Beethoven’s funeral - L.V. Beethoven (2024)

THE MAN

THE GENIUS

Beethoven’s funeral

A media event ahead of its time

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With Beethoven’s death came the exaltation of the Man and the Genius to Mythical status. The first sign of this was the composer’s funeral which saw the whole of Vienna in procession behind his bier. An unprecedented mass phenomenon, involving the entire city and inspiring artists, such as Italian singer Luigi Lablache, and Austria’s greatest poet, Franz Grillparzer, who wrote the famous funeral oration. It was a collective tribute, documented practically in real time by the press, and then consigned to the pages of history and endless biography.

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Invitation to Beethoven’s funeral.
Vienna, 29 March 1927, 3 pm, Funeral of Ludwig van Beethoven.

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More than 20,000 people turned out for Beethoven’s funeral. As Gerhard von Breuning reported, the military were called to assist. Even before his death he was a mythical hero.

FRANZ STÖBER
Beethoven’s funeral. Bonn, © Beethoven-Haus, watercolour.

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Castelli had this poem printed specially for distribution among the crowd: “Outside Beethoven’s building, people engaged in scuffles to get hold of the poems that were being distributed”. The poem foreshadows recurring motifs of the subsequent lyrical production on Beethoven: “It is not he, the deceased, who is to be mourned, but the living, the wretched mortals who are nothing compared to his immortal spirit, willed by God and the Muses to their side”.

FRANZ IGNAZ CASTELLI, Austrian dramatist, librettist, poet and publisher, *Vienna, 1781 – †Vienna, 1862.
A great admirer of Beethoven, whom he called the “Shakespeare of Music”.
Original sheet with Castelli’s poem distributed on 29 March 1827 during Beethoven’s Funeral.

Italian translation from Artemio Focher, Ludwig van Beethoven 26–29 March 1827, Lucca, Lim, May 2001. pp. 84, 85 ff.

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During the procession to the Church of the Holy Trinity, Beethoven’s composition for four trombones was performed, adapted for male voices by the composer’s friend, the musician Ignaz Ritter von Seyfried.

Trauer Gesang bey Beethoven's Leichenbegängnissen, Mourning song at Beethoven’s funeral.
Original edition, Vienna, Haslinger, 1827.

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The church where Beethoven’s remains were blessed in a moving ceremony.

Trinitarierkirche um Kloster in der Alserstrasse, later Minoritenkirche.
Original woodcut, undated, mid 1800s.

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During the blessing of the remains before the high altar, the sixteen-voice male choir sang the hymn “Libera me...”.

IGNAZ RITTER von SEYFRIED
Libera, welches bey Beethoven's Leichenbegängnissen. Libera me, Domine, da morte aeterna.  Original edition, Vienna, Haslinger, 1827.

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“Il funerale fu seguito il 3 aprile dalla cerimonia dell'ufficio funebre. Nell'Imperial-Regia chiesa parrocchiale di corte degli Augustiner, per l'immortale Beethoven fu eseguito l'immortale Requiem di Mozart a cui parteciparono i cantanti italiani”. [A few days after the funeral, on 3 April, the funeral mass was held. Mozart’s immortal Requiem was performed for the immortal Beethoven in the Imperial Parish Church of the Augustiner Court, with the participation of Italian singers]. (GERHARD VON BREUNING, L.V.BEETHOVEN NEI MIEI RICORDI GIOVANILI, Italian translation by ARTEMIO FOCHER, MILANO 1990, PAG. 105).
From the letter of Trenck von Tonder to Antonie Brentano of 7 April 1827: “Lablache sang the bass part with such force and such sentiment that one would think he was trying to reawaken the deceased”.

LUIGI LABLACHE, Italian bass, immensely admired and popular throughout Europe, *Naples, 6 December 1794 – †Naples, 23 January 1858.
Lithograph, c. 1850, with original handwriting in ink.

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After the blessing, the long procession made its way to Währing Cemetery, arriving at dusk.
The cemetery where Beethoven was buried was consecrated in 1796 and closed in 1873. In 1925 it was converted into the Schubertpark, which remains today.

BERTA BINDTER, Austrian painter and printmaker, *1889 – †1977.
Entrance to the old cemetery in Währing, original etching, 26 March 1927.

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At the entrance to the cemetery, Anschütz fervently recited the funeral oration composed by Franz Grillparzer: “No sensitive heart was left unmoved; no eye without tears [...] The oration aroused great interest among those present and many wanted a copy...”.

HEINRICH ANSCHÜTZ, Austrian actor, *Luckau, 1785 – †Vienna, 1865. Called the “Star” of the Vienna Burgtheater.

Portrait of Cäcilie Brandt, German illustrator and printmaker* Leipzig 2 December 1814 – †Leipzig 15 July 1852.
Original lithograph, 1830s.

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“Il monumento di pietra arenaria a forma di piramide che racchiude una lira simbolo dell’arte musicale, una piccola farfalla, simbolo dell’anima libera, circondata da un esile serpente raggomitolato su sé stesso, simbolo dell’eternità. Si presentava al visitatore con il solo nome BEETHOVEN, una sola parola che dice più di iscrizioni gonfie e pompose (…)”.[ The pyramid-shaped sandstone monument encloses a lyre, the symbol of musical art, a small butterfly, the symbol of the free soul, surrounded by a slender snake curled up on itself, the symbol of eternity. Visitors saw only the name BEETHOVEN, a single word that says more than inflated, pompous inscriptions...]

Beethoven’s (first) grave, original woodcut from Das Pfennig-Magazin, Leipzig, 12 September 1835 no. 128, p. 293.

Text by ARTEMIO FOCHER, Ludwig van Beethoven 26–29 marzo 1827, Lucca, Lim, May 2001. P. 134.

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1,000 guilders for Beethoven’s head, from the crime pages of an Austria newspaper: “An unknown person in Vienna wanted to make off with the head of recently buried famous Beethoven and offered the undertaker’s wife 1,000 guilders if she could do it. At her husband’s bidding, however, she went to the police and the incident was foiled...”.

Schwäbischer Merkur (Stuttgart) No. 147, Thursday 21 June 1827
ARTEMIO FOCHER, Ludwig van Beethoven 26–29 marzo 1827, Lucca, Lim, May 2001.

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE VIRTUAL TOUR

There are three main itineraries in the virtual exhibition:

THE MAN dedicated to the most important events and themes in the composer’s life;
THE GENIUS dedicated to his works and how they are interpreted in the figurative arts;
THE MYTH dedicated to the worldwide spread of the Beethoven Myth, the exploitation of the composer’s image for commercial and political purposes, his veneration and desecration.

Several sub-itineraries are proposed within each of the three.

For example:
when the “GENIUS” itinerary is selected, the “SIXTH SYMPHONY” sub-itinerary becomes available.
Each sub-itinerary consists of a Gallery of works and/or documents on the theme with a short introduction.
Each image is accompanied by a description and can be enlarged and viewed in a different resolution.
The “INTRO” feature is a short audiovisual introduction to the specific section.

CREDITS: all works and documents are from the Carrino Collection
© Collezione Carrino – Casa Museo Biblioteca Beethoveniana
Any use of these images is prohibited without the express permission of Casa Museo Biblioteca Beethoveniana.

Beethoven’s funeral - L.V. Beethoven (2024)

INFORMATION ABOUT THE VIRTUAL TOUR

References