Jacques-Louis David and Ludwig van Beethoven

1. Art and Music of the Revolution Jacques-Louis David and Ludwig van Beethoven

2. Jacques-Louis David • Born in Paris, France(30 August 1748 – 29 December 1825) • He was a highly influential painter of the Neo-Classical style • The Neo-Classical style is a contrast to the late Baroque or Rococo styles of the late 18th century. It is a desire to return to the purer art from of early Western periods, namely Roman, Greek and Renaissance. Uses sharp colours and no pastels. • Becomes a good friend of Robespierre and later Napoleon • A dictator of the arts during the Revolution

3. OATH OF THE HORATII (1784) Louis XVI made him work on this painting, with the intention that it was an allegory about loyalty to the state and therefore to the King. As the Revolution approached, paintings increasingly referred to the loyalty to the state rather than the family or church.

4. THE LICTORS BRING TO BRUTUS THE BODIES OF HIS SONS (1789) The Royal court did not want propaganda agitating the people, so this painting was not allowed to be shown, but the people protested and the royals were forced to give in. Painting depicts the Roman leader, Lucius Junius Brutus, grieving his dead sons, who had attempted to overthrow the government, forcing him to order their deaths in order to save the republic.

5. THE OATH OF THE TENNIS COURT (1789) David was commissioned to paint this in order to commemorate the event of the same name, but it was never truly completed.

6. THE DEATH OF MARAT (1793) Portrayal of David’s friend who had been assassinated by Charlotte Corday. Corday’s name appears on the list in Marat’s hand in the painting. This painting became the leading image of the Terror, and immortalized both Marat and David in the world of the revolution.

7. THE INTERVENTION OF THE SABINE WOMEN (1799) Though said to be in honor of his wife, the painting was also seen as a plea for the people to reunite after the Revolution. This work brought him to Napoleon’s attention.

8. NAPOLEON CROSSING THE SAINT-BERNARD (1801) Commissioned after Napoleon’s coup d’etat in 1799, to commemorate his crossing of the Alps. The crossing of the Saint Bernard Pass had allowed the French to surprise attack the Austrian army and win victory at the battle of Marengo in June of 1800.

9. CORONATION OF NAPOLEON AND JOSEPHINE, 2 DECEMBER 1804 (1807) Work was commissioned orally by Napoleon in September 1804, though not completed until November 1807. Official title was to be “Consecration of the Emperor Napoleon I and Coronation of the Empress Josephine in the Cathedral of Notre-Dame de Paris on 2 December 1804”

10. MARS BEING DISARMED BY VENUS AND THE THREE GRACES (1824) David’s last great work. He began it in 1822, at age 73, during his exile in Brussels. He completed it shortly before dying in an accident in 1825. The painting’s setting is surrealistic, a temple floating in the clouds. Venus, the three Graces and Cupid, are shown taking away all the weapons, shield and helmet of Mars, who allows himself to be disarmed and gives in to Venus’ charms.

11. Ludwig Van Beethoven • German composer (20 December 1770- 26 March 1827) born in Bonn, Germany • A composer of the late classical period • 1787, he travelled to Vienna to study with Mozart for a short period • He went back there in 1792 and studied with composers Salieri and Haydn • War had also broke out in Vienna in 1792 • 1796 was the only year he would embark on a tour. He travelled to Prague, Dresdon and Berlin

12. Liberty, Fraternity and Equality– Revolutionary Ideals in Beethoven’s Works • The years between 1803 and 1812 are referred to as the “heroic decade” in his life. He mastered the classical style and moved forward to create his own. • Referred to as “heroic” because he wrote many of his large scale orchestral works during it. Several works were reactions to the French Revolution. All of these accomplished in the midst of his growing health problems. • In 1802, Vienna staged some popular operas from Paris such as ones by Cherubini and Méhul. He decided to write a political opera of his own, Fidelio (completed in 1805, unsuccessful performance, revised until 1814). • The opera uses the libretto, Leonore, ou L’amour conjugal by Jean-Nicolas Bouilly. This libretto was written roughly around the fall of Robespierre.

13. This libretto has associations with the Revolution. Beethoven sets it to the genre of a “rescue opera.” • The plot is about a wife, Leonore, who rescues her husband, Florestan from a prison. She sneaks into the prisoner disguised as a male janitor and finds out that her husband is going to be killed by the jail governor, Don Pizarro. When Don Pizarro is about to kill Florestan, Leonore pulls a gun on him. • The opera ends with the liberation of all the prisoners and Don Pizarro is sent away. Liberation is the central them of the opera. • The libretto used was actually based on a real incident that occurred during the Terror, where an aristocrat man was saved by his wife. • The last scene of the opera is the prisoner’s chorus which represents the establishment of a new regime and the ideal of freedom and fraternity. • Some characters in the opera are also directly linked to the Revolution. Rocco’s “gold aria” represents the bourgeois obsession with money as he sings about the importance of gold. • Also, it ties into the revolution because it ends with the liberation of a prison... The same way the French Revolution begins

14. Symphony No. 3, Eroica Symphony • This Symphony was originally dedicated to Napoleon Bonaparte, however Beethoven had a change of heart when Napoleon crowned himself Emperor “Oh! He is making an emperor of himself, is he? Then he is no better than the rest of them: he shall not have my symphony!” • The title was originally Bonaparte, however he changed it to the Eroica Symphony • It is believed that Beethoven was at first a supporter of the Revolution and even held Jacobin ideals • The second movement of the Symphony quotes a famous French Revolutionary March, March Lugubre, by Francois-Joseph Gossec. The whole movement takes the form of a funeral march. • In the Finale, he also quotes a composition that he uses in three other works. This melody is a country dance theme, a style of dance that was popular and was a dance that anyone of any class could join in, thus symbolizing the ideal of equality.

15. Universal Brotherhood in his Ninth Symphony • Beethoven’s 9th Symphony is a revolution within itself as it is the first symphony to add a chorus • The Ode to Joy chorus was used for the National Anthem of Germany during the Olympics between 1956 and 1968 when the country was divided during the Cold War • Also, the European Union has adopted it as its anthem in 1985 • Ode to Joy is based on a choral ode by Friedrich Schiller about “universal fellowship through joy and the love of an eternal heavenly father”

16. Further Connections to the Revolution in Beethoven’s Works • Beethoven’s 7th Symphony is known as the “Battle Symphony” and was performed during celebrations regarding the Congress in Vienna in 1814 • Beethoven expressed a great deal of compositional liberty. His String quartet Op. 131 is played without breaks in between movements and has seven movements • His 5th Symphony has three allegro movements • His 6th Symphony, the “Pastoral Symphony” is the forerunner of programme symphonies and includes a yodelling tune called the Rigi Tune (Rigi is a mountain in Switzerland) which later inspired composers to incorporate nationalistic symbols into their music • The heroic quality of his works has resulted in its use for political campaigns: 5th Symphony associated with Allied victories, Kaiser Wilhelm commemorated with his Coriolan Overture.

17. (1792) French Liberty, British Slavery James Gillray caricatured French “liberty” as the opportunity to starve and the British “slavery” as bloated complaints about taxation. James Gillray: 1759-1815, British caricaturist and printmaker.

18. Robespierre (1794) Guillotining himself

19. NAPOLEON & St. HELENA Published in France around 1815 Satirizes the Champ de Mai 1815, a grand ceremony held in front of the Ecole Militaire during the hundred days of Napoleon’s return. Proposition of the Constitution to the inhabitants of St. Helena.

20. EDMUND BURKE One of the largest attackers of the French Revolution was British Edmund Burke. “a country where the people, along with their political servitude, have thrown off the yoke of laws and morals” He published a major attack (over 17,000 copies by the end of the year) on the Revolution and it’s British supporters “Reflections on the Revolution in France and on the proceedings of certain societies in London relative to that event” Contemporary English cartoon.

21. REVOLUTIONARY FASHION New Fashion: -Women abandoned skirt hoops for simple gown or light fabric -Frenchmen also adopted a plain frock or riding coat, short waistcoats & higher leather boots. In 1793, the Committee of Public Safety invited David, painter and propagandist, to recommend improvements to the natural dress to make it more appropriate to republicanism and the character of the Revolution.

22. THE PLUMB-PUDDING IN DANGER James Gillray, 1805 in London, England William Pitt and Napoleon face each other, Pitt is shown slicing off the ocean for Britain, as Napoleon takes a large chunk of Europe. William Pitt: Prime Minister of Britain at the time this scene was created.