Turtles' Lair

14 - Summary:

According to Wager, in Haydn and Mozart, dramatic music translates into ideal dance rather than dramatic action. Pre-Beethoven there is no conclusion, problem, or solution in a piece, and never do two themes of dramatically opposite character confront one another.

Beethoven first introduces the storm—a passion of drama in music. But the storm needs a conclusion, it cannot end on a dime or it will be simple caprice. The only way to transition the storm into satisfaction is to have an object, and it needs a moral will to evolve one mood into another mood.

14 - Dramatic Pathos:

“Staunchly he threw his anchor out; and this anchor was The Word. Yet this word was not that arbitrary and senseless cud which the modish singer chews from side to side, as the gristle of his vocal tone; but the necessary, all-powerful, and all-uniting word into which the full torrent of the heart’s emotions may pour ( Read more... )