Ludwig Van Beethoven: from Imperfection to Perfection
Beethoven has always fascinated me. I love his music. In Beethoven works, you find the universality of Music. Sounds from Beethoven works are not abstract combinations of music notes to express an intellectual perception of an inaccessible reality. When you listen to Beethoven works; you can feel real human emotions of joy, sadness, happiness, love, fraternity and everything that expresses what means to be truly human. You don’t need any initiation to abstraction to appreciate Beethoven works. You just need to listen and feel it. No matter your cultural background or music education; once exposed to Beethoven sounds; you just get it… You feel it with all the intensity of humanity inside your being…
Why Beethoven works are the expression of the universality of the Music Art? The answer to this question probably comes from Beethoven himself. He is the paradox compared to his works. All of his life couldn’t be the premise of such artistic expression of his Genius! People accused him of being misanthropic while all from and of his works celebrate the humanity at its Best. His real life was a tragedy while his works celebrate Love at its Perfection. Most of the masterpieces of his works were achieved when he was deaf and couldn’t listen to the sound of music or anything else. It is in the absolute silence of deafness he made the best of his works.
Today, more than ever, Beethoven is the reminder that we should accept and embrace the human condition in its complexity and totality. From the deafness of Beethoven was born the Best of Music; from his miserable existence condition came the Best Expression of Human Greatness.
From imperfection is born Perfection. From death is born Life. From weakness is born Strength. When you understand this Wisdom you look differently to people around you; you understand differently circumstances that make the human condition or existence what they are. You respect people not because of how they look like or what they have; you simply respect them because of who they are intrinsically as human beings. You love humans not because they are worth of your love; you love them because it is part of human condition and of the Laws of Nature to love one another.
From his life to his works; Beethoven is the symbol of Humanity in its fundamental condition. You don’t need the bias of societal perception from your senses to reach the essential; it is when you go beyond such biased perception that you discover the infinite possibilities inside the Human Spirit! When you are able to awake your Human Spirit; you don’t need your eyes 👀 to see; your ears 👂 to listen; your mouth 👄 to talk 🗣 or taste; your nose 👃🏽 to smell; and your skin to touch. Like Beethoven, you can produce the Best of human experience by going beyond perceptions from senses!
In each human being, lays a Human Spirit. Let value human life beyond any materialistic consideration. We need to improve human materialistic condition. It would be however a collective suicidal pattern to sacrifice everything for reaching such improvement. Because the human condition cannot be reduced intrinsically to its materialistic condition… The Universe itself is more complex than the matter elements that human senses can apprehend! Beethoven life and works are an evidence that shows what I am talking about. In his own words, Beethoven expressed this evidence: “Music is the wine which inspires one to new generative processes, and I am Bacchus who presses out this glorious wine for mankind and makes them spiritually drunken.”
“The man that hath no music in himself, nor is not moved with concord of sweet sounds, is fit for treasons, stratagems and spoils.” This quote from William Shakespeare (The Merchant of Venice’ (1596–8) act 5, sc. 1, l. 79) takes its meaning in understanding the life and works of Beethoven. We need new generative processes to enlighten the mankind Spirit and future! We need music to love one each other! We need sweet sounds to avoid turning humans in a bunch of crocodiles fit for treasons, stratagems and spoils…
