this Sonata ( Beethoven's Violin Sonata No.9) was through a book called "An Equal Music" by
Vikram Seth.
In it, the
main character, who is a violinist, is
challenged to perfect this. Given my current fascination with the Violin music-
I of course immediately looked it up.
I had first read
this book 16 years ago- but hadn't understood a word or identified with or even
tried to identify any of the music.
Now - when
it makes a little more sense I have realized- this piece is wonderful- I found
a rendition by Nathan Milstein- have a listen. I could only find the 1st and
3rd movement by him. Have included a 2nd movement by another artist- here you
can see the difference in the quality of playing and the differences of how it
makes you feel while listening!
First
Movement ( By Nathan Milstein):
Second Movement:
Third
Movement ( By Nathan Milstein):
Other than
the music what is particularly interesting is the story behind the name and
also some events inspired by it!
So
apparently Beethoven was emotionally impressionable- kept falling in love with
many women ( he apparently fell in love with and wrote some music for almost
every female student!) Unfortunately, as for many musicians of that time- even
though they were sometimes geniuses, the women they met normally belonged to a
higher class so they weren't too successful with their romances. This was made
worse by the vagaries in their income as a lot of that was dependent on the
patronage of wealthy people. ( on a side note- artists almost always had that
burden to bear in the past- how horrible! Am so glad it is better now- or at least
I would like to think so!)
Anyway,
Beethoven had written this Violin Sonata- No 9. He had dedicated it to the
Violinist George Bridgewater. They even performed it together but after the
performance apparently Bridgewater insulted the morals of Beethoven's latest
fancy. Beethoven promptly changed the dedication to the most famous violinist
of that time , Rodolphe Kreutzer,
despite the fact that he didn't really care for Beethoven's music ( yes- people
like that existed)
This was
just a back drop- what I find interesting about this sonata- it is obviously extremely passionate- so much
so- it inspired Leo Tolstoy ( yes- THE Leo Tolstoy) to write a passionate
Novella about it!
The story
revolves around the music and feelings that develop between a married woman and
a violinist based on this music. And the husband's jealousy. I haven't read it
but it's supposed to be extremely misogynistic. And full of censorable scenes.
So much so that it was censored not only in Russia but America too!!!!!
You can
click here for a copy to read it if you want (not copyrighted!!)
There is
also this gorgeous painting done by René François Xavier Prinet- have included it here too- it's
quite fabulous!
Also made into a movie
The
Kreutzer Sonata - pretty bad
reviews!
It's just so interesting to me that Music written in
1803, inspired a Book in 1889, which inspired a painting in 1901 and a movie in
2008!!!
I also
wanted to talk a bit about Vikram Seth. I think he is soooo talented!
I read him
first at nineteen- "The Golden Gate"- I LOVED it!
So this is a
novel written in verse, based (kind of obviously- given its name) in San
Francisco.
It was not
only written in verse but had something called 590 Onegin stanzas (sonnets written in iambic tetrameter, with the rhyme scheme following the unusual ababccddeffegg pattern
of Eugene
Onegin). Frankly I can't figure out what all this
means but if you read the book each stanza has
the same number of sound breaks in every line. And that changes between
lines.
Have put in a few stanzas to give you the
flavor- from the beginning- so maybe not the best
To make a start more swift
and weighty,
Hail
Muse. Dear Reader, once uponA time, say, circa 1980,
There lived a man. His name was John.
Successful in his field though only
Twenty-six, respected, lonely,
One evening as he walked across
Golden Gate Park, the ill-judged toss
Of a red frisbee almost brained him.
He thought, "Who'd gloat? Who would be glad?
Would anybody? " As it pained him,
He turned from this dispiriting theme
To ruminations less extreme.
He tuned his thoughts to electronic
Circuitry. This soothed his mind.
He left irregular (moronic)
Sentimentality behind.
He thought of or-gates and of and-gates,
Of ROMs, of nor-gates, and of nand-gates,
Of nanoseconds, megabytes,
And bits and nibbles… but as flights
Of silhouetted birds move cawing
Across the pine-serrated sky,
Dragged from his cove, not knowing why,
He feels an urgent riptide drawing
Him far out, where, caught in the kelp
Of loneliness, he cries for help.
So writing the story in this form had had to have been
seriously tough.
Does the author concentrate on the plot, or making sure the word count, sound break etc are as they should be?
What got to me what despite all the mastery of the English language that went into it- when I read it ( and I remember
this well) a quarter way into it- the story was so interesting I forgot it was
in verse!
This also was a big deal for me as, as soon
as I read it- I realized I could rhyme too!!! Extremely badly but this got me
started on writing and I have been trying since!
If you have never read any Vikram Seth- Try
this or even his collection of poems "All Ye who sleep tonight".
Frankly I couldn't get through "A Suitable boy"- it was super boring
for me- dropped it after reading 600 pages (it was 1000 pages looooooong)
Here's a small poem by Vikram Seth
Interpretation: Vikram Seth
Somewhere
within your loving look I sense,
Without the least intention to deceive,
Without suspicion, without evidence,
Somewhere within your heart the heart to leave.
Without the least intention to deceive,
Without suspicion, without evidence,
Somewhere within your heart the heart to leave.
And with this as your host
I will end this super long post!
( I told you I rhymed badly!)
