Nguyen Bui

Mus 1
Professor Zimmerman
25 June 2021

Assignment #4: Film Questions

1. Consider Beethoven the man. Is Beethoven a classicist or romanticist? Use a specific

scene from the film to make your point.
Beethoven is more of a romanticist than a classicist. Instead of rationally lived and composed,
he chose to subvert those expectations and channel his emotions into his compositions. One
specific scene that exemplifies these qualities was Beethoven’s ninth symphony, Ode to Joy.
After five years of not writing any music, Beethoven greeted the world with his newest
symphony. This time, he did not conduct the orchestra but someone else. Beethoven walks
right in the middle of the stage in the middle of the performance and stands there. He then
started to reminiscence of his past, when he escaped from his father, from the life of the
prodigy pianist. There is no other emotion to describe that other than the feeling of ecstasy.
There is no moderation in his composition, let alone the way he acts, standing in the middle
of the stage when he was not the conductor. That was what made Beethoven a romanticist; he
turned his thoughts and feelings and let the world hear them unabatedly.

2. Immortal Beloved presents a broad spectrum of Classical period genres from piano
solo to a variety of chamber ensembles, concertos and symphonic music. Cite at least
four different ensemble types presented in the film. List the specific instrumentation for
each ensemble as well as the specific scene in which it was featured.

Piano Trio No. 4 in D Major, Op. 70, No. 1 "Ghost": II. Largo assai ed espressivo (excerpt).
This Piano Trio consisting of a piano, a violin, and a cello. The piece was included after
Napolean bombed Vienna, which killed Anna’s son in the process. Afterward, Beethoven,
Anna, and another cellist performed this piece to mourn for the death.

Violin Sonata in A Major, Op. 47 "Kreutzer": I. Adagio sostenuto - Presto (excerpt). This
Violin Sonata consisting of the solo violin and the accompanying piano. Schindler meets
Beethoven at a rehearsal of the "Kreutzer" Sonata, entertaining the thought of having a
musical career. Beethoven then came in, explained to him what he sees the meaning of music
as, referencing his broken-down carriage while trying to reach his lover. That was when
Schindler abandoned his ambition and became Beethoven’s secretary, and later on, as the
detective that took upon the task to find Beethoven’s Immortal Beloved.

Symphony No. 7 in A Major, Op. 92: II. Allegretto (excerpt). This symphony consists of 2
flutes, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, 2 horns, 2 trumpets, timpani, strings. The piece started
after Beethoven wakes up Schindler to finds out where Karl is. As Karl climbs the stairs to
reach the top of the building, the music begins to pick up to pace until he shoots the gun.
Afterward, the music is started to fade out.
"Ode to Joy" (excerpt) from Symphony No. 9 in D minor, Op. 125.The instruments.
Beethoven's 9th Symphony is premiered. While he stands on stage, a flashback shows him
running away from his father to a pond. He lies down in the water and stares at the sky full of
stars.

3. What does the film show/teach us about the relationship between the artists’ life and
his creative expression? Use a specific scene from the film as the basis of your response.
The relationship between the artists’ life and his creative expression are closely tied together.
A notable example is Beethoven’s Ode to Joy, in which there a little glimpse of his inner
struggle. He stands in the middle of his new symphony performance while he remembers his
past, running away from his father. Anna stated that he had “broke the cycle.” Beethoven had
tried to made Karl into a child prodigy, just like he was when he was a child. But in the end,
Karl attempted suicide and never wanted to see Beethoven ever again. Ode to Joy was how
Beethoven expressed his ecstatic feeling when he escaped from his father and the time spent
with Karl as a father himself.

4. Beethoven’s Europe/Vienna Austria of the late 18th and early 19th centuries is quite
different from our 2021 American culture. Cite at least three specific aspects of
society/culture presented in the film that you find interesting, intriguing and/or notable.
Many societal and cultural aspects are different from the 18th to 19th centuries Vienna and
2021 American culture.

Firstly, how the cultural traditions affected women, specifically on the nobility side; In this
case, we have Giulietta. Everything has to go through a third person to reach the women: the
servants have to notify the arrival of guests, and most importantly, even the marriage of the
women herself. Moreover, everything is dictated by the head of the family. I find it frustrating
that Guilietta had to go such length, deceiving Beethoven to have the chance of her father’s
approval of her own choice of marriage partners. But that was also the reason Beethoven
never associated himself with Giulietta. If only she didn’t have the chain of being a nobility,
she might have a better chance. Another small detail that happened in the movie was when
the servant is washing Giulietta’s body. That was mind-boggling to me because I cannot
imagine someone that is not my significant other to be doing that. I don’t think that was the
American culture but the Asian culture that influences my beliefs.

Secondly, how war is fought back in the day was by using cannons and guns. But now, there
are missiles, drones, and bioweapons, and many more. Moreover, there are many different
types of war—for example, cyber wars, information wars, proxy wars even. Because modern
warfare is so complex, it becomes harder to place the blame on just one country. And also,
people like Napoleon back then just wanted to conquer different countries to make their
empire, so they just paint a big red target on their back for all the blame anyways.
Lastly, medical care in the 18-19th century was night and day compared to the 21st century. I
almost fell off my chair when I heard that the doctor punctured Beethoven’s swelling
stomach, which worsened his condition by infecting the wound. Just from that, I already
know that they didn’t have a proper diagnosis of his ailments, and there were no strict
sanitary procedures. Also, there are no mental health concepts, so people’s thoughts and
feelings are left to their own devices, along with their abuses. Beethoven would be much
more stable mentally if he talks to a therapist, but his compositions would not exist. I am
conflicted.

5. Describe the overall form employed by the filmmakers to tell this story. Where does
the film start? Describe the road it travels. Where does the film end?
The film’s overall form resembles the multimovement cycle, where it started with the
Exposition, then to the Development, then the Recapitulation, and Coda that resolved from
the start.

The Exposition started with the funeral of Beethoven in Vienna. It also leads to the question:
Who did he leave his estate? Beethoven’s younger brother, Johann, assumed he was the one
to inherited his brother’s estate. Anton Schindler, Beethoven’s secretary and friend, found a
letter that stated that his music and the estate belongs to Beethoven’s Immortal Beloved. Who
is this person? Schindler sets out to fulfill his friend’s final wish, as he thought that was the
least he can do. This upset the younger brother Johann to no ends.

The Development has two sections, which are two different women that Beethoven
associated with in the past. Both times, Shindler sat down and talked to them. The
conversations are shown as flashbacks. The two women are Giulietta Guiccidardi (Contesa)
and Anna Marie Erdody. There are additional characters during the two sections: Beethoven’s
older brother Caspar, Caspar’s bride, Johanna, Karl (introduced as Johanna and Caspar’s son,
Beethoven’s nephew).

The Recapitulation begins near the end of the second conversation with Anna. Anton
Schindler is about to solve the mystery. This returns to the question at the Exposition: Who is
she? The Coda begins once he discovered the person, which was Johanna. Beethoven’s
development with his Sonata is slightly different: he lengthens and adds a twist to the
“Coda.” To make it consistent, the filmmakers do the same by adding a flashback scene to
Johanna, and adding a twist at the end, revealing that Karl was Beethoven’s son.

6. What surprising plot twist is revealed towards the end of the film? Did you anticipate
this scenario, or were you surprised?
At the end of the film, it is revealed that Karl was Beethoven’s son. I was surprised and did
not exist this plot twist at all. There were so many hints. First, it was the early appearance of
Johanna. That happens when Beethoven’s brought the police to her place, where she was
sleeping with his brother, thus announcing that the two were married. I thought at the time,
Beethoven was oddly obsessive about Johanna. First, he declared to his brother the woman
was a “whore,” but then, after knowing that she was married, he became a little sad. Second,
how affectionate he was to Karl after Johanna’s husband died. Usually, he hits men, spats
women, and fires servants on the spot. Third, he was aggressive even to his secretary
Schindler. Only to young Karl, Beethoven would speak softly, gently guide the boy, and
played “Fur Elise” while talking about his past. I was captivated by the film, by how
Beethoven could be so honest with his emotions and at the same time, be misunderstood by
so many.