In Search of Beethoven

In Search of Beethoven was metaphorically a personal search for the substance of a musical genius for which I knew only superficial facts. Diane and I both thought the film was superb in allowing the viewer into this man's life and did this search primarily through his music. When the credits rolled at the end it was possible to fleetingly see all the musicians involved in demonstrating the various musical pieces that provided the bulk of this remarkable film and there were many. There were many artists and many pieces of his musical opus and from this analysis even someone untrained in music, such as me, had demonstrated for them the complexity, playfulness and virtuosity that composed this man's decades of work. Although the film was essentially musically based, my eye was drawn to another film making element that was not auditory and that was the cinematography. I am sure that I am demonstrating my own lack of knowledge about how music playing is filmed but I was continually impressed with the Big Close Ups used throughout the film. For instance, if the particular piece being played used a violin then the camera would move in and focus on only the hand or if it were a piano piece then the camera would focus only on the hand at the keyboard. I found these big close ups very gripping in their intensity and illustrative of the composition being discussed. Any person with or without knowledge of music could hugely profit from two hours spent with this musical genius.

A fascinating story, very well structured and put together in a narrative sense, but very lacking cinematically. I imagine it would work well as a two-parter for TV, but in the cinema, after two hours, I was longing for some relief from the (almost all) poorly composed close-ups of the (very interesting) interviewees, from the constant shots of twigs and of wintry rural miscellany, and from the unimaginative coverage of musical performances. There are far too many close-ups of instruments being played, without a wider perspective, or a contextual association.. geography. And why were almost all the talking-head shots framed to exclude people's hair, yet include much of their shirts? Was it because the director hadn't thought of subtitles and had to reconfigure the compositions in post-production? The most extreme close-up was of a man with unfortunately large ears. There are more flattering ways to photograph such people; and the audience is more likely to pay attention to what he is saying, and not stare at his ears. For Mr Grabsky's next film, may I suggest - if he can afford it - hire a full-time cameraman, someone who sees stories visually. This is a great story, but not a very good-looking one.

Philip Grabsky, whose film In Search of Mozart was one of the highlights of last years' Vancouver International Film Festival, has returned this year with an investigative study of the great 19th century German composer Ludvig Van Beethoven. The documentary, In Search of Beethoven, seen at a VIFF pre-screening, follows the same linear framework as the film about Mozart, sampling sequential compositions of the artist while interspersing the comments of performers, conductors, composers, and music historians such as Emanuel Ax, Hélène Grimaud, Louis Langrée, and Roger Norrington. Performed in the film are snippets of all of Beethoven's nine symphonies, five piano concertos, his only violin concerto, his opera Fidelio, several piano sonatas including the famous "Moonlight" sonata, and several sonatas for violin and piano, beautifully performed by seventeen orchestras, fourteen pianists, four cellists, six singers, and one string quartet. It is a veritable aesthetic feast.

The 138-minute documentary (cut from fourteen hours) explores a unique individual who, while a transformative figure whose music was capable of evoking ecstatic emotions, was a dark, reclusive, and almost unfathomable individual whose cantankerous personality and battles with his growing deafness are legendary. Grabsky follows Beethoven's life from his birth in Bonn in 1750 as the son of a court musician to his adulthood in Vienna where he was quickly recognized as one of the city's most promising musical talents. Developing a reputation as a piano virtuoso, his performing abilities were in great demand yet he also began to be known as a drinker with a personality that could be surly.

With the onset of deafness and a growing frustration with his inability to develop a satisfying and lasting relationship with a woman, Beethoven became depressed and even thought of suicide. In his Heiligenstadt Testament written in 1802 to his brothers Johann and Carl and discovered after his death, he declared that he rejected suicide only because he had to fulfill his destiny to share his music with the world. David Dawson from the Royal Shakespeare Company reads from Beethoven letters, some of which illuminate the composer's state of mind, explore the nature of his illnesses, and discuss his obsessive desire to gain custody of his nephew Karl. The film also mentions the composer's growing indifference to social conventions including the unkempt condition of his person and his general misanthropy, though attempts are made to put his personality problems into perspective.

Unfortunately, however, the spiritual side of Beethoven's nature is left mostly unexplored. Although Grabsky does point out the ethereal nature of some of his later piano sonatas and string quartets, the connection is only tentatively made between his heroic struggle against the afflictions of his life, his ultimate acceptance of them as necessary to his creativity, and the sublime nature of his final works. I would have loved to hear Beethoven quoted in the film saying (as he does in the biography "Beethoven: His Spiritual Development" by J. W. N. Sullivan), "I must despise a world that does not know music is a higher revelation than all wisdom and philosophy, the wine which inspires one to new generative processes. I am the Bacchus who presses out this glorious wine for mankind and makes them spiritually drunken." In spite of its limitations, however, In Search of Beethoven takes us beyond the stereotypes of the dishevelled, out-of-control genius and the clichés of films like Immortal Beloved, providing a context to appreciate both the music and the man and the enormous revolution his genius engendered. Conductor Fabio Luisi of the Vienna Symphony Orchestra says it this way: "I have two impressions of Beethoven: a large brain and an equally large heart. These two elements often fight against each other, but frequently they love each other, too. There is so much love, so much empathy and ability to endure suffering. All this comes from his heart."

It is profoundly important to learn about Beethoven as one of the supreme examples of persistence in the face of adversity (personal as well as social).

I wish this film would not have avoided the story of Beethoven's father, who it is said, berated his son saying "Why can't you be more like Mozart?" Commentators side-stepped the psychological impact of this, as if it were merely genetic that he was "irascible" like his father. He was irascible in some ways, because of his father. This was even great adversity which he turned into some of the most brilliant music ever written. Had he focused entirely on being the victim, the world would never have had such astonishing music that has stood the test of time. The inspiration of Beethoven's life stands the test of time as well.

This is not the quintessential Beethoven documentary but that is more a testament to the power of the story of Beethoven himself and what his story continues to teach the world.

I saw this film at the start of last month at the Barbican London. Having been impressed the directors previous offering In Search of Mozart, I was looking forward to see what In Search of Beethoven had to offer. The film offers a great insight into the life of Beethoven taking into account social, historical and musical goings on of the time and how they shaped and influenced his life and music. The number of contributors that appear in the film is extraordinary, Ronald Brautigam, Helene Grimaud, Orchestraof the 18th Century, Endellion, Sir Roger Norrington to name a few and there must be at least over 50 pieces of music featured. Some have complained about the length of In Search of Beethoven, I would agree in some respects that it may have been a tad too long however I was engrossed in the film from start to finish. I wonder what the director Phil Grabsky will go In Search of next….