Ludwig+van+Beethoven



** A Personality Analysis of Ludwig Van Beethoven **

** Anja Filan ** ** Biography: ** Ludwig Van Beethoven’s exact birth date is not known, however he was baptized on December 17, 1770 in Bonn, Germany. His father, Johannes, worked as a musician, teacher and singer (tenor) in the chapel of the Archbishop of Cologne, whose court was at Bonn, and provided Beethoven with his first music instruction. Beethoven attended elementary school in the Neugasse until his talent was recognized at his first public performance at age 7. Upon recognizing his son’s talent, Beethoven’s father sought other teachers more suited for developing his skills. The most notable of his teachers was Christian Gottlob Neefe, who introduced Beethoven to the music of Johann Sebastian Bach. By the time he termed 12 Beethoven was already assisting Neefe as deputy court organist in Bonn, and published his first work- a set of variations on a march theme by Dressler. Beethoven played viola in the Bonn symphony orchestra until he went to Vienna in 1787 in hopes of studying with Mozart. His plan to study under Mozart was cut short, however, when his mother was sick. He returned to Vienna in 1792 to study with Haydn. Beethoven remained in Vienna for the rest of his life. He was first known for his piano playing, having attained the level of virtuoso and became well known among the aristocracy for his ability to improvise. By 1802 Beethoven had written 32 of his piano sonatas, his first 2 symphonies, his first 3 piano concertos and 18 string quartets. Unfortunately, Beethoven’s hearing slowly deteriorated over the next couple of years, causing him great despair. He expressed said despair in the letters he wrote to his brothers in “Heiligenstadt Testament,” which were never sent, but were found among his possessions following his death. During this time Beethoven composed Symphonies 3-8, piano concertos 4 and 5, and his viola concerto. Until 1816, Beethoven’s composition was slowed by both his despair and involvement in the custody dispute of his nephew Karl. The years following 181, however, were arguably his most productive. During this time he composted his 9th symphony, his 7 final piano sonatas, and a set of string quartets of which he developed the once four movement form into a or 7 movement piece. While nearly completely deaf, Beethoven composed the extended finale in the 9th symphony, Ode to Joy. Beethoven continued to compose until is death on March 26th, 1827. It is said that an estimated 20,000 Viennese citizens attended his funeral. ** Psychoanalytic Perspective: ** From a psychoanalytic perspective Beethoven utilizes many of the defense mechanisms created by Freud and undergoes many of the psychosexual stages. The Id controls pleasure and desires, where the ego controls one’s sense of reality and the superego is a combination o the two controlling morality. Freud also believed that the mind was broken into three states: the conscious, the unconscious and precocious. He believes that dreams are, consequently, the “royal road” to the unconscious. Within the dream there is manifest content which entails that parts of the dream that are remembered and latent content which is the hidden meaning of the dream. Beethoven used his music to express his personality. As a musician, he is able to use sublimination, which transforms dangerous urges- for Beethoven this was most prevalent when his deafness had become more of an issue and Beethoven contemplated suicide- and transform these urges into socially meaningful motivations to battle one’s innermost issues. Through analyzing Freud’s idea of psychosexual stages, one can understand the development of the psyche, which progresses once the libido is redirected to different body parts. Using this method, it is evident that Beethoven did not successfully make it through the phallic stage. He has fixations that typically occur as a result of not completing this stage. He is self-indulgent and narcissistic, which can be seen in his music as it reflects his emotional state at the time of its composition. Freud would say that since he had to deal with having an alcoholic father who used his son’s talent for his own profit, Beethoven has been harboring feelings resentment toward his father. Johann Beethoven was a highly irresponsible father who had to be looked after by his children more than he looked after them. His mother also died when he was 17, but was incredibly kind and loved Beethoven very much. However, Beethoven shows strength in his personality when he was able to overcome these emotions coupled with the pain and sorrow he had experienced over his deafness, through writing music. Sonata opus 109 is one of the many pieces written when Beethoven was completely deaf. Clearly, he was able to find a creative outlet for his feelings. ** Trait Perspective ** The Traits and Skills perspective takes a number of factors into consideration including- consistency of traits, change in traits amongst individuals, and influenced behavior. It also states that particular abilities and skills can be developed in order to make leadership effective for those who might not acquire those traits innately. Analysis of Beethoven’s personality through the Trait Perspective requires one to consider the Big Five personality dimensions including- extroversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, neuroticism, and openness. Beethoven’s life as a successful musician implies that he must have had extroversion functions, as he needed such skills in order to teach, conduct, play, work with publishers, receive commissions, etc. Sources show Beethoven’s disdain for authority, and for social rank. He stopped performing at the piano if the audience chatted amongst themselves, or afforded him less than their full attention. However, Beethoven’s dedication to his art, preference to nature over men, and solitude implies that he is quite an introvert. He once said, “I live only in my music,” thus indicating that he was more of an interest in being with his music than with other people. As an adult, Beethoven would move to the country in a quiet house so he could create his compositions in peace and walk in the woods. In an article called, “Some Traits of Beethoven,” // Macmillan’s Magazine // notes that, “… he would leave his house at night or in the earl morning, and walk for many hours through the most remote and solitary places, through the woods and lakes and torrents, silent and abstracted.” Consequently, Beethoven would rate high on his introversion as he likes to withdraw from society and be in isolation, yet his assertiveness to his own students and teachers implies extroversion qualities as well. Beethoven studied with Haydn, but was critical of him for overlooking the mistakes he had made in his counterpoint lessons, and believed that Haydn wasn’t perfect or demanding enough for him. As Beethoven’s hearing began to deteriorate he became very stressed out, enraged, paranoid, and began to drink heavily. After the death of his brother, Beethoven fought for the custody of his nephew. His experience as a guardian was miserable, as the boy attempted suicide as a plea to be returned to his mother. Beethoven’s scores also indicate sentiments of neuroticism as they entail storms of crossed out and added measures. His violently marked scores indicate Beethoven’s emotional nature, rage, self-disgust and scorn. He attacks his missteps so harshly that the scores are torn. Thus, Beethoven would be high on the neuroticism scale as his scores, alcoholic tendencies, and emotional insatiability imply neuroticism. Due to his strong tendency to show self-discipline and aim for achievement when it came to practicing and doing all he could to be a successful musician, Beethoven had a high level of conscientiousness. One could also determine that he has a fairly high ranking in the openness category as he is highly creative and has a passion for the arts. In order to create the music that he did, Beethoven would’ve had to have quite a strong imagination, excellent ideas and interest in the arts thus determining his high level of openness. He revolutionized classical music, and also let his music be a creative outlet to bring his out of times of great turmoil. Finally, in terms of agreeableness and maintaining compassion and cooperation with others, Beethoven would rate quite lowly. As his deafness began to progress, from his 20’s onward, Beethoven became increasingly argumentative. He is described as being aggressive and not easy to live with. ** Discussion: ** Through doing both a psychological analysis and a trait analysis, it is evident that Beethoven does not match an exact personality description, but rather a combination of the personality types discussed. He enjoyed being alone, and was curious to learn, but also enjoyed publically performing and teaching- making him an introverted-extrovert. He also expressed an ability to be assertive, speak up and confront his teachers and audiences, and exhibited confidence. He used introverted feelings to create music and use emotional response, and extroverted feelings to communicate feeling and style to the audience. He used extroverted thinking to communicate these elements to the audience and introverted thinking for doing form analysis based upon historical style. Beethoven used introverted senses to apply his innermost feelings to the music’s subject, and extroverted sense to communicate these feelings with clarity. Finally, he used introverted intuition to structure the music and imagine various interpretations, and extroverted intuition to express himself through his music. Overall, these two types of analysis help one see that despite the many difficulties life brought him, Beethoven was, through his own personality traits and through Freud’s theorized defense mechanisms, able to overcome them with his music.