Notes on the romantic hero in classical music

Journal of Political and Military Sociology, 2002, Vol. 30, No. 2 (Winter):325-328 The glorification of heroes has had a long tradition in Western theory and practice. Music being no exception, in this paper we focus on three composers, all German: Ludwig van Beethoven, Richard Wagner, and Richard Strauss. Having been an unabashed admirer of Napoleon before his self-coronation in 1804, as were many others, seeing him as a potential liberator of nations and peoples, Beethoven titled his Symphony No. 3 (1803) Sinfonia Grande: Buonaparte. (Napoleon changed his name to Bonaparte.) Having learned of the self-coronation, Beethoven tore up the dedication page and changed the symphony's title several times. In 1806 he gave the composition its final title: "Eroica (Heroic Symphony composed to celebrate the memory of a great man)." In other words, Beethoven's initial hard feelings toward Napoleon moderated. In fact, he continued to remain in awe of Napoleon (cf. Solomon 1977, Ch. 13).

A mixture of simplicity and complexity, of toughness and tenderness, Eroica's four movements are as follows (adapted from Bernstein 1966, 1905-227): The First Movement begins with two commanding chords, as if

announcing a monument. It develops the theme in new and unexpected ways, suggesting conflict, struggle, and battle. Then, comes a lyrical motive and a second theme and a powerful interlude followed by hammer-blow chords at the end of the exposition so that one "hears" battle in an almost literal sense. Next comes a new elegiac melody, much like pain after a battle. The movement closes with an enormously powerful coda.

The Second Movement consists of the great Funeral March, a huge, meandering slow movement and a somber theme, which breaks into a passage of great tension and power. Then come the recapitulation and the coda, reiterating the march melody. (The march suggests, as Solomon [ 1977, 140] has pointed out, that Beethoven was as concerned with the hero's death as with his birth and resurrection.)

In the Third Movement, the scherzo, a succession of strong beats suggests repressed power, leading to a veritable explosion and followed by a demanding fanfare for three horns.

The Fourth Movement reiterates the themes of power and struggle, a furious rush of sound, a raging fury - much like the first movement. Then comes a new melody and a set of variations, reaching a tense climax. There follows a new fugue and a meditative variation, culminating in a powerful coda.

Wagner and Strauss worked under the influence of the ideas of two major German philosophers: Arthur Schopenhauer (1788-1860) and Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900). Schopenhauer's major work, The World as Will and Idea (1819), maintained that the world, which is experienced as ideas, is, in itself, Will. He also stressed the importance of individual Will and the Will to Act. Schopenhauer directly influenced Nietzsche.

Nietzsche's Thus Spake Zarathustra (1883) rejected Western values and institutions and called for a transvaluation of values along with a new order of exceptional leaders. He further emphasized the Will to Power as the motivating force of both the individual and society. He proposed to replace Slave Morality (as embodied in democracy and Christianity) with Master Morality (as embodied in Zarathustra and the Superman). No wonder that the Nazis found Schopenhauer and Nietzsche congenial, as they did Wagner and R. Strauss. 1

A man of monumental vanity, Wagner lived a life of luxury, even if he had to borrow (which frequently he did not repay). With the help of his admirer King Ludwig II of Bavaria, he indulged for a time in a life of utter opulence. His romantic conquests became legendary. He was such a prominent presence that he easily influenced other artists, poets, novelists, and painters. He sought artistic (and material) success on a grand scale, even if success required ruthlessness toward others. He intended his music to be elitist, not populist. He insisted on calling his compositions "music dramas" in order to distinguish them from other composers' mere operas. He believed that Will has complete power over ideas, and that the only real outer manifestation of Will is through music.

Wagner believed that "music dramas" should not be mere entertainment but should be lofty and moral in tone. They should use myth, folklore, and heroes to raise the spirit of the nation. The theater was a place of edification and national inspiration. The ideal opera composer was not only a musician but a dramatist and a philosopher as well. The composer's job was to use the power of music to influence and uplift the listener. To this end Wagner used a variety of themes: spiritualism, materialism, pursuit of gold, pursuit of power, God, heroism, love. For him music was an instrument of national grandeur. No wonder that Karl Marx once called Wagner a "neo-German-Prussian state-musician" (quoted in Bokina, 1997, 88).

Wagner thought so highly of his own "music dramas" that with the financial help of King Ludwig II he built, in the late 1860s, a special theater in the little Bavarian town of Bayreuth exclusively for the performance of his works. Opened in 1876, the Bayreuth Theater (Festspielhaus) continues to put on Wagner festivals every summer, at stiff prices, just as Wagner had planned and hoped.