December 16, 1994: "Immortal Beloved" Premieres

Gary Oldman as Beethoven

December 16, 1994: The film Immortal Beloved premieres, directed by Bernard Rose. Gary Oldman plays Ludwig van Beethoven, in the best-known film about the legendary German composer (1770-1827).

The best-known portrait

Beethoven is best remembered for his symphonies. It's been suggested that, with Beethoven's symphonies, it’s the reverse of Star Trek movies: The odd-numbered ones are the great ones:

* 1st, in the key of C major, premiered on April 2, 1800

* 2nd, in D major, April 5, 1803

* 3rd, in E♭ major (that's "E-flat major"), April 7, 1805

* 4th, in B♭ major, April 13, 1808

* 5th, in C minor, and 

* 6th, in F major, December 22, 1808, in a dual premiere

* 7th, in A major, December 8, 1813

* 8th, in F major, February 27, 1814

* 9th, in D minor, May 27, 1824

Beethoven called his Symphony No. 3 the Eroica, or the Heroic Symphony. He knew politics, and the situation in Europe, and he dedicated this symphony to the man he thought was the greatest man in the world at the time: Napoleon Bonaparte, First Consul of France.

But before this Symphony could be publicly played, Napoleon crowned himself Emperor of France. Apparently, ol' Louie van B had no problem with Napoleon being a dictator, but a monarch? He wouldn't hear of it: He scratched out the dedication with such ferocity that he tore the paper. The score has been preserved, and the hole in it can still be seen on display at the Society of Friends of Music in Vienna. He rewrote the dedication: "To the memory of a great man." I suspect this meant that the man he thought Napoleon to have been was worth celebrating, but was now "dead."

He was 34, and had hit his stride: With Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart dead, and Joseph Haydn forced into retirement by advancing age and illness (he died in 1809), Beethoven had become Europe's, and by definition the world's, most sought-after composer.

But, in one of the great ironies in the history of artistic expression, he had begun to lose his hearing. He could still write the notes he wanted to hear on a scale, and he could produce them on a piano, but he could no longer hear them sufficiently. He could still conduct an orchestra playing his works in front of a live audience, but he couldn't hear them, or the applause that resulted.

The 5th, which he titled Fate, might be the most famous piece of music ever written, with its "Dun dun dun duhhhh… " opening. It became known as "the Victory Symphony," and, when Morse Code was created, 3 dots and a dash, " . . . - " mimicking the opening, became the symbol for the letter V. Also, V is the Roman numeral for the number 5.

"Beethoven's 5th," long in the public domain, has been used in everything from children's cartoons to the film V for Vendetta. In 1976, Walter Murphy rearranged it as a disco song, "A Fifth of Beethoven," and hit Number 1 with it. And when the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra did the opening medley for their 1981 album Hooked On Classics, of course, the opening of Beethoven's 5th was included, as was the "Ode to Joy" section of his 9th.

His 6th, the Pastoral Symphony, by comparison, is far less known. Nevertheless, had he died after this dual premiere, just after turning 38, before writing everything that came after it, he would still have been one of the giants of world music.

He was 43 and profoundly deaf by the time the 8th premiered, and it looked like that would be it: While others had done more symphonies, some many more – Mozart had 41, and Haydn a record 104 – Beethoven's 8 led him to be seen as the master of the format, and it seemed difficult to imagine that he could produce a 9th. Even Napoleon's final defeat at Waterloo in 1815 couldn't inspire him, as his deafness and a run of ill health prevented him from composing. He had composed a work he titled Wellington's Victory after a battle in Spain in 1813.

Finally, he recovered, wrote the 9th, and it premiered at the Theater am Kärntnertor (the Carinthian Gate Theater) in Vienna, Austria. The 4th and final movement includes a section titled "Freude, schöner Götterfunken." No, this does not mean that God Himself was getting funky upon the advice of Sigmund Freud, who, though he made his name in Vienna, would not be born until 1856 (and would become a committed atheist). It means "Joy, beautiful spark of the gods." It has become known as "The Ode to Joy," and is the most familiar part of the composition. It has been used for many things, from an Easter hymn to the theme for the 1990s NBC sitcom Suddenly Susan.

When the Symphony was over, Beethoven was several bars off and still conducting. Caroline Unger, a Viennese contralto he had hired for the piece despite never having heard her sing, walked over, and gently turned him around to accept the audience's cheers and applause.

  

Among his other well-known pieces: In 1802, he dedicated his Piano Sonata No. 14, later known as his Moonlight Sonata, to his piano student, Giulietta Guicciardi. In 1805, his only opera, Fidelio, premiered. After his death, found among his papers was a composition dated 1810, Bagatelle No. 25 in A minor, a piano piece that he marked "Für Elise." The piece was published under that name in 1867, and has been known by it ever since. Elise has never been positively identified.  

Beethoven never married. Not that he didn't try: He is known to have had several failed romances. Like many a musical man before and after, women found him irresistible, and he was happy to oblige. His surviving letters show that he wanted to marry and have children, but his stormy personality likely doomed many of these relationships.

Found among his belongings after his death was a letter dated July 6, 1812, addressed to a woman he identified only as "Unsterbliche Geliebte," meaning "Immortal Beloved." The likeliest candidate for the recipient is Josephine Brunsvik, daughter of the Count of Brunswick. She and Ludwig had met in 1799, and they continued to meet and correspond despite her having married twice. Several letters from him, found in her possession after her death, use the term "beloved." It is also an interesting coincidence that Beethoven and Bonaparte each apparently found the love of his life in a woman named Josephine.

She was separated from her 2nd husband, an Estonian baron named Christoph von Stackelberg, in July 1812, and evidence suggests that she and Ludwig met again in Prague, in what is now Czechia. He was 41 years old, she was 33. Three days later, he wrote the letter, but never sent it. Nine months later, on April 8, 1813, Josephine gave birth to a daughter, Minona. Stackelberg believed the child was not his. Was she Beethoven's?

In the film, Josephine is played by Geno Lechner. However, another candidate is suggested: Countess Anna Maria von Erdődy, played by Isabella Rossellini (daughter of Swedish actress Ingrid Bergman and Italian director Roberto Rossellini). In real life, "Marie" was instrumental in securing Beethoven an annuity from members of the Austrian high nobility.

But director Rose was convinced that the true "Immortal Beloved" was Johanna Reiß, wife of his brother Karl, and mother of his nephew Karl. She was played by Dutch actress Johanna ter Steege. The film even suggests that Karl was actually Ludwig's son. Her conviction and imprisonment for embezzlement makes Rose's theory incredibly unlikely.

The film was a modest success, but was not nominated for any awards. No major film has been made about Beethoven since.

*

December 16, 1994 was a Friday. Baseball was out of season, and the players were on strike, anyway. The NHL team owners had locked the players out, so 2 of the 4 major North American sports couldn't be played even if they had been scheduled. And football was in midweek: There were no NFL or college football bowl games played that day, although there was a bowl game played the night before.

But there were 6 games in the NBA:

* The New York Knicks lost to the Phoenix Suns, 106-85 at the America West Arena (now the Mortgage Matchup Center) in Phoenix.

* The New Jersey Nets lost to the Minnesota Timberwolves, 94-93 at the Target Center in Minneapolis.

* The Cleveland Cavaliers beat the Philadelphia 76ers, 84-80 at The Spectrum in Philadelphia.

* The Chicago Bulls beat the Atlanta Hawks, 85-80 at The Omni in Atlanta.

* The Indiana Pacers beat the Charlotte Hornets, 93-91 at the Market Square Arena in Indianpolis.

* The Orlando Magic beat the Golden State Warriors, 131-128 in overtime at the Oakland Coliseum Arena. For the Magic, Shaquille O'Neal had 40 points, and Anfernee "Penny" Hardaway had 38. For the Warriors, Latrell Sprewell had 40.