Beethoven and the Rhetorical Tradition of the Eighteenth-Century

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.36025/arj.v10i1.31819

Keywords:

Beethoven, Early Music, Musical Rhetoric, Romanticism, Genius

Abstract

The permanence of structural elements of rhetorical discourse in Beethoven's symphonic work, often undervalued by listeners, interpreters and analysts, is the focus of this article's analysis. Thus, we aim to contextualize aspects of the origins of Beethoven's work from the rhetorically ruled musical language inherited from the masters of the 18th century. It is not uncommon to find the composer classified as a paradigm of the romantic genius or, at least, as the great precursor of the romantic musical language that emerged at the beginning of the 19th century. Nevertheless, despite the innovations brought by Beethoven in various aspects of musical language, we argue that his work can – and perhaps should – be understood as departing from the rhetorical tradition of the 18th century.

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Author Biographies

William Coelho, Universidade de São Paulo (USP)

William Coelho de Oliveira holds a doctorate and a master's degree in Musicology and a bachelor's degree in Conducting from Universidade de São Paulo, USP. He is the chorus master of the São Paulo Symphony Choir (OSESP Choir) and principal conductor of EOS Música Antiga USP, an orchestra specialized in the repertoire of the 17th and 18th centuries, and of the Orquestra Joseense. He was professor of choral conducting in the post-graduation course at Faculdade Paulista de Artes, professor of harmony, counterpoint and aural perception at Universidade Federal de Juiz de Fora, professor of choral singing at Universidade Estadual Paulista, UNESP, and professor at the OSESP Academy. He is guest conductor of orchestras such as Orquestra Sinfônica do Estado de São Paulo (OSESP), Orquestra Sinfônica da Universidade de São Paulo (OSUSP), and Orquestra Sinfônica de Piracicaba. He was a finalist for the Young Talent Award 2019 of the Concerto Magazine and his doctoral dissertation was awarded by the USP Graduate Program in Music. In 2020 he conducted the OSESP Choir at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, and in 2022 at the Americas Society in New York.

Mário Videira, Universidade de São Paulo (USP)

Mário Rodrigues Videira Junior is an associate professor of Musical Aesthetics at Escola de Comunicação e Artes da Universidade de São Paulo, ECA/USP. He holds undergraduate degrees in Music and Philosophy from the University of São Paulo, a master's degree in Musicology from Universidade Estadual Paulista, UNESP, and a Ph.D. in Philosophy from USP. He has published the book O Romantismo e o Belo Musical (Romanticism and Musical Beauty) and several articles in specialized journals. As a CNPq/DAAD scholarship holder, he conducted research at Eberhard-Karls Universität Tübingen under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Manfred Frank. In addition, he served as the director of the Postgraduate Program in Music at ECA/USP for two terms and was the editor of Revista Música (2012-2017). In 2019, he received the Excellence Award for New Leadership in Research at USP in the field of Linguistics, Literature, and Arts.

 

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Published

17-05-2023 — Updated on 17-05-2023

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How to Cite

COELHO, W.; VIDEIRA, M. Beethoven and the Rhetorical Tradition of the Eighteenth-Century. Art Research Journal: Revista de Pesquisa em Artes, [S. l.], v. 10, n. 1, 2023. DOI: 10.36025/arj.v10i1.31819. Disponível em: https://periodicos.ufrn.br/artresearchjournal/article/view/31819. Acesso em: 22 jul. 2024.

Issue

Vol. 10 No. 1 (2023): Dossier “Insurgent Dramaturgies and Epistemologies in Dance” ; Articles

Section

Dossier: Theories, Poetics and Practices of Early Music

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Copyright (c) 2023 Mário Videira, William Coelho (Autor)

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