Aesthetics of The Sublime and The Beauty Beethoven

THE FEELING OF INFINITY:
LATE BEETHOVEN AND THE AESTHETICS OF THE SUBLIME AND THE BEAUTIFUL
Christopher Bader
Electronic
Electroniccopy
copyavailable
availableat:
at:https://ssrn.com/abstract=2039142
http://ssrn.com/abstract=2039142
1
Abstract
Many Western philosophers, such as Burke, Kant, and Hegel, have examined the concepts
of the “sublime” and the “beautiful.” Though they often disagree on the particular characteristics
that produce one or the other feeling (or both), it is clear that the realm of the sublime is beyond
human understanding. It excites the most violent, noble, terrifying, and ecstatic passions. The
狂喜的
works of Beethoven’s final stylistic period, as represented by his Piano Sonata in E Major, Op. 109,
explore the farthest reaches of sublimity. The aesthetics of the sublime and beautiful have
traditionally been applied to nature and the visual arts. However, they are readily applicable to music
as well. Analyzing their development will help place Beethoven in the proper historical context. It
can then be shown how Beethoven’s late style helped revolutionize these concepts, expressing them
in ways that a philosopher’s words simply could not.
Electronic
Electroniccopy
copyavailable
availableat:
at:https://ssrn.com/abstract=2039142
http://ssrn.com/abstract=2039142
2
“Music is a higher revelation than all wisdom and philosophy.” - Ludwig van Beethoven
Great philosophers have grappled with the ideas of the “sublime” and the “beautiful”, two
concepts that are inherently linked and yet embody their own distinct values. Beethoven’s late
works made strong steps forward in their study by synthesizing the search for the beautiful and the
sublime within a musical experience. His late-period style embodied a creativity and passion that
stretched the limits of Classical form, endowing it with more profound expression than had ever
been heard before. By connecting Beethoven’s late style, particularly his Piano Sonata in E Major,
op. 109, to the history of the aesthetics of the sublime and the beautiful, this paper will show that he
helped revolutionize classicist ideas about those concepts, and that the works of this period
anticipated and mirrored later philosophers’ writings on the subject of the sublime and beautiful.
The analysis will begin with a discussion of the history of the aesthetics of the sublime and
the beautiful. Tracing its development from the writings of Longinus, through the descriptions of
John Dennis, and up to the works of late eighteenth-century writers such as Edmund Burke and
Immanuel Kant will provide a suitable context in which to examine Beethoven’s compositions. A
thorough analysis of his late style will then show how his works reflect and redefine the sublime and
the beautiful. Finally, the similarities between his late-period compositions and nineteenth-century
philosophical ideas, including those of G.W.F. Hegel and Arthur Schopenhauer, will be examined.
Longinus and the Origins of the Sublime
Western philosophers have, since the earliest times, discussed the aesthetics of the sublime
and the beautiful. They have sought to describe its power, and have also attempted to define it in
terms of formal systems of “beautiful” and “sublime” characteristics. Longinus, a writer from the
Electronic copy available at: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2039142

3
first century BCE, related the concept of the sublime to the greatest styles of writing. In his well-
known treatise On the Sublime, Longinus discusses the matter of ύψος (Greek for “height”), which is
that quality of speech and writing “to which the greatest poets and prose-writers owe their eternal
散文作家永恒的
renown.” He argues that while the power to feel and convey the sublime is a natural talent, it can be
名誉
augmented by artistic abilities, such as “nobility of diction” and careful compositional techniques. 1
吐字
In his more detailed discussion, Longinus gives us many specific qualities that will be highly
useful in this study’s work with Beethoven’s music. These include imitation, vivid description, the
use of effective and subtle rhetorical figures, and the power of appropriate diction. 2 The reference
to diction here is important, because Longinus does not limit sublimity to cultured or intellectual
styles, but allows that “the use of words of everyday or even vulgar vigour may occasionally be
庸俗的活力
effective.” Further, he states that careful structuring of word-order and rhythm and can give even
common words sublime influence. In the end, however, Longinus seems to continually return to
the two foundational sources of the sublime: “high thinking” and “strong passion.” These traits are
two
foundational
sources of explained as a matter of character and the individual mind. They are qualities of great persons and
the sublime
cannot be achieved through ordinary means. One must be born with them. These two naturally-
given traits tie in closely with the Greek conception of the sublime. For them, sublimity had a
strong moral overtone and was connected with godly or kingly qualities, since only the greatest gods,
弦外之音
kings, and heroes possessed these two underlying source of the sublime. 3
One final and critical point that comes from Longinus is the difference between “genius”
and “flawless mediocrity”. He describes the latter as mastering the artistic skills of his craft, while the
完美的平庸
former, even though he should err
犯错误
from time to time, achieves such heights of noble and beautiful
1 D.A. Russell, introduction to On the Sublime (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1964), ix-xiii.
2Ibid., xvii-xix. For Longinus, “imitation” refers to imitating the styles of the old masters, which is a way to critique
one’s own work. 评论
3 Ibid., xix-xxxviii.

4
passion in his successes that one cannot give him much fault for the failures. 4 A true genius lives
beyond these small setbacks and explores the extreme reaches of sublime power. This view of
sublimity is highly applicable to Beethoven’s life and works.
John Dennis and the Age of Reason
John Dennis, an important literary critic of the seventeenth century, provided significant
expansions and revisions of the concepts of the sublime and beautiful. His writings on the sublime
were primarily based on his experience of the Alps in the late 1680s, which led him to conclude that
the strongest passions, including “horror,” “destruction,” and “terrible joy,” produce sublime
feelings. 5 For Dennis, the beauty and inherent danger of the Alpine terrain coalesced into an
阿尔卑斯山结合
overwhelming sensory experience that thrust upon the observer thoughts of both life and death. It
把什么强加于
should be noted that, at the time of his writing the Alpine descriptions, he was not familiar with and
did not use the term “sublime”. Instead, his vocabulary included words that became closely
associated with later conceptions of sublimity: “grand,” “magnificent,” and “vast.” 6
Dennis took these descriptions and attempted to more closely define them through the term
“sublime,” which he found later in the writings of Longinus. The sublime, he claims, stems from
“power and elevation in both its subject matter and its effects,” from which he concludes that the
greatest sublimity is found in Christian poetry, where the subject matter is of the highest order, and
the reader experiences admiration, astonishment, and a oneness with God. 7 Dennis finds a clear
一体；一致；和谐
4 Ibid., xx.
5 Avon Jack Murphy, John Dennis (Boston: Twayne Publishers, 1984), 12-13.
6 Frederick Staver, “‘Sublime’ as Applied to Nature,” Modern Language Notes 70.7 (November 1955): 485.
7 Murphy, 13-17.

5
example of Christian sublimity in the descriptions of hell and the Garden of Eden in Milton’s
Paradise Lost.
Edmund Burke and the Aesthetics of Eighteenth-century England
Eighteenth-century philosophers developed their ideas about the sublime and the beautiful
in a similar vein. They moved away from the literary criticism of Longinus, and instead focused on a
脉络
clearer objectification of the characteristics of the beautiful and the sublime, in keeping with the
人格物化
pursuit of objectivity, reason, and systematization that pervaded the Enlightenment period. 8
渗透；遍及
Edmund Burke was one such author, and his Philosophical Enquiry into the Origin of our Ideas of the
Sublime and Beautiful is a critical work in modern aesthetic analysis of the subject. Published in 1756,
this treatise is (for our study) the first real attempt at a thorough systematization of the
characteristics that make an object or experience either “sublime” or “beautiful.” 9
In Burke’s view, the sublime became that which “is fitted in any sort to excite the ideas of
pain, and danger…whatever is terrible.” 10 Burke counters the notion that pleasure is the source of
the strongest human passions. Instead, he maintains that “the idea of pain, in its highest degree, is
self preservation
pain and dangermuch stronger than the highest degree of pleasure.” 11 In this new manifestation, the sublime is
more closely related to the concept of self-preservation, which Burke argues is the source of greatest
passion and emotion. Chief among the ideas that fall under the heading of self-preservation are pain
8 Russell, xlv.
9It should be noted that Burke is the first author of this study to separate the ideas of the sublime and the beautiful and
discuss their unique contributions.
10Edmund Burke, A Philosophical Enquiry into the Origin of our Ideas of the Sublime and Beautiful, ed. James T. Boulton
(Oxford: Basil Blackwell Ltd., 1987), 39.
11 Ibid., 64.

6
and danger. He adds that these feelings of pain and danger produce the sublime passion only “at
certain distances,” that is to say, appreciating hardship and privation from a comfortable distance.
艰难
He calls this feeling of pleasure at perceiving pain, terror, and danger at a safe remove “delight.” 12
In his introduction, James Boulton proposes that Burke’s underlying source of the sublime is “at
once a non-rational and a violent aesthetic experience.” 13 With these motivations in mind, Burke
非理性的
formulates a number of specific characteristics that will bring forth the sublime feeling. Among
these are terror, obscurity, vastness, infinity, difficulty, magnificence, suddenness, and certain sounds
(especially loudness). A further elaboration on these terms will enable us to clearly relate them to
Beethoven’s music.
In Burke’s, terms, “terror” is the fear of pain or death. He states that terror can come not
only from great vastness or terribleness, but also from things which may be dangerous to us. His
浩瀚
examples include dangerous things such as powerful, wild, or poisonous creatures, and vast things
like the ocean, which indeed has its own terrifying history in relation to man. Burke also notes that
this concept of terror underlies all other manifestations of sublimity.

构成基础
“Obscurity” is a quality that prevents the subject from clearly establishing the limits of an
object or space. His best example is that of nighttime, when darkness covers what in daylight might
be an innocuous landscape, but at night is transformed through imagination into a frightening haven
无危险
of ghouls and monsters. The uncertainty and confusion of obscurity lead the observer to that
overwhelmed state that is the hallmark of sublime passion. Burke later makes an interesting
distinction between the powers of “clearness” versus obscurity. He claims that obscurity is more
12Ibid., 36-40. Dmitri Tymoczko phrases it thusly: “Too much danger, and we begin to feel genuine terror; too little
danger, and we enter the realm of the (merely) beautiful.” (Dmitri Tymoczko, “The Sublime Beethoven,” The Boston
Review, February/March 2000, http://bostonreview.net/BR24.6/tymoczko.html)
13 James T. Boulton, introduction to A Philosophical Enquiry into the Origin of our Ideas of the Sublime and Beautiful (Oxford:
Basil Blackwell Ltd., 1987), xv.

7
effective at provoking sublime feelings than clarity. 14 He also states that painting and other visual
arts are less effective at producing the sublime than poetry because of the painter’s preoccupation
思虑
with clear representation. Though there may be some possible criticism of this point, it relates very
closely to one of this study’s most important ideas: in the same way that poetry contains some
necessary obscurity that promotes sublimity, music provides even more obscurity, which promotes
even more visceral experiences of the sublime. This paper’s opening quotation from Beethoven
发自肺腑的
himself encapsulates this idea.
Burke examines the idea of “vastness” as another source of the sublime. In this category he
accounts for vastness of size, dimension, quantity, and proportion. He also claims that great height
and great depth are the most effective forms of vastness (as opposed to great length or width).
Additionally, Burke allows for extreme smallness to produce some sublime effect, such as the
wonderment experienced when one explores the infinite divisions in life and nature. This idea of
vastness takes it next logical step into “infinity,” which involves a perception (usually incorrect but
no less effective for it) that some object or series of objects continues on without end. The idea of
infinity further leads into “magnificence,” which is achieved by any large collection of things which
壮丽；宏伟
“are splendid or valuable in themselves.” Objects like stars are inherently grand, but, in the context
壮观的
of the entirety of the night sky, they take on a whole new level of power and astonishment. 15
Another idea that is certainly close to pursuit of music is Burke’s “difficulty.” He claims that
“when any work seems to have required immense force and labour to effect it, the idea is grand.” 16
This applies not only to the difficulties Beethoven encountered in composing his monumental late
works, but also in the extreme technical and stylistic difficulties that one must overcome in
14 Burke, 58-64.
15 Ibid., 72-78.
16 Ibid., 77.

8
performing those works. Our later discussion of Beethoven will show how the difficulties inherent
in his late works were important in revolutionizing ideas about beauty and sublimity.
Two further, related sources of the sublime applicable to our study are “suddenness” and
certain properties of sound. Suddenness brings the mind instantly to attention, heightening our
perceptions. Burke wisely comments that not only do sudden loud noises cause the sublime, but
also that the sublime can come from “the silence of the night.” He also discusses how “excessive
loudness” can “overpower the soul,” and also that “low, tremulous, intermitting sound…is
颤抖的间歇
17
productive of the sublime.”
The beautiful as set forth in A Philosophical Enquiry is diametrically opposed to the sublime.
阐释过直接地
Whereas sublimity involves overwhelming forces which may harm or destroy the observer, beauty is
a “social” quality that invokes “sentiments of tenderness and affection.” 18 He uses the term “love”
温柔
to describe the passion that comes from beauty. 19 Explicating his ideas further, Burke claims that
说明
characteristics such as smallness, gradual variation, smoothness, grace and delicacy contribute to
beauty. This study will again explain further some of his sources of beauty to aid in the coming
analysis of Beethoven’s works.
For “smallness,” Burke discusses the popular use of diminutives in many languages to
小词
indicate affection or tenderness for the subject. He claims that “the sublime…always dwells on
great objects, and terrible” and that the beautiful “[dwells] on small ones, and pleasing.” “Gradual
variation” and “smoothness” come next, and are rather self-explanatory. It is important to note,
however, that they often interrelate in beautiful objects; this is because, in order to achieve gradual
17 Ibid., 82-83.
18 Ibid., 42.
19Ibid., 91. Burke is careful to separate “love” from “desire.” He notes that love “arises to the mind upon
contemplating anything beautiful,” while desire may operate outside love and is more closely associated with lust.

9
variation in nature or visual art, one must use smooth and fluid lines. Burke strongly objects to the
idea that “angular” objects are somehow beautiful. 20

有棱角的
Two other important sources of beauty are delicacy and grace. “Delicacy” is related to
fragility and weakness, 21 and “grace” involves refined composure. Closely akin to grace is Burke’s
idea of “elegance,” which occurs “when any body is composed of parts smooth and polished,
without pressing upon each other, without shewing [sic] any ruggedness or confusion.” 22 Though
强壮和粗犷
these ideas are more explicitly related to visual art and to nature, there is some measure of
明确的
applicability to music that will allow this study to use these concepts with Beethoven.
In a discussion that is more directly beneficial to this study, Burke outlines what beauty is in
music. He claims that “sweet or beautiful sounds” produce the greatest feelings of beauty, and that
“[beauty] agrees best with [notes] that are clear, even, smooth, and weak.” He specifically denies the
beauty of “loudness and strength of sounds” in music, and claims that “shrill” or “harsh” notes are
best used to raise other passions than beauty. He relates this to his earlier statements on suddenness
and sublimity, saying that “great variety, and quick transitions from one measure or tone to another,
are contrary to the genius of the beautiful in music.” 23 He later adds the admission that music is not
“an art in which I can say I have any great skill;” taking into account Burke’s lack of experience in
music, the purpose of this paper becomes to show that Beethoven, an undisputed genius of music,
can make beauty and sublimity out of whatever materials he pleases.
20 Ibid., 113-115.
21 Ibid., 116. In relating this concept to beauty, Burke shows his predisposition to create beauty out of the supposedly
“feminine” qualities. He even goes on to say that “the beauty of women is considerably owing to their weakness…and
is even enhanced by their timidity.”
22 Ibid, 119-120.
23 Ibid., 121-123.

10
Immanuel Kant and a New View of the Sublime and Beautiful
Immanuel Kant also contributed significantly to the aesthetics of the sublime and beautiful.
In opposition to Burke’s view that objects contain inherent sublime characteristics that produce the
sublime feeling, Kant proposes that each person has either more or less disposition toward sublime
and beautiful feelings. He uses this to account for the inconsistency in human reactions to nature
不一致
and art; the fact that two people may find the same experience or object either sublime or beautiful
can be allowed if the ability to perceive these qualities, and therefore feel their emotional effects, is
something unique to each individual. 24 Since Kant’s arguments are often difficult to understand,
there can be no laundry-list structure to his theories on the beautiful and sublime. In his Critique of
清单
Judgment (1790), Kant specifically discusses the natures of these two concepts. Out of this
labyrinthine work, Paul Crowther has usefully reconstructed Kant’s theories on the sublime into a
迷宫般的
more coherent framework.
One key point of departure for Kant’s aesthetic theories is that our aesthetic judgments are
inherently disinterested. This is because we can appreciate the beauty (or sublimity) of an object
客观的
without knowing anything about it besides what our senses provide. That is, we do not need to
know what it is, what it does, whether it is real, or why it is there in order to formulate aesthetic
judgments. The aesthetic judgments we make are founded upon both our reasoning abilities and
our senses, and, in Kant’s view, an aesthetic judgment best allows humans to pleasurably exercise
both of these capacities. This comes into play in our considerations of the sublime and beautiful
because it allows art to provoke these feelings without there being any real truth in the artwork. 25
24 Paul Crowther, The Kantian Sublime: From Morality to Art (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1989), 11-13.
25 Ibid., 139-149.

11
For example, a majestic mountain range could inspire sublimity both in actuality and through a
painting or photograph.
The Kantian sublime involves the experience of an object which is, in some manner, too
康德
vast for the mind to conceive in its totality. Kant also works from the notion that we must
experience the danger and power of the sublime from a safe distance, such that we are not
immediately threatened by the object, but can appreciate its power (a claim that Burke also makes
through his term “delight”). This remove from the possibility of direct harm allows the observer to
view the object disinterestedly.
For the sublime, Kant proposes two primary categories. The first of these is the
“mathematical” sublime. To explain this point, he opposes a mathematical calculation of size using
units of measure with an aesthetic calculation, which is informal and involves the subjective estimate
非正规的
of some object’s magnitude in relation to the individual. Crowther explains the idea plainly:
A child learns things as size and distances by physical exploration of its environment.
It conceptualizes as ‘big’ those objects which it finds hard to cope with in terms of
the exercise of its physical capacities. The articulation of such ‘bigness’ in terms of
determinate mathematical concepts is something which is subsequently built on these
foundations. 26
This informal ability to estimate magnitude is what leads an observer into sublimity. When
confronted with vast objects, well beyond the scope of one’s imagination, one considers the
26 Ibid., 146.

12
concepts of infinity and infinite complexity. 27 This is Kant’s mathematical sublime, which mirrors
closely some Burke’s sources of the sublime concerning physical size and its capacity to overwhelm
the observer.
The second manifestation of the sublime in Kant is called the “dynamic” sublime. This
sublimity is similar to the mathematical version in that if involves our informal abilities to estimate
an object’s power “to inflict physical harm or restriction upon [the] body, possessions, and
打击
environment.” Kant’s argument here differentiates itself from Burke’s theories about “delight” and
the motivations of self-preservation. For Kant, experiencing “terror at a distance” inspires us to feel
a moral resistance to the threatening force. Crowther takes some objection to this formulation, and
his statements provide a useful injection of clarity into Kant’s aesthetics. He claims that the dynamic
sublime operates similarly to the mathematical sublime. Just as in the mathematical, the dynamic
sublime leads the observer to a feeling of infinity, a feeling of being overwhelmed by his or her
inability to fully comprehend an object. In the dynamic sublime, it is the destructive power of a
terrible object or event (i.e. an avalanche or tornado) that takes one beyond rational comprehension
and into sublimity. 28
Especially applicable to Beethoven is Kant’s notion of “genius” which is closely related to
the sublime. In this term, Kant conveys the idea that the art of a genius is not reducible to following
可以简化
rules of form and composition; rather, the genius of the artist is shown when there is both a mastery
of rules and a distinctive originality which gives the work “the unforced spontaneity of a natural
独特的
object.” It is the artist’s ability to not merely represent an idea well, but to represent it so forcefully
and passionately so as to render it incapable of comparison that is the true mark of genius. Though
27 Here again Dimitri Tymoczko provides a useful summary of this idea, stating that “As Kant remarks, the size of St.
Peter’s defeats our perception: by the time our eyes move from the floor to the ceiling, we lose our memory of the
starting point. Our apprehension exceeds our comprehension. And this incomprehension–rather than terror, as in Burke’s
account–provokes a certain ‘reverence’ in us.”
28 Crowther, 148-149.

13
not Kant’s term, Crowther designates this idea of the “artistic” sublime, and claims that is the
greatest form of sublimity. 29
As with Burke, Kant has distinct notions of the beautiful and the sublime, and, like Burke,
his ideas lead the two concepts in different (though not mutually exclusive) directions. Beauty as
sublime defined in Kant implies a judgment of “taste,” which is an aesthetic faculty. 30 This is sharply
inherently 能力
disinterested
distinguished from Burke’s underlying claim that there are “beautiful” characteristics that are
inherent in objects. For Kant, there are no “criteria of beauty,” and thus he “opened the gates of
subjectivism.” 31 Moving away from the assumption of “beautiful” properties in objects, Kant instead
formulates some principles on which subjective judgments of beauty are based.
Kant attempts to narrow his definition of beauty by proposing two categories of beauty:
“free” and “dependent.” “Dependent” beauty is a sort of lesser beauty, one that comes from an
objective assessment of an object. One type of dependent beauty is known as the “good,” which
refers to beauty that comes from an appreciation of an object’s utility, or, what task it is good for
and whether it performs that task well and efficiently. Another type of dependent beauty is found in
perceiving something that is a good (or the greatest) example of its kind. 32
“Free” beauty, in Kantian terms, is a higher level of beauty, and one that is most applicable
to the arts and nature. It is called “free” because it does not rely on the objectivity of “dependent”
beauty. He further distinguishes totally subjective judgments, called the “agreeable,” which are
令人愉悦的
“purely a matter of personal taste,” from true aesthetic judgments of beauty. The highest
appreciation of beauty develops in a process of judgment that is both subjective and objective. This
29 Ibid., 156-160.
30Stuart Jay Petock, “Kant, Beauty, and the Object of Taste,” The Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism 32.2 (Winter 1973):
183.
31 Guy Sircello, A New Theory of Beauty (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1975), 4.
32 Ibid., 79-80.

14
process involves the “free play of the imagination” upon an object, through which the observer
judges its beauty. The objective element enters in Kant’s theory of the sensus communis (“shared
sense”), which states that there is a universal faculty of “taste” and “common sense” among all men
and women. This faculty allows for the objective element of judgment, namely, the demand for
universal assent. 33 This process allows for great diversity in that which we find beautiful. Since we
同意
formulate subjective responses and then (in labeling the object in question “beautiful”) demand
universal assent with our opinion, it is possible that not only natural and artistic beauty, but also the
beauty of mathematical theorems and other typically non-aesthetic objects could be appreciated in
定理
this way.
As noted earlier, the inherent subjectivity of Kantian beauty does not allow for much
discussion of characteristics of beautiful objects or experiences. However, some further notes on
his conceptualization of the process of the aesthetic judgment will be useful. First, Kant sees the
physical object that one observes as being critical to the judgment process, even though there are no
“beautiful” or “ugly” characteristics which it contains outside our perception of them. 34 This is
because the physical object acts as a sort of trigger in the observer’s mind, one that sets off a whole
complex series of logical and sensory connections which cohere into an aesthetic judgment. As
Graham Gordon notes, “‘delight’ in the beautiful is fixed upon an object; it takes the form not of an
intellectual classification but the contemplation of the object itself.” 35 So the important process lies
沉思
33 Gordon Graham, Philosophy of the Arts: An Introduction to Aesthetics (London: Routledge, 1997), 13.
34 Petock, 185.
35 Gordon, 13.

15
somewhere in between the physical object and the physical observer, within the realm of “taste” and
the psychological and logical processes of the mind. 36
Late Beethoven and the Synthesis of the Sublime and Beautiful
Now that Beethoven’s aesthetic context has been established, this study can turn to an
analysis of his late-period style and a discussion of how the works of this period expressed the
sublime and beautiful in a truly unique and revolutionary manner. For the purposes of this paper,
general comments on Beethoven’s personal aesthetics and his biography will be combined with a
more in-depth analysis of a work that is representative of his late style, the Piano Sonata in E Major,
Op. 109. 37
In most Beethoven biographies, his third and final stylistic period began in approximately
1815 and continued until his death in 1827. 38 Though scholars have engaged in heated debates
about when each period precisely began or ended, this study will not attempt to answer that
question. Rather, the concern is with the general characteristics of Beethoven’s late style as
evidenced in Op. 109, which is an indisputably late-period work. The formal, compositional, and
36Kant’s aesthetics begin to blur the line between beauty and sublimity as compared to Burke’s categorical analysis. His
philosophy is often considered to be more Romantic than his time-period implies, which gives him limited but
important applicability here. We shall see that later Romantic philosophers take his ideas even further.
37For this analysis, I am using the Heinrich Schenker edition of the Beethoven sonatas. Ludwig van Beethoven, “Piano
Sonata No. 30 in E Major, Op. 109,” in Ludwig van Beethoven: Complete Piano Sonatas, ed. Heinrich Schenker (New York:
Dover Publications, Inc., 1975), 557-576.
38Glenn Stanley, “Some Thoughts on Biography and a Chronology of Beethoven’s Life and Music,” in The Cambridge
Companion to Beethoven, ed. Glenn Stanley (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2000), 3-5.

16
aesthetic aspects of this work all display characteristics that can be described as sublime and
beautiful. 39
Many of the philosophers discussed previously did not favor music among the arts. During
the late eighteenth century, it was generally felt that music, with its truly non-specifiable nature, was
unable to convey moral concepts in the same way that other arts, such as literature and painting,
could. This does not mean that they did not value it, however. Many enjoyed music’s incredible
power over the emotions and human passions. But in the age of the Enlightenment, morals and
clarity were favored over the highly subjective nature of musical expression. 40 Beethoven’s genius as
a composer helped to radically alter that view, and move music into the highest reaches of artistic
importance.
Beethoven’s life immediately preceding and during the period of 1815-1827 was a turbulent
混乱的
one. He faced many personal crises, such as the strained and often broken relationships with his
sister-in-law Johanna and her son Karl, over whom he fought for guardianship with Johanna during
the years of 1815-1820. A protracted series of periods of peaceable relations were time and again
持久的
rocked by fierce legal battles and vicious attacks on personal character. Even after he won Karl’s
guardianship, Beethoven endured a troubled relationship with Karl, who went so far as to attempt
suicide in 1826 in order to distance himself from his uncle’s domineering influence. 41
盛气凌人
In addition to family matters, Beethoven also faced quickly deteriorating physical and mental
health. Particularly important to his works of this time was his descent into total deafness by 1818. 42
39It is critical to note here that this study is applying the concepts of the sublime and beautiful to Beethoven’s works. It
makes no claim that Beethoven consciously knew about, studied, or applied these concepts in his own compositional
process.
40Nicholas Marston, “Historical Background: Intellectual Currents: Philosophy and Aesthetics,” The Beethoven
Compendium: A Guide to Beethoven’s Life and Music, ed. Barry Cooper (London: Thames and Hudson, Ltd., 1991), 63.
41Maynard Solomon, Beethoven (New York: Schirmer Books, 1998), 297-330.
42 Stanley, 12.

17
He also faced periods of self-doubt and suffered from serious psychological problems. He would
often fluctuate between extremes of gaiety and rage, and increasingly displayed “sudden rages, [and]
欢乐愤怒
43
uncontrolled emotional states.” These violent mood swings further alienated Beethoven from his
疏远
family, friends, and the Viennese public, leading him into an introverted state that is clearly evident
in his music from this time.
These crises brought about great changes in the composer, moving him away from the
second “heroic” style and into the sublimity of the late period. It was during this period that
Beethoven achieved unique expressions of the sublime and the beautiful. Well-known Beethoven
biographer Maynard Solomon writes,
There is a conspicuous fusion of retrospective and modernist tendencies in Beethoven’s late

引人注目的涉及以往的；回顾的
style, but the relative absence of contemporary musical influences confirms the weight of
Beethoven’s originality, his expanded rhetorical vocabulary, his formulation of
unprecedented ways of representing states of being that flourish beyond the boundaries of
前所未有的
ordinary experience. 44
Without these enormous changes in Beethoven’s personal life, it is possible that he would not have
achieved the same feats of sublime expression that are evident in Op. 109. As the great artist and
Kantian “genius,” Beethoven had to not merely represent the sublime, but also to feel it permeate
渗透
himself and find a unique catharsis through his music.
宣泄
43 Solomon, Beethoven, 333.
44 Maynard Solomon, Late Beethoven: Music, Thought, Imagination (Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 2003), 2.

18
With this biographical backdrop for Beethoven’s final stylistic period established, a detailed
application of the concepts of the sublime and the beautiful to Op. 109 can proceed. Written in
three movements, this sonata was begun in early April of 1820 and published in its entirety in
November of 1821. 45 The first two, relatively short movements are in sonata-allegro form and are
elided together. The third movement is a substantial theme and variations which is far longer than
the first two movements combined. In this analysis, the terms and definitions set forth in Burke and
Kant will be applied to the sonata and will show the connection between the sublime and beautiful.
After discussing beauty and the sublime in turn, this analysis will explain how Beethoven’s music
synthesized and expanded these concepts in profound new ways.
Beauty is a trait that is evident throughout Op. 109. In addition, the sublime elements of the
sonata are further heightened by the idyllic beauty of the contrasting passages. A few exemplary
田园般的
passages that display classical beauty can be found in the first movement’s A theme, development,
and coda, the second movement’s chorale section of the exposition and recapitulation, and the third
movement’s theme, variation 1, variation 4, and the opening passage of variation 6, as well as the
restatement of the theme at the end of the movement. 46
The first movement is a true embodiment of Burkean and Kantian beauty, interspersed with
穿插
some sublime elements. The A theme (mm. 1-4) opens in the tonic, E major, and is in a broken-
chorale style. This theme is marked dolce, piano, and sempre legato, and gives the overall impression of
quiet repose and fits in well with Burke’s claim that beauty involves delicacy and uses sounds which
are “clear, even, smooth and weak.” Contributing to its peaceful nature is the simplicity of the
45 Barry Cooper, “Calendar of Beethoven’s Life, Works and Related Events,” in The Beethoven Compendium: A Guide to
Beethoven’s Life and Music, ed. Barry Cooper (London: Thames and Hudson, Ltd., 1991), 27-28.
46 Some of the choices for “beautiful” passages may seem arbitrary, and are certainly open to disagreement. The issue,
though categorical from Burke’s perspective, is clearly not black and white. The passages chosen are the clearest
examples of the Burkean and Kantian concepts I wish to illustrate. The same approach will be applied to passages
which exhibit the sublime.

19
theme, which makes use of limited harmonic and motivic materials. For example, the first phrase of
the A theme makes a very straightforward progression, using a stepwise descending pattern in the
bass voice. It also focuses on the recurring motive of the ascending third, which is followed by a
descending perfect fourth. The relatively small range of the melody of the theme relates to Burke’s
idea of smallness. The recurrence of the third and perfect fourth motives in sequence connects with
Burke’s idea of gradual variation, because it does not move from one idea to the next sharply or
suddenly, but instead evolves in a fluid manner. Given that this passage fulfills the requirements for
beauty as set out in Burke, it would also make sense to call this a Kantian beauty, because the sensus
communis of Beethoven’s time (and even in our time) would invariably come to agreement about its
beauty.
Further beautiful elements appear in the development section of this movement. In the
opening passage (mm. 15-20), material similar to the A theme is presented, but in a higher register
and in the dominant key. The shift to a higher register adds to the sense of delicacy and grace that
we found in the A theme. Approximately the first half of the next passage (mm. 21-30) also
contributes to the beauty of the movement. I have isolated the first half of the section (the whole of
which comprises mm. 21-41) because Beethoven has created a trajectory that takes the passage from
轨道
the beautiful and into the sublime. Here we find the same delicate and graceful texture and motives
of the A theme. Performance practice also contributes to a feeling of gradual variation and elegance.
This is because the performer would typically create dynamically rounded shapes (a crescendo
moving toward the third beat of the figure with a significant diminuendo on the fourth beat) in the
sequential passage from mm. 25-30. This roundness ties in with Burke’s claim that music should not
quickly transition from one idea to another. As we shall see, the second half of this passage (mm.
31-40), leading to the retransition (mm.41-48), begins to inject sublime elements which hurtle the
增加了飞驰
movement forward into the recapitulation.

20
The final elements of Classical beauty which are apparent in this movement appear in the
coda. This passage (mm.66-99) again uses the A theme to emphasize repose, grace, and delicacy.
平静
This coda especially embodies the synthesis of the sublime and beautiful that underscores this entire
sonata. Further, more detailed comments on this passage will come in our later discussion of the
sublime elements in the work.
The second movement of Op. 109 is a stark contrast to the first. Where the first movement
primarily favors beauty with interjections of sublimity, the second movement is terrible and intense,
and has only momentary appearances of Burkean beauty. This beauty is most clearly seen in the
short chorale section of the exposition (mm. 29-32), and its parallel in the recapitulation (mm. 120-
123). This passage is marked espressivo and piano both times it appears. It also employs a chorale
texture that favors stepwise motion in all voices. These elements follow from Burkean concepts of
beauty such as elegance, grace, gradual variation, and smoothness. Other fleeting interjections of
闪现的
beautiful elements (mm. 51-54, 152-155) provide welcome relief from the violent and terrible
journey of the movement through their use of smooth, weak sounds and a definite feeling of
delicacy. Overall, however, there is a definite preference in this movement for sublime elements and
only brief encounters with beauty (in the classical sense, of course).
The third and final movement of Op.109 is the longest, most complex, and most complex
movement in the sonata. 47 It is a theme and variations, and Beethoven has cleverly created a
progression between variations that vacillates between beauty and sublimity, finally combining the
摇摆
two in a musical jouissance. The first instance of Classical beauty in this movement comes directly
高潮
from the theme. This theme uses a chorale texture and its melody is carefully controlled, with none
47In this edition of the sonata, Schenker marks the first statement of a given half of the theme with circled measure
numbers. He marks the written-out repeat of the same half with boxed measure-numbers. For typographical purposes,
I will leave the number unmarked when I refer to the first statement within a given variation, and I will mark an asterisk
(*) next to the number when I refer to the written-out repeat.

21
of the “angularity” that Burke claimed is not beautiful. It is also marked mezza voce, which indicates
that the passage should be played with “half voice”. 48 One of the dominant principles in Classical
thought and musical composition was ethos, a feeling of restraint and of orderliness (as opposed to
Romantic pathos). Limiting the sound and overall tone quality to only half of the instrument’s power
embodies that restraint. Though Beethoven later dissolves that ideal, in this theme we find all the
解除
elements of Burkean beauty: grace, smoothness, gradual variation, and elegance.
Within the six succeeding variations, variations 1, 4, and the opening of variation 6 also
overtly display elements of beauty. For example, the first variation is not only Classically beautiful
when considered on its own, but in the context of this form, its beauty is augmented further. This is
because it maintains the Classical-period traditions of theme-and-variations form, in that this first
variation is not a significant development of the theme, but rather a slightly embellished version
美化；装饰
which inserts extra notes or harmony, but remains very near to the superficial structure of the
表面
theme. This fits into Kant’s claims about dependent beauty; specifically, this variation would be
considered a great example of the Classical expectations for a first variation. In addition, it contains
many elements which we have already discussed as being beautiful, such as piano and molto espressivo
markings (as well a mezza voce marking near the end), a primarily stepwise, carefully controlled
melody, a slow rate of harmonic change, and a straightforward harmonic progression. The
chromatic melodic embellishment in the second half of the variation (note the chromatic passing
tones in mm. 9 and 10) helps achieve the molto espressivo marking by invoking the concepts of
smallness and delicacy. All these elements imbue the theme and first variation with a sense of calm
and tranquility similar to that found in throughout the first movement.
48“Michael Kennedy, The Oxford Dictionary of Music, 2nd ed., ed. Joyce Bourne (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1994),
575.

22
The fourth and sixth variations deal with beauty in similar ways. This is because they open
with Classically beautiful elements which slowly mingle with sublime elements, until the two form a
cohesive whole. This will be further demonstrated in the discussion of Op. 109’s sublime features.
For now, it will suffice to point out the beautiful aspects of these variations. For example, the
beginning of variation 4 (mm. 1-5) opens with a recurring figure that sequences groups of three
stepwise ascending sixteenth-notes. This is in counterpoint to the primary melody, which tends to
move in sequences of three stepwise descending eighth-notes. The slow tempo of the variation,
combined with legato slurring, slow harmonic rhythm, and the marking piacevole (“agreeable” 49),
creates a serene field of sound that is in keeping with the Burkean ideas of smoothness, gradual
variation, grace, delicacy, and others. Measures 14-16 bring this simple beauty back, in contrast to
the sublime features which preceded them. Variation 6 operates in a related manner, in that the
opening (mm. 1-4) displays elements of Burkean beauty through the cantabile marking, the return to
the slow opening tempo, and the relatively slow rhythms and straightforward harmony. The melody
is also reduced to its most basic structure in the first two measures of the variation, which eliminates
rhythmic contrast, thus enhancing the simplicity of the presentation. As will be seen later, this
beauty takes a wild ride that imbues it with a powerfully sublime feeling, led by the progressively
smaller subdivisions of the beat. A repeat of the theme in slightly altered form follows the final
variation. This repetition gives the movement a feeling of Classical departure and return 50, creating
for the listener a “return to reality” from the sublime journey that preceded it.
49 Ibid., 673.
50 Nicholas Marston, “‘The Sense of an Ending’: Goal-Directedness in Beethoven’s Music,” in The Cambridge Companion
to Beethoven, ed. Glenn Stanley (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2000), 91.

23
As we have discovered, Op. 109 contains many aesthetic features which clearly suggest a
Classical conception of beauty. These include smallness, delicacy, grace, elegance, smoothness, and
gradual variation. By conforming to these objective criteria for Classical beauty, this sonata is also in
agreement with Kantian aesthetics of beauty. We will now turn our attention to the sublime
elements of the sonata, showing how, by synthesizing these two concepts, Beethoven takes each of
them well beyond any limited Enlightenment scope, thrusting them forward into the nineteenth-
century aesthetical context. The primary passages which highlight the sublime include: the
transition, B theme, closing theme, the end of the development (and on into the retransition and
recapitulation), and the end of the coda of the first movement; the majority of the exposition and
development of the second movement; the second, third, and fifth variations, as well as parts of the
fourth variation, and the majority of the sixth variation within the third movement.
The first movement is primarily concerned with beauty, as the A theme suggests. However,
it also contains many sublime expressions which provide contrast to what otherwise might have
been a dull or lifeless beauty. The clearest example of this feature in the first movement can be
found in the contrasts between the A and B themes. The sublime element enters soon after the A
theme is finished, in the statement of the B theme (mm. 9-14), which follows a short transition (mm.
4-8). There is a sudden and alarming change of tempo, and unexpected and sometimes distant
modulations (c-sharp minor, D-sharp major) before the arrival point in the expected key of V (B
major). This arrival point signals the start of the closing theme, which lasts only one measure (m.
15). Beethoven also creates tension through abrupt forte and piano dynamic changes, a change in
texture, and a character and mood that is vastly different from the serenity of the A theme. Many
Burkean and Kantian hypotheses on the sublime are clearly at work here. For example, the sudden
and unexpected changes between the A and B themes, and within the B theme itself, fit well with
Burke’s notions of suddenness and extreme loudness as sources of the sublime. It is clear that the

24
rapid modulations through some distant keys and the sounding of certain jarring harmonies (i.e. the
刺耳的；不和谐的
opening b-sharp fully-diminished seventh chord arpeggio, and when the same harmony sounds
again in m. 12) also contribute to the overall aspect of suddenness that is integral to the passage.
The wide range of the arpeggiated chords in mm. 12-13, as well as the long scales of the closing
theme (m. 15), tie in to Burkean vastness. They also display aspects of obscurity, since Beethoven’s
pedal indications require that the performer not lift the pedal during the entire arpeggio in both
measures respectively. This causes the sound to accumulate and, since the range is wide, obscures
many of the individual pitches, especially by the end of the arpeggio. What is created instead is a
sort of “wash” of sound that is not concerned with the arpeggio acting as a melody but rather as an
improvisatory flourish.
Since Kant provides clearer definitions for sublimity than for beauty, it is also possible to
describe the Kantian sublime in this passage. Since one cannot create physical vastness with music,
it might seem that the mathematical sublime would not be applicable. However, Beethoven’s late
style, particularly his exploration of the highest and lowest registers of the keyboard (as evidenced
throughout the B theme), creates a sense of “aural vastness” which can produce the same effects in
a listener as a physically vast object can produce in an observer. The dynamic sublime also pertains
to this passage, in that the jarring, sudden, and generally forceful nature of the B theme creates a
feeling of overwhelming power, and even danger.
The first instance of a clear sublime-beautiful synthesis can be found in the B theme. In
measure 14, Beethoven presents a delicate, graceful, smooth and quiet melody (marked espressivo and
piano) which leads to another improvisatory flourish in the second half of the measure. This
improvisatory gesture is the moment in which Beethoven combines the ideas of smallness, delicacy,
grace, and others with sublime ideas like loudness, vastness, and infinity. Loudness comes from the
crescendo marking that continues through the gesture. The high register suggests vastness and

25
infinity by taking the melody “into the heavens” and away from the more “grounded” middle
register. Infinity is also suggested by performance practice. This is because this gesture is generally
played as though it is marked accelerando, though it is not marked that way. This is in keeping with
the improvisatory feeling of the B theme in general. What this accelerando creates is a sense of
unfolding from a small point of light, serenity, and beauty, into a vast world that overwhelms the
senses with beauty and sublime enormity. This is especially true when considering the closing
巨大
theme, which is the musical realization of the vastness and infinity of the preceding gesture. This is
clear from the relative loudness of the beginning of the measure, the wide range of the B-major
scale, and the ritardando marked at the end of the measure. The key point here is that Beethoven
moved from beauty at the start of measure 14, through a melding of beauty and sublimity in the
second half of the measure, and on into the full sublime by the start of measure 15. Most
composers would work for a lifetime to create beauty or the sublime; Beethoven created both, and
united them, in two measures.
The end of the first movement’s development section (mm. 31-41), the retransition (mm.
42-48), and the restatement of the A theme and transition in the recapitulation (mm. 48-57) all create
another distinctive synthesis of the sublime and beautiful. In the previously-discussed passage of the
development (mm. 21-30), beautiful characteristics dominate. As has been seen in the B theme and
will continue to be seen throughout the sonata, Beethoven cleverly transitions from beauty to
sublimity by combining the two. This move toward the sublime is first heard in the end of the
development, when Beethoven takes small, soft, and delicate gestures, stated in sequence, and begins
to expand them both in terms of range and dynamics. Notice the sforzando-piano indications
throughout this section. They closely relate to the senses of suddenness and loudness which are
integral to Burke’s sublime. The expanded range and dynamics also contribute to a feeling of
vastness and infinity as was discussed with the B theme. In this passage, Burke’s idea of

26
magnificence is also applicable. Since the four-beat sequence is “inherently splendid,” the fact that
华丽壮观
there is a great collection of them makes them magnificent.
The retransition completes the move toward the sublime. The sublime elements from the
end of development such as the wide range and the four-beat sequence are maintained.
Additionally, there is a crescendo marked all the way to the recapitulation. In performance practice,
there is a sharp drop in dynamic level at measure 42, in order to aid the execution of the crescendo.
This sudden change in dynamic level, with an immediate and significant increase following, brings to
mind nearly all of Burke’s sources of sublimity, including vastness, infinity, magnificence,
suddenness, and loudness. The “aural vastness” of the passage suggests Kant’s mathematical
sublime, and the intense emotion and dynamic relate to Kant’s dynamic sublime, in that the listener
is witnessing an awesome and terrible event unfolding. The recapitulation does not bring back the A
theme in a beautiful manner, but instead feeds off of the energy of the retransition, exploding into a
forceful, confident, and aggressive restatement of A that continues to exhibit all the sublime qualities
previously mentioned. This thematic transformation of the once-beautiful into the sublime is
another clear example of Beethoven’s synthesis of the two ideas.
The end first movement’s of the coda (mm. 86-99) provides another example of sublimity.
Here we find the general thematic material of the A theme altered in such a way that it both recalls
the beauty of the A theme while clearly imbuing it with sublime characteristics. The Burkean
concept of obscurity is implied in the relatively low register of the melodic ideas in measures 86-91.
When combined with the soft dynamics, this low register also creates the effect of “low,
intermitting” sounds that Burke classified as sublime. In the final passage (mm. 92-99), the basic
断断续续的
melodic and harmonic figure borrowed from the A theme is presented once in a lower register and
then sequenced up one octave, and then another. This is combined with a crescendo to the sforzando in
measure 97. The dynamic increase, coupled with the rising registration, gives a feeling of vastness

27
reminiscent of the retransition and recapitulation. The sudden decay to piano is a final instance of
suddenness that helps set up contrast between the lyricism of the first movement and the frenzy of
狂热
the second.
If the first movement was more focused on beauty than sublimity, the second is its mirror
opposite. This movement overflows with intensity, emotion, and terror, and this sublime assault is
攻击
assuaged only by fleeting intrusions of beauty. Alfred Brendel describes the second movement’s
缓和；减轻闯入
character as “dark, flickering and jagged, jerky and short-winded.” 51 The movement opens with a
颤动有尖齿的颠簸的
fortissimo and ben marcato (“well marked,” 52 or significantly emphasized) theme (mm. 1-8). The low
bass octaves contribute to the experience of obscurity and a certain amount of terror from the great
deepness and loudness of the sound. The melody itself is specifically counter to Burkean beauty, in
that it sounds harsh and aggressive, and is quite disjunct.
The second theme (mm. 9-24) is more conjunct and is much quieter than the first.
However, in light of the first impression one receives from the first theme, it is only natural to feel a
sense of foreboding and anxiety, as though the music will suddenly and viciously explode again at
危险的预感好像邪恶地
any moment. This is a powerful realization of the intermitting, tremulous sounds that produce the
间歇颤抖的
sublime (as opposed to loudness). After a brief and beautiful chorale passage (mm. 29-32), we again
experience a sense of terrible things to come in the beginning of the conjunct and piano inverted
颠倒的
restatement of the second theme (mm. 33-38). The unease is finally brought to fruition in the
不安
explosive crescendo and powerful melodic octaves of measures 39-42, with the culminating rinforzando
in measure 42. This rather sudden and extreme increase in volume again displays the Kantian
dynamic sublime and Burkean suddenness, loudness, and terror. Another clear example of the
51Alfred Brendel, “Beethoven’s New Style,” in Music Sounded Out: Essays, Lectures, Interviews, Afterthoughts (New York:
Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1990), 68.
52 Kennedy, 548.

28
explosive and sublime crescendo can be found in measures 55-57; this dynamic swell follows one of
the few beautiful passages in the exposition (mm.51-54), and so the sublimity is heightened further
by the strong feeling of contrast that Beethoven sets up. It is as though in measures 51-54 we rise
for but a moment out of the clouds and the raging storm, and catch a fleeting glimpse of the sun,
only to turn downward and once again plunge into the furious tempest. In the close proximity of
大风暴
the two contrasting passages one can almost discern a sublime-beautiful synthesis, since the listener
will easily have the aural memory to experience the two in a single thought.
Some of the clearest examples of the sublime are created in the development section (mm.
70-104). This passage displays all those qualities of sublimity which are fearful and ominous. For
example, the low octave-B pedal figure at the opening of the development (mm. 70-82) conveys
Burkean obscurity because of the muddiness of tone in that low register with such rapid rhythms.
The piano dynamic of the passage also creates the low, intermitting sounds which produce a sublime
agitation. Additionally, the retransition at the end of the development (mm. 96-104) is in my
opinion the most sublime passage in the whole sonata. This is because we as listeners anticipate the
reentry of the raucous and startling first theme, and the retransition drags this feeling of anxiety to
its extreme by using conjunct motion in a high register and at a pianissimo dynamic (with the soft
pedal depressed as well). All this creates such a contrast with the first theme that the sublime
feelings of vastness (from the register), obscurity (from the dynamic), and suddenness (from the
eventual recapitulation) are almost too much to bear.
The recapitulation proceeds in much the same manner as the exposition, as is typical of this
form. One final passage to note in the closing progression is in measures 170-177. This final
gesture summarizes a great deal of the sublimity embodied in the rest of the movement, including
the move from obscurity in a piano dynamic, suddenly and with terrible intensity (and Kantian

29
dynamic sublimity), toward three loud final chords which suggest vastness, infinity, and the Kantian
mathematical sublime because of their very wide spacing.
The third movement provides the most profound and most innovative syntheses of the
sublime and beautiful in Op. 109. As discussed earlier, the theme and the first variation are
characteristic of Classical theme-and-variations form; they also adhere to Classical ideals of beauty.
The second variation begins the musical exploration which provokes more sublime feelings. The
second variation contains alternating passages of beauty and sublimity. The first, third, and fifth
passages (mm. 1-8, 9-16, and 13*-16*, respectively) all center around the same general motive of
alternating sixteenth notes in a perpetual-motion melody that makes use a compound line, such as in
measures 3-4. These sections embody the sublime elements of vastness and infinity because of their
typically high register (see especially mm. 8 and 13-16). They also create a synthesis of the beautiful
and sublime, in that the high register and consonant harmonies of the passages give a sense of
Burkean delicacy and grace. In this variation, Beethoven seems to have taken the beautiful qualities
and exaggerated them to the point of sublimity, to the point of taking them beyond our typical realm
of understanding.
Variation three creates sublime feelings throughout, but most noticeably at the beginning.
This is because the second and third variations are elided, with no break to allow the listener to
achieve closure from the previous variation before continuing to the next. The sharp contrasts in
tempo (leggiermente vs. allegro vivace), texture (compound line and homophony vs. two-voice
polyphony), and character (lyrical vs. aggressive) between the second and third variations all
contribute to an experience of sublime suddenness right at the start of the variation. The internal
contrasts in dynamics, with many sudden pianos which often rapidly increase to forte, reinforce this
feeling. Also, the extremely quick tempo demands enormous technical facility from the performer,
and this creates Burke’s sublime difficulty. The tempo also produces an element of suddenness, in

30
that the entire variation lasts only about 45 seconds, whereas the second and fourth variations are
much longer. The explosion of the third variation interrupts the serenity of the second and fourth,
and this enhances its sudden quality. The numerous repetitions and reworkings of the opening four-
measure group recalls Burke’s magnificence, since there is a high number and concentration of
already-splendid creations. The aggressive nature of the variation seems to suggest a Kantian
dynamic sublime as well, though not nearly as powerfully as the second movement.
The second repeated section of the fourth variation is closely linked with the sublime. In
this section, the use of long spans of the sustain pedal undermines the clarity that is important in
Classical beauty. Instead we experience a high degree of obscurity, not only from the long pedals,
but also from the thick texture of measures 9-13. Additionally, the use of dynamic extremes such as
the opening pianissimo (m. 9), the large crescendo and szforzandi (mm. 11 and 12), and the fortissimo (m.
13) recreate the two sublime extremes of loudness and low, intermitting sounds. In a way, this
variation creates a sublime-beautiful synthesis in a manner like the fleeting appearances of beauty in
the second movement. Here, the variation opens with beauty in the first section, makes a sharp
transition to sublimity in measure 9, and smoothly transitions back to beauty in the last beat of
measure 13. This synthesis by proximity can be found throughout and between the variations of
this movement. Measures 9-10 provide a synthesis in and of themselves as well. The suspension of
the harmonic rhythm and the use of long pedals in these measures create a sense of a vast aural
landscape, much like the wide pitch range discussed previously. This sublime vastness combines
with the beautiful smallness and delicacy of the chromatic melodic flourishes on beat 2 of each
measure.
The fifth variation is much like the third in that its primary focus is sublimity. It creates
contrast through its elision with the fourth variation; the contrast comes from the significant
increase in tempo from etwas langsamer, als das Thema to Allegro ma non troppo, the sudden explosion of

31
a forte dynamic (when fourth variation ended very softly), the change in texture from homophony (at
the end of the fourth variation) to fugal polyphony, and the change from a relaxed and reflective
沉思的
character to an insistent, powerful character. These contrasts are very similar to those found
between the second and third variations, and so the sublime elements are similarly arrayed. For
example, suddenness and loudness are evoked from the above-mentioned differences, and
magnificence in the fugal writing of the variation, because of the numerous and overlapping
imitative melodies. The fugal aspect of the variation also suggests Kant’s mathematical sublime, in
that the numerous stretti which occur throughout the variation (most noticeably in mm. 1-6)
加紧；加速
overwhelm the listener with a sense of infinity and inscrutable complexity and depth. One
难以琢磨的
important point to note here is that the contrasts between the fourth and fifth variations are in some
ways more extreme than those between the second and third variations. Take the matter of
difficulty, for example. While the third variation has many technical obstacles placed in it, they are
readily solvable with determined application to the study of scales and arpeggios, which is something
all serious pianists rely on to build technique, and so is not too far-fetched a requirement. This
contrasts sharply with the extreme difficulties in the fifth movement, especially the sometimes
awkward fingerings (m. 3* right hand, m. 12 right hand), the parallel sixths and thirds (mm. 15-16),
and the wide leaps (mm. 14*-16*, mm. 14**-16**). These technical difficulties far exceed those
present in the third variation. This shows a key element of the entire movement: an arc toward the
弧线
sublime, which begins softly and reservedly in Classical beauty and slowly progresses toward a height
of intensity which brings about new heights of sublime experience.
The sixth and final variation of the movement is the culmination of the synthesis of the
sublime and beautiful in this sonata. It truly embodies both concepts in an exciting and innovative
manner. As we have seen throughout the sonata, beautiful characteristics predominate at the start
of the variation (see the discussion of mm. 1-4 above). In this variation, the primary device

32
providing forward momentum is the animation of the rhythm of the pedal figure. This figure begins
as a pedal B in quarter-notes (mm. 1-2), then eighth-notes (mm. 3-4), then a change of meter to 9/8,
which places three eighth-notes in the beat instead of two (m. 5). After the change of the meter, the
pedal figure gradual expands beyond a simple repeated B (mm. 5-8) and eventually settles into a trill
which continues throughout the rest of the variation. The melody also joins in this animation
process in measures 1*-8*. The animation of the pedal figure and melody not only provides forward
momentum, it also exhibits a clear progression from beauty into sublimity. When the ideas are first
heard, they are relatively slow and very serene, with no rhythmic contrast. As each figure is further
divided into smaller and smaller subdivisions of the beat, they move away from those beautiful
aspects, and instead take on several Burkean sublime elements, which include: obscurity, which
comes from the thick texture created by the constant trills (especially the low-register trills for the
left hand, mm. 1*-16), loudness, from the increase in textural density and the long crescendo in
measures 8-8*, magnificence, from the extremely long repetition of the graceful and beautiful trill,
difficulty, from the high technical facility required to execute the trills seamlessly while playing other
notes with the same hand, and finally infinity and vastness, from the animation of the rhythm to its
densest possible manifestation in the trill, which brings to mind the endless subdivisions in life and
nature. 53 Kantian mathematical sublime is suggested through the infinity and vastness of the pedal
figure as well. This rhythmic animation also suggests Kant’s dynamic sublime, through the increase
in “power” which seems to build to terrifying proportions, and which at the very least is well beyond
what the listener expects to hear. It is interesting to note that somewhat of a sublime-beautiful
synthesis is still maintained in the trill figure (instead of a simple progression away from beauty); this
is because the trill, particularly the higher-register trills in the right hand (mm.7-8*, 9*-19*), creates a
53Recall that Burke allowed for great smallness to produce the sublime as well as great vastness, since both seem to
perceptually extend into infinity.

33
feeling of grace, delicacy, and even smoothness 54 when executed properly. Also, the transition from
primarily beautiful into primarily sublime characteristics is enhanced by the slow animation process,
which maintains a level of Burkean gradual variation for some time into the variation.
In addition to the synthesis created from the pedal figure, there is another even more
powerful synthesis which combines a “sublime motive” and a “beautiful motive” that Beethoven
presents. The beautiful motive can be heard during the rhythmic animation process (mm. 1-8*) in
the melodic line, which begins in the alto voice and moves to the soprano voice in measure 5. This
melody is a restatement of the original theme in a reduced, more essential form, as was heard in the
opening measures of the variation. By favoring stepwise motion, small intervallic leaps, and
straightforward harmony, this melody encapsulates much of Burke’s and Kant’s conceptions of
beauty. The sublime motive is found in the arpeggios of measures 9-16. This series of arpeggios
and broken chords contains many sublime elements, such as loudness, difficulty, and obscurity.
Additional sublimity is gained from the vast range between the hands, particularly the high register
of the right-hand notes (especially mm. 13-16).
The truly magical moment comes next, when Beethoven combines these two motives and
the pedal figure together all at the same time (mm. 9*-19*). The beauty of the simple, unadorned
朴素的
melodic idea stated in the soprano creates sharp contrast with the energy and power of the left-hand
scales and broken chords, and the wide range created by the high registration of the right-hand
material. This in itself creates a compelling sublime-beautiful synthesis. The fact that the pedal
figure continues throughout these measures with its previously-explicated synthesis creates a two-
layer synthesis. All three motives coalesce to produce cathartic climax, yielding the most emotionally
合并宣泄
and aesthetically intense moment in the entire work. This final section of the sonata (before the
54 With such a long repetition of the trill, the ear eventually adjusts to the sound and it becomes part of the background,
a sort of atmospheric effect; this gives it a smooth quality.

34
restatement of the theme) truly takes the sublime and beautiful to a new level by not only
synthesizing them, but layering syntheses on top of each other.
Beethoven’s Resonance in Romantic Aesthetics
Beethoven’s late-period works created a new perspective on the Classical concepts of the
sublime and beautiful through creative syntheses. Following is a discussion of selected arguments
advocated by two great nineteenth-century philosophers, G.W.F. Hegel and Arthur Schopenhauer.
These two authors wrote extensively on aesthetics, and their writings on the subject are
contemporary with Beethoven’s late period, making the similarities easy to detect. This will serve to
strengthen the argument that Beethoven carried music into the Romantic era in the same way that
these philosophers did with aesthetics. Only a few brief remarks about their theories, instead of a
full explication of their positions on the sublime and beautiful, will be presented. 55
The nineteenth century witnessed the end of the Enlightenment’s predilection for reason
偏好；偏爱
and objectification. Philosophy and art instead began to favor the individual’s subjective experience
人格物化
of the world. In this context, Beethoven became a heroic figure, a mythical man who triumphed
over mortality through his music. Bettine von Arnim drew a number of broad categories for
Beethoven’s persona out of the various “Beethoven legends”, claiming that he was “[a] child of
nature, revolutionary, magician, religious leader and prophet.” 56 As a hero of individualism and
语言家
55To be sure, other Romantic philosophers would be appropriate to this discussion. These two were selected based on
their extensive writings on aesthetics and their (somewhat) clear explications of Romantic sublimity and beauty.
56 Anne-Louis Coldicott, “Posthumous Assessments: The ‘Romantic Hero’,” in The Beethoven Compendium: A Guide to
Beethoven’s Life and Music, ed. Barry Cooper (London: Thames and Hudson, Ltd., 1991), 296.

35
transcendent genius, his life and works significantly influenced the Romantic artists and thinkers
who followed him. 57
A correlation exists between Beethoven’s late works and G.W.F. Hegel’s views on beauty
and sublimity, as part of his larger philosophical and aesthetic theories. (Though Hegel may have
shown distaste for contemporary music, 58 Beethoven’s importance in musical development cannot
be underestimated from our contemporary vantage point.) Hegel, and later Schopenhauer, drew
有利位置
heavily on Kant. This fact will help us create a progression from the Classical Burke, through Kant,
and into more the Romantic Hegel and Schopenhauer. Hegel’s aesthetics were set out in a series of
lectures during the years 1818-1829. These lectures were formally compiled and published after his
death. In them, Hegel sets out some specific thoughts on the beautiful and the sublime, and also on
the characteristics of Romantic art.
Hegel’s theories on the beautiful and the sublime are not mutually exclusive, as we have seen
in Burke, and, to a lesser extent, Kant. Hegelian beauty is a complex subject, resting on a
fundamental conception in his aesthetics, that beauty is an “Ideal,” which is the “Idea of the
beautiful…in determinate form.” This means that the “Concept,” or meaning or intention of the
固定的
artwork, must be satisfactorily combined with the actual artwork itself, that is, its “real existence.”
In his terms, “this unity of Concept and Reality is the abstract definition of the Idea.” 59 Hegel later
claims that beauty resides in the Concept half of the total artwork. As a pure Concept, beauty
cannot be comprehended by logical understanding, but is in fact infinite, beyond boundaries in
perfect unity with its real existence. It is just this infinity that we find beautiful, because it reminds
It should be noted here that this study is attempting to show Beethoven’s similarities to Hegel, but does not claim that
57
Hegel preferred or listened to Beethoven’s music, in the same way that it does not assume that Beethoven consciously
worked with the concepts of the sublime and beautiful in his late works. The same can be said of Schopenhauer.
58 Luigi Magnani, “Beethoven and the Aesthetic Thought of His Time,” International Review of Music Aesthetics and Sociology
1.2 (December 1970): 133.
59 G.W.F. Hegel, Aesthetics: Lectures on Fine Art, trans. T.M. Knox (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1975), 106.

36
us of our infinite potential as humans, as self-aware beings living in this universe, which we often
forget in the course of everyday life. 60 For him, beauty in art was that quality which expressed a
higher truth than simply representation of extant objects. Beautiful art should speak to a deeper
现存的
level of humanity; it should give “insight…into what it means to be a man.” 61 Art may represent
nature, but should strive to achieve a deeper relation to the “Idea” behind nature in order to be truly
beautiful. In this way, the Concept is preserved as distinct from its actuality, and the “totality” of
the two halves combined creates a beautiful artwork. 62 This manner of synthesis is clearly aligned
with Beethoven’s sublime-beautiful syntheses in Op. 109, and reveals a deeper complexity in beauty
that, before Beethoven, was more categorical and objective.
The sublime, in Hegelian terms, is that which “lifts the Absolute above every immediate
existent and therefore brings about the liberation…of the spirit.” 63 His conception agrees with Kant
in that the sublime expresses the infinite; it seeks to convey emotions or Ideas beyond human
understanding or our finite means of expression. He differs from Kant in the method of
experiencing the sublime, however. Where Kant creates the sublime from “the pure subjectivity of
the mind and its Ideas of Reason,” Hegel claims that it comes from the Absolute Idea which
overpowers the actuality of its expression. Notice the similarity between beauty and sublimity in this
instance. Beethoven’s syntheses in his late works expressed this sentiment that beauty and sublimity
can coexist in powerfully emotional ways, allowing Hegel to move further than Kant in blurring the
lines between the two concepts. As Hegel himself states, “the true content of romantic art is
60 Ibid., 112-114.
61 Jack Kaminsky, Hegel on Art: An Interpretation of Hegel’s Aesthetics (Albany, New York: State University of New York
Press, 1962), 31.
Edward Halper, “The Logic of Art: Beauty and Nature,” in Hegel and Aesthetics, ed. William Maker (Albany, New
62
York: State University of New York Press, 2000), 190.
63 Hegel, 363.

37
absolute inwardness.” 64 The Classical dichotomy of sublimity and beauty was dissolved in
心性的解除
Beethoven’s music, and called for a reevaluation of aesthetic theory which allowed for greater
subjectivism, since objective qualities could not be consistently relied upon.
One further element of Hegelian aesthetics reveals Beethoven’s influence, though it is not
directly linked to the sublime and beautiful per se. For Hegel, art progressed through a number of
stages. The first of these was the “symbolic” art of pre-Greek civilizations such as the Indians,
Persians, and Egyptians. Art in this stage failed to adequately express its content because of its divine
神圣的
nature, which made it “too thin and elusive to be expressed adequately in a sensory, or in any other,
form.” 65 The second stage is what Hegel terms “classical” art. This was the art of the Greeks,
whom he believed successfully portrayed the grand and divine content they desired through
increased detail and specificity. This form of art took godly qualities and transformed them into
human form, thus opening up new avenues of understanding, since they did not leave any point
unexpressed. Their artworks provided everything needed for comprehension.
Where this study is most interested is in Hegel’s conception of the third form of art, the
“romantic.” If symbolic art fails because it has too little to express, romantic art succeeds because it
“has too much to express.” 66 Romantic artists took the Classical (the term being fitting for both
Greek and eighteenth-century art) modes of expression and attempted to convey a message that was
deeper, more obscure, and more profound than the Classical forms could adequately portray.
This formulation of Romanticism ties in closely with Hegel’s views on the Romantic in
music. Since Hegelian philosophy is primarily concerned with dialectical relationships, he gave
辩证的
music special standing among the arts, just beneath the level of poetry. This is because music, with a
64 Ibid., 519.
65Michael Inwood, “Hegel,” in The Routledge Companion to Aesthetics, 2nd ed., ed. Berys Grant and Dominic McIver Lopes
(New York: Routledge, 2005), 74.
66 Ibid., 75.

38
form that usually consists of a beginning, a middle, and an end, takes the listener through the stages
of dialectical development, namely, thesis, antithesis, and synthesis. The dialectic, presenting two
apparently opposing elements and then synthesizing them, mirrors Beethoven’s treatment of the
sublime and beautiful in Op. 109. He presents beauty and sublimity separately, but also shows that
they can be melded together to form a more cathartic whole.
Since we have noted other authors’ conceptions of artistic “genius,” it is appropriate to point
out Hegel’s definition of genius here. Hegel, with his aforementioned distaste for contemporary
music, would probably not have allowed Beethoven a place among the artistic geniuses of his time.
However, his biased views do not prevent us from applying his characteristics of genius to
Beethoven’s work. Hegel believes that the true genius is not something which comes from sudden
inspiration. That sort of art is incomplete. What is required is a long life in which the artist
experiences much of the world and reality, and also devotes much thought inward, to the
contemplation of the soul and the Absolute. When this level of maturity is achieved, the artist then
沉思绝对真理
has the knowledge, experience, and emotional depth to create true masterworks. To illustrate this,
Hegel contrasts “talent,” the ability to perform a singular artistic task well (“perfect violin-playing”),
with true “genius,” which can only be gained through extensive, wide-ranging experience. 67
Arthur Schopenhauer’s massive The World as Will and Representation 68 takes a different path
from Hegel’s work, though it too contains elements that are comparable to Beethoven’s late works.
In general, Schopenhauer’s philosophy describes a “world which is neither rational nor good, rather
is an absurd, polymorphous, hungry thing lacerates itself without end and suffers in each of its
荒谬的多态的渴望的划破
67 Hegel, 284.
68 This work was first published in 1818, but underwent considerable revision throughout Schopenhauer’s lifetime, being
published in a second (greatly expanded) edition in 1844, and final third edition in 1859.

39
parts.” 69 His philosophy is far more pessimistic than Hegel, but his ideas on aesthetics are just as
interesting and appropriate to our study. This study will focus on the aesthetic theories of the
sublime, the beautiful, the importance of music, and artistic genius presented in the Third Book of
The World as Will and Representation.
To very briefly deal with the issues of the first two books of The World as Will and
Representation (on which the third book lays its foundation), Schopenhauer believes that the visible
world is a mere representation, a “veil of appearance” behind which real truth is hidden. 70 The next
major step is the understanding that the fundamental driving force of existence is what
Schopenhauer calls the “will”. This is the “thing-in-itself” of Kantian philosophy; it is the true
world hidden behind the world of representation. The will is defined as “a general principle of
striving or being directed towards ends, but it does not presuppose the rationality associated
预设
traditionally with human (and the divine) will.” This will is an insatiable urge that no pursuit can
无法满足的
fulfill. This perpetual “hunger” creates a world of constant suffering, since all of existence must deal
with the pain of unsatisfied will. In the Third Book, Schopenhauer finds relief from the constant
anguish of existence in the aesthetic experience. 71

痛苦
Schopenhauer’s Third Book deals with many aspects of the aesthetic experience, one of
which is a specific definition of beauty. For him, the experience of beauty contains two elements.
One is that the observer becomes a “pure, will-less subject of knowing.” This means that we lose a
sense of ourselves and instead become absolutely connected with the experience. The second
element is that we find in the object of aesthetic contemplation not the object alone (the
representation) but the Idea behind the object. This is similar to Hegel’s use of the term “Idea”.
69Christopher Janaway, Introduction to The Cambridge Companion to Schopenhauer, ed. Christopher Janaway (Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press, 1999), 1.
70 Kai Hammermeister, The German Aesthetic Tradition (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2002), 114.
71 Janaway, 7-10

40
What Schopenhauer deduces from these two parts of the aesthetic experience is that there are clearly
no objective elements which constitute beauty in objects. Rather, “everything is beautiful” because
it can be contemplated in this aesthetic way, through the will-less observer experiencing the Idea of
the object. He does, however, allow that some objects are more beautiful than others because of
special unity within the object and clear and significant relations between the parts. This unity helps
to more clearly suggest the Idea behind the object. 72
Schopenhauer’s sublime is, like Hegel’s, quite close in conception to beauty. Here there is
no longer an objective difference in characteristics of objects, but a perceptual or psychological
differentiation. The sublime is “the state of exaltation” in which the observer, as a pure will-less
提升；兴奋
subject of knowing, comprehends a certain beauty which “may have a hostile relation to the human
敌意的
73
will.” This recalls Burke and Kant, in that the sublime is a thing that can be dangerous or terrible,
but at the same time delightful, because it causes us to lift our consciousness to a higher level in
contemplating our own mortality. He gives many examples of the sublime as experienced in nature,
since he believes that nature is very suited to the sublime in the same way that human arts are suited
to elucidating feelings of beauty. In connecting beauty and the sublime, Schopenhauer argues that
the feeling of the sublime is distinguished from that of the beautiful only by the addition,
namely the exaltation beyond the known hostile relation of the contemplated object to the
沉思的
will in general. Thus there are several degrees of the sublime, and in fact transitions from
the beautiful to the sublime. 74
72Arthur Schopenhauer, The World as Will and Representation, trans. E.F.J. Payne (New York: Dover Publications, Inc.,
1969), 209-210.
73 Ibid., 201.
74 Ibid., 202.

41
This statement connects Beethoven’s synthesis of sublimity and beauty with Schopenhauer’s
aesthetics. It was Beethoven who proved, through the powerful (Schopenhauer claims it is the most
powerful) medium of music, that the sublime and the beautiful are degrees of the same experience,
and their characteristics can be combined into greater expression than either one alone was capable
of under Classical notions.
In his aesthetic system, Schopenhauer placed music above all other arts, including
architecture, sculpture, painting, and even poetry. This preference for music over poetry is not one
that other philosophers shared. But Schopenhauer argues that the ineffable, ephemeral quality of
不可言喻短暂的
musical art is something which speaks directly to the will instead of to an Idea through physical
representation. In music “we do not recognize the copy, the repetition, of any Idea of the inner
nature of the world,” but rather music speaks “as an entirely universal language” that communicates
directly and powerfully with our inmost will and soul. 75
In the context of music’s preeminent place among the arts, Schopenhauer observes that
artistic “genius” finds its greatest examples in great composers. His genius involves the power of a
pure will-less subject to fully and appropriately express the Ideas presented to him in aesthetic
contemplation. Everyone is open to the power of aesthetic contemplation, of rising up beyond the
will to the transcendence of Ideas. However, the artistic genius has the mastery of certain media
which allows him to construct an artwork “to express Platonic Ideas…so as to communicate a
vision of beauty or the sublime.” 76 Through the imperfect empirical reality we live in, the genius can
more easily and more effectively conjure up the feelings of purity and lack of willfulness or self-
联想
75 Ibid., 256.
76 Dale Jacquette, “Idealism: Schopenhauer, Schilling, and Schelling,” in The Routledge Companion to Aesthetics, 2nd ed., ed.
Berys Grant and Dominic McIver Lopes (New York: Routledge, 2005), 86.

42
interest that we all strive for in aesthetic experience. Schopenhauer calls this the greatest form of
“objectivity,” which is contrasted with the selfish subjectivity of the individual will. 77
Conclusion
Reflecting on Beethoven’s mastery of the sublime-beautiful dichotomy and synthesis, it is
clear that he can now be placed firmly in the realm of “genius,” in Longinus’, Kant’s, Hegel’s, and
Schopenhauer’s formulations. This level of mastery in his craft, combined with the artistic genius he
embodied, allowed Beethoven to affect aesthetic conceptions and usher in new perspectives on
引入
knowledge and expression.
Though there is much worship of his abilities as a composer, no modern author would claim
that Beethoven was totally without fault. It is clear that there is a disappointing superficiality in
some of his works at the very beginning of his late period, including Wellingtons Sieg, Der glorreiche
Augenblick, and other patriotic works. Though these compositions gave Beethoven broader
爱国的
popularity and increased income, they were never held to be great works of music, even by
Beethoven himself. 78 In light of the haunting and compelling power of most of his late works,
Longinus’s conception of true genius would apply here. Beethoven, though he faltered, created
works of such beauty and sublimity that he reaches heights beyond human comprehension, and well
beyond any “flawless mediocrity.”

平庸
Beethoven also fulfills Kant’s contention that genius must combine both a mastery of the
rules of composition and the intuition and creativity to present ideas with originality. In his late
period, Beethoven showed a sincere interest in contrapuntal techniques, drawing on the work of J.S.
77 Schopenhauer, 185.

43
Bach. Variation 5 of the third movement of this sonata is a prime example of his interest in and
mastery of contrapuntal writing. Furthermore, his understanding of Classical forms such as the
rondo and sonata-allegro is foundational to any student’s study of form. He was also a master of
motivic thematic development; in Op. 109, much of the third movement is created out of the falling
major third that opens the theme. Many of his pieces in every period of his composition display his
ability to fashion and develop grand themes out of tiny musical fragments. What is most intriguing
for us, however, is how his late works, including Op. 109, convey a new perspective on the ideas of
beauty and the sublime. He imbued these concepts with such passion, vigor, and depth that they
became defamiliarized to listeners and kindled a cathartic ecstasy that had never been experienced
点燃狂喜
before. Writing about the reception of his Missa solemnis, Prince Galitzin of St. Petersburg reported
to Beethoven that “I have never heard anything so sublime…it can be said that your genius has
anticipated the centuries.” 79
His genius also places Beethoven within the frameworks of Hegel’s and Schopenhauer’s
“artistic genius.” Beethoven was a man struck by moments of spectacular inspiration. However, he
also labored over his works, changing and reworking the most minute details, often after the piece in
question was already published. 80 This dedication to studying the art (as evidenced in his mastery of
forms and study of Bach), as well as his meticulous nature and constant revisions, would fit in
细心的
perfectly with Hegel’s “genius,” which was embodied in a person not merely as inspiration but also
as lifetime of real-world and introspective experience. Schopenhauer would also admit Beethoven
内省的
into the place of “genius,” since Beethoven’s late works embody such profound and intense
emotion. Only by accessing the purest “objectivity” could Beethoven have represented Ideas so
powerfully. He was a master of the compositional arts, and so could produce feelings of beauty and
79 Alexander Wheelock Thayer, Life of Beethoven, ed. Elliot Forbes (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1964), 925.

44
sublimity in the listener, feelings which rose above self-interest and still inspire some of the greatest
passions even today.
As we have seen, the concepts of the sublime and beautiful have undergone substantial
transformation throughout the history of aesthetics. Where early and Classical philosophers favored
a systematic objectification of “sublime” and “beautiful” characteristics which were inherent in
natural and art objects, Romantic philosophers created a more subjective analysis which greatly
synthesized the two ideas. Beethoven was a critical figure in the musical manifestation of the
concepts. His late-period works, particularly his Piano Sonata, Op. 109, display compositional
characteristics which synthesize sublimity and beauty, therefore calling into question Classical,
essentialist views. His influence on the history and evolution of music is probably the greatest that
本质主义的
any person has ever achieved. Now it can be seen that his triumphs in music reverberated
回响的
throughout his world, closely paralleling similar developments in Romantic aesthetics. Beethoven’s
genius brought forth a genuine, new perspective on the sublime and beautiful, and in so doing
created works of such cathartic power that words cannot adequately express them. His insight into
the human soul has transcended language and entered a state of pure connection with the divine, the
超越
Absolute.
真理

Aesthetics of The Sublime and The Beauty Beethoven

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Aesthetics of The Sublime and The Beauty Beethoven

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Aesthetics of The Sublime and The Beauty Beethoven

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

THE FEELING OF INFINITY:

in ways that a philosopher’s words simply could not.

Longinus and the Origins of the Sublime

Electronic copy available at: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2039142

Electronic copy available at: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2039142

sublimity is highly applicable to Beethoven’s life and works.

John Dennis and the Age of Reason

associated with later conceptions of sublimity: “grand,” “magnificent,” and “vast.” 6

Electronic copy available at: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2039142

Edmund Burke and the Aesthetics of Eighteenth-century England

characteristics that make an object or experience either “sublime” or “beautiful.” 9

Electronic copy available at: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2039142

this concept of terror underlies all other manifestations of sublimity.

Basil Blackwell Ltd., 1987), xv.

Electronic copy available at: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2039142

Electronic copy available at: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2039142

analysis of Beethoven’s works.

Electronic copy available at: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2039142

idea that “angular” objects are somehow beautiful. 20

can make beauty and sublimity out of whatever materials he pleases.

Electronic copy available at: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2039142

Immanuel Kant and a New View of the Sublime and Beautiful

Electronic copy available at: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2039142

view the object disinterestedly.

determinate mathematical concepts is something which is subsequently built on these

Electronic copy available at: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2039142

and into sublimity. 28

Especially applicable to Beethoven is Kant’s notion of “genius” which is closely related to

Electronic copy available at: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2039142

greatest form of sublimity. 29

formulates some principles on which subjective judgments of beauty are based.

Electronic copy available at: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2039142

discussion of characteristics of beautiful objects or experiences. However, some further notes on

Electronic copy available at: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2039142

the psychological and logical processes of the mind. 36

Late Beethoven and the Synthesis of the Sublime and Beautiful

Electronic copy available at: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2039142

41Maynard Solomon, Beethoven (New York: Schirmer Books, 1998), 297-330.

Electronic copy available at: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2039142

in his music from this time.

biographer Maynard Solomon writes,

There is a conspicuous fusion of retrospective and modernist tendencies in Beethoven’s late

Beethoven’s originality, his expanded rhetorical vocabulary, his formulation of

43 Solomon, Beethoven, 333.

Electronic copy available at: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2039142

synthesized and expanded these concepts in profound new ways.

restatement of the theme at the end of the movement. 46

Electronic copy available at: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2039142

movement forward into the recapitulation.

Electronic copy available at: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2039142

sublime elements in the work.

Electronic copy available at: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2039142

elements of Burkean beauty: grace, smoothness, gradual variation, and elegance.

and tranquility similar to that found in throughout the first movement.

Electronic copy available at: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2039142

Electronic copy available at: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2039142

Electronic copy available at: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2039142

feeling of overwhelming power, and even danger.

Electronic copy available at: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2039142