II 



BEETHOVEN, L0DWIG VON. 



BEHAM, BARTHEL. 



816 



ad the Utter that of 8rt UM* singer, and subsequently 'kapell- 

 meister,' in UM chapel of th elector of Cologne. From tbo earliest 

 f* Bevthono evinced a duposition for music; and w modulated 

 sounds seldom (ail to make a deep impmaioii on a young fenrid 

 mind, when a* in hi* cue they an almost conitaotly pmented to it, 

 h Moa acquired, and u speedily manifested, taste for the art of 

 which they are the foundation, Hia father began to instruct him 

 when IM waa only in hia fifth mar, but aoon transferred him to M. 

 Van der Eden, rstceme.l the beat pianUt in Bonn ; but he dying 

 ahotily after, llecthoven became the pupil of M. Neefe, hu successor, 

 the Archduke Maximilian of Austria defraying the expense of hia 

 tuition. Thia excellent matter initiated hu pupil in the work* of 

 Sebastian Bach. At the age of thirUen he published at Hanheim and 

 at Spires, in hia own name, ' Variations on a March, Sonatas, and 

 Songs.' But at this time his genius displayed itself more decidedly 

 in musical improvisation. HU extempore fantasias are mentioned by 

 Oerber in his Lexicon (' Tonkunstler- Lexicon'), as having excited the 

 admiration of the most accomplished musicians of the time. 



The elector of Cologne now sent his prologi?, in the character of 

 court organist (in which office he had (succeeded Neefe), to Vienna, to 

 tody under Josrph Haydn ; but the great composer, being then on 

 the point of setting out for England, placed his intended pupil iu the 

 hands of the eminent theorist, Albrechtsberger, who first gave him 

 methodical instructions in counterpoint. After having completed his 

 time with that master, he returned to Bonn. His patron died, and 

 war raged in its worst form in the north of Germany; Beethoven 

 therefore left for ever tbo place of his birth, and settled in Vienna, 

 which city and the adjoining country he never afterwards quitted. 



About this time (1791 t), says the Chevalier von Seyfried, Beethoven 

 most successfully tried his strength in the quartet style, "a noble 

 style, reformed, or, more properly speaking, created by Haydn, en- 

 riched by the universal genius of Mozart with greater depth and 

 gravity, though not at the expense of grace, and carried by Beethoven 

 to degree of superior power which few will attempt to attain, and 

 perhaps none will ever surpass." He next composed the opera of 

 'Leonore,' better known in England under the name of 'Fidelio,' the 

 libretto for which was taken from a French piece called ' L'Amour 

 Conjugal.' The opera did not excite much attention at first. The 

 next year the managers of the Karnthncrthor Theatre gave ' Fidelio ' 

 for their benefit. The work then took the form which it now bears ; 

 it was reduced to two acts, and preceded by an imposing overture iu 

 E major. The composer also added the short march, the air of the 

 jailer, and the finale of the first act 



In 1809 Beethoven determined to accept the place of kapellmeister 

 to the King of Westphalia, Jerome Bonaparte, which was offered to 

 him with many advantageous conditions. The war and other cir- 

 cumstances prevented these conditions being completely fulfilled ; and 

 a* be desired to visit England, and had been invited by the Philhar- 

 monic Society of London, who proposed to him liberal terms, he made 

 preparations for the journey; but when the moment for departure 

 came, be declined the proposal, as he had by this time been attacked 

 by the malady which never left him deafness. This calamity came 

 on gradually, but from the first defied all remedies and every effort of 

 skill, till at length the sense became so wholly extinct that he could 

 only communicate with others by writing. The consequences of so 

 s*vrre a deprivation were, as his friend Seyfried feelingly but candidly 

 remarks, " a habit of gloomy, anxious distrust, and a violent drsirc of 

 soUtode, UM usual precursors of hypochondria. To rood, to stroll 

 into UM country, were his most agreeable occupations ; and a small, 

 vrry srkct circle of dear friend*, formed bis only social enjoyment" 



By slow osgnis, maladia*, ari>ing probably from a lung-continued 

 stele of mental irritation, attacked a frame which nature had made 

 healthy and robust, and rendered recourse to medical aid absolutely 

 necessary. But the hope of any cure soon vanished : symptoms of 

 dropsy appeared, and became more and more decisive in character. 

 He underwent UM operation of tapping, which mitigated the pain he 

 ewdund. During the process he very characteristically exclaimed, 

 "Bettor waUr from my body than from my pen." During the latter 

 pert of bis Illness be was in a state of constant delirium ; and in the 

 of UM 26lh of March 1627 he breathed his last 



n died unmarried ; and he was never known to form any 

 of a Under kind. HU portraits arc faithful representa- 

 He was of the middle site, stout, and his form altogether indi- 

 cated strength. Notwithstanding the strange kind of life he led, his 

 only illneas was that of which h dUd. Hia extreme reserve towards 

 tnngcrs prevented his displaying those excellent qualities which, 

 under a forbidding exterior, be was known to posses* ; and such were 

 UM contrasts in his character, that occasionally his bluntoess of 

 remark, and his totel want of rewire inoflering his opinion of others, 

 made him appear to be quite forgetful of tho prescribed rule* of 

 ocUty. Though his early education was rather neglected, yet he 

 mad* up for the deficiency by subsequent application ; and those who 

 knr him w.ll .ute, that bis knowledge of Oerman literature was 

 very r*.p*cUbl. and that be was a toUrabl* proficient in Italian, 

 booth of French be knew very little. Whenever be could be induced 

 to throw off the reeerr. arising, most likely, from his infirmity, his 

 oavnatioo became "extremely animated, full of interesting anecdote, 

 and rrplete with original remarks on men and manners." 



But after his decease it was found that he was conscious of his own 

 weaknesses, and in his will had apologised for them. This curious 

 document, so interesting to the admirers of Beethoven, to the lovers 

 of art, and to the moral philosopher, as developing the feelings of an 

 illustrious composer, and throwing a light on his personal character, 

 is dated Heiligenatadt, October 6, 1802, and addressed to his brother 

 Carl, and his nephew Lndwig Beethoven. 



Beethoven's published works reach opera 120 at least ; they embrace 

 every class and are in all styles. His vocal music is full of beautiful 

 new melody, and equally distinguished by strong feeling and a just 

 expression of the words. His oratorio 'The Mount of Olives,' his 

 opera ' Fidelio,' and his two mil fines, bear testimony to this ; though, 

 in our opinion, his numerous songs, and his two cantatas, ' Adelaide ' 

 and ' Ah ! perndo, epergiuro,' with which all real lovers of music are 

 acquainted, display taste of a more refined kind than any of his other 

 vocal works can boast Host of his pianoforte music is admirable, 

 and possesses every quality that vast genius could endow it with. II.- 

 quintets and quartets, or what may be termed his chamber music, urn 

 elaborately written, but so original, that they require repeated hear- 

 ings before their beauties, which are of the rarest kind, are unfolded ; 

 but then the appetite for them increases in proportion as they are 

 better known. But the grandeur of Beethoven a conceptions, and his 

 marvellous skill in development, are most manifest in his orchestral 

 works, in his overtures, and more especially in his symphonies. This 

 is the field in which all his faculties are called into action ; in which 

 the wonders of his imagination are displayed, and every resource of 

 his art is made contributory. And the power which he here exhibits 

 is the more remarkable, as the ground seemed to be so entirely 

 occupied by Haydn and Mozart, that no room appeared to be left 

 for a third. 



Five years after the death of Beethoven, his friend the Chevalier 

 Ignaz von Seyfried published in German his posthumous didactic 

 work, under the title of ' Beethoven's Studies in Thorough-Baas, 

 Counterpoint, and the Theory of Composition, collected from hia 

 autograph MSS.,' &C. M. Seyfried has added to the work a biogra- 

 phical sketch of the author, and that extraordinary will to which wo 

 have above alluded. 



In 1845 a statue was erected to his memory in his native town of 

 Bonn, amidst great rejoicings, and in the presence of the Queen of 

 England. It is a fine work of art by Hiilmel of Dresden. 



BEGAKE'LLI, A NTO'MO, a celebrated modeller of Modcna, where 

 he was born about 1493. Who his master was is not known, but he 

 was probably Guido Mazzoni, or Giovanni Abati, tho father of Niccolo. 

 He was the friend of Correggio, and is said not only to have instructed 

 that celebrated painter in modelling, but to have even modelled many 

 figures for him to facilitate his labour in the painting of the cupola 

 of Parma, of which the numerous ami strong foreshorteninga rendered 

 models necessary, There are few of the works of Begarelli left; tho 

 principal is the Descent from the Cross in the church of Santa Marg- 

 nerita, containing many figures in the round rather larger than life. 

 He died in 1565. (Vedriani, Vile di PMori, <tc., M odtntti ; Tiraboschi, 

 Vitt, <kc., Modtnen; Fiorillo, Guchichte der ilohlcrcy, &c,; Lanzi, 

 Storia PMorica, &c.) 



BE'HAM, HANS SEBALD, a very celebrated German painter and 

 engraver of the 16th century, whose name has been corrupted into 

 all shapes by many foreign and some German writers. He was born 

 at NUrnberg in 1500, and was one of the best of Albert Durer's 

 scholars, and was a man of great ability but of profligate character. 

 At Niirnberg he published some obscene prints, and being obliged to 

 leave the place he settled in Frankfurt, but not to reform, for he here 

 set up a wine-shop and brothel, and is reported to have been drowned 

 by the authorities about lf>50, on account of his extreme depravity. 

 This is the account of Husgen, who refers to Lersner's ' Chrouik.' 

 Doppeluiayr says he went to Frankfurt in 1540, and died there in 

 1560. As a painter he is scarcely known. His name is written Boehm 

 and Bebam by good authorities, and some maintain that his name was 

 Sebald only ; but most of hia prints, or those attributed to him, arc 

 marked with a monogram of H. 8. P. and II. S. 1!. in upright capital.-) 

 intermingled. 



HU prints consist of woodcuts, and of etchings and engravings on 

 copper. Those marked with the P. were, according to Saudrart, bis 

 earlier works ; and those with the B. from about the time that he went 

 to Frankfurt His first instructor was hiscousin Bartholomew Bobam, 

 likewise a pupil of Albert DUrer, and also of Marcantonio in Italy. 

 Ueiueken enumerates 392 prints by Beham, including 58 woodcuts, 

 and 21 done after his designs by other engravers. Bartsch describes 

 even 430, of which 171 are woodcuts. Ho is reckoned among the 

 so-called little masters, from the extreme smallnera of their prints. 

 Hi- prints are much in the style of those of Aldcgrever [ALDE<- 

 HI.IMIIUI]; occasionally correct in drawing, but generally, especially 

 in the draperies, in the gothic taste. HU engravings are superior to 

 hu cute and etchings. 



I'.EHAM, J1AHTUEL, or BARTHOLOMAUS, cousin of Hans 

 Sebald Beham, was bora about 1496. He was a pupil of Albert 

 Diircr, and was sent by the Duke Wilhelm of Bavaria to study iu 

 Italy. His death took place probably about 1540. Barthel Bebam 

 was extremely laborious and careful in hu paintings ; but if it be 

 true that he studied in Home in the later years of Raphael's time, be 



