Об Искусстве

Нет правила, которого нельзя было бы преступить во имя Schöner (более прекрасного).

Музыка должна высекать огонь из души человеческой.

Музыка — это откровение более высокое, чем мудрость и философия.

Нет ничего более прекрасного, как приближаться к божественному и распространять лучи его на человечество.

(Шуппанцигу)

Описывать — дело живописи, поэзия также может считать себя в этом отношении счастливой по сравнению с музыкой, ее область не так ограничена, как моя, но зато моя простирается гораздо дальше в иные сферы, и на мои владения не так-то легко посягнуть.

(Вильгельму Герхарду)

Свобода и прогресс — вот цель искусства, так же как и всей жизни. Если мы не так могучи, как старинные мастера, все же утонченность цивилизации расширила для нас многие возможности.

(Эрцгерцогу Рудольфу)

Из книги: Beethoven, the Man and the Artist, As Revealed in His Own Words by Ludwig van Beethoven:1

1. "'Tis said, that art is long, and life but fleeting:—Nay; life is long, and brief the span of art; If e're her breath vouchsafes with gods a meeting, A moment's favor 'tis of which we've had a part."2

2. "The world is a king, and, like a king, desires flattery in return for favor; but true art is selfish and perverse—it will not submit to the mould of flattery."3

3. "Continue to translate yourself to the heaven of art; there is no more undisturbed, unmixed, purer happiness than may thus be attained."4

4. "Go on; do not practice art alone but penetrate to her heart; she deserves it, for art and science only can raise man to godhood."5

5. "True art is imperishable and the true artist finds profound delight in grand productions of genius."6

[Cherubini declared that he had never received the letter. That it was not only the hope of obtaining a favor which prompted Beethoven to express so high an admiration for Cherubini, is plain from a remark made by the English musician Cipriani Potter to A. W. Thayer in 1861. I found it in Thayer's note-books which were placed in my hands for examination after his death.

One day Potter asked, "Who is the greatest living composer, yourself excepted?" Beethoven seemed puzzled for a moment, and then exclaimed, "Cherubini." (Henry Edward Krehbiel)]

6. "Truth exists for the wise; beauty for the susceptible heart. They belong together—are complementary."7

7. "When I open my eyes, a sigh involuntarily escapes me, for all that I see runs counter to my religion; perforce I despise the world which does not intuitively feel that music is a higher revelation than all wisdom and philosophy."8

8. "Art! Who comprehends her? With whom can one consult concerning this great goddess?"9

9. "In the country I know no lovelier delight than quartet music."10

10. "Nothing but art, cut to form like old-fashioned hoop-skirts. I never feel entirely well except when I am among scenes of unspoiled nature."11

11. "Nature knows no quiescence; and true art walks with her hand in hand; her sister—from whom heaven forefend us!—is called artificiality."12

• 1. Компиляция высказываний Бетховена составлена Фридрихом Керстом (Friedrich Kerst), английский перевод осуществлен Генри Эдвардом Кребилем (Henry Edward Krehbiel) и опубликован в 1905 г. под названием “Beethoven: the Man and the Artist, as Revealed in his own Words” (New York: B.W. Huebsch.).
• 2. Conversation-book, March, 1820. Probably a quotation.
• 3. Conversation-book, March, 1820. When Baron van Braun expressed the opinion that the opera "Fidelio" would eventually win the enthusiasm of the upper tiers, Beethoven said, "I do not write for the galleries!" He never permitted himself to be persuaded to make concessions to the taste of the masses.
• 4. August 19, 1817, to Xavier Schnyder, who vainly sought instruction from Beethoven in 1811, though he was pleasantly received.
• 5. Teplitz, July 17, 1812, to his ten years' old admirer, Emilie M. in H.
• 6. March 15, 1823, to Cherubini, to whom he also wrote, "I prize your works more than all others written for the stage." The letter asked Cherubini to interest himself in obtaining a subscription from King Louis XVIII for the Solemn Mass in D)
• 7. Written in the autograph book of his friend, Lenz von Breuning, in 1797.
• 8. Remark made to Bettina von Arnim, in 1810, concerning Viennese society. Report in a letter by Bettina to Goethe on May 28, 1810.
• 9. August 11, 1810, to Bettina von Arnim.
• 10. To Archduke Rudolph, in a letter addressed to Baden on July 24, 1813.
• 11. September 24, 1826, to Breuning, while promenading with Breuning's family in the Schonbrunner Garden, after calling attention to the alleys of trees "trimmed like walls, in the French manner."
• 12. From notes in the lesson book of Archduke Rudolph, following some remarks on the expansion of the expressive capacity of music.