Stories of Beethoven

While in graduate school I took a class in 19th Century classical music. For that class I had to write a term paper and did it on Beethoven's Diabelli Variations. I focused on what the variations might teach a composition student (such as me). As part of the research I found a source that contradicted a detail of a story in the class textbook.

Back in 1819 Anton Diabelli, a publisher in Vienna, wrote a little waltz tune and asked 50 prominent composers to write a variation. He would publish the set as a special edition. Of course, Beethoven was asked. Anton Schindler, whose calling card had the words Friend of Beethoven, told Diabelli the tune was vulgar and Beethoven wasn't interested. But Beethoven changed his mind and in 1823 Beethoven gave to Diabelli a set of 33 variations on that "vulgar" tune.

The second source said that Schindler, a biographer of Beethoven, was (to be kind) notoriously inaccurate. Beethoven was interested from the start and composed a few variations before setting them aside to finish much larger commissions, such as the Missa Solemnis.

So I was quite intrigued when, in 2009, I heard of a new play on Broadway, 33 Variations by Moises Kaufman. News of the play said it was about the creation of the Diabelli Variations as seen through the eyes of a modern female musicologist.

I was finally able to see the play last night at the Purple Rose Theatre in Chelsea, Mich. The researcher is Katherine who has ALS, but still travels to Bonn to research the origins of the variations, hoping to finish before she dies. There is also the daughter Clara, male nurse Mike (who falls in love with Clara), and Gertie, the German research assistant. Their stories are intermingled with those of Beethoven, Schindler, and Diabelli.

The show was, of course, very well done, though a few things grated in my ear -- hearing about seeing the woods where Beethoven wandered on the flight from New York to Bonn (weren't those woods outside Vienna?) and not pronouncing the "w" in Ludwig as a "v" as the Germans would have done. I paid particular attention to whether Katherine's research dealt with the discrepancy I noted above. My biggest complaint (though still small) was the squishy analysis of the music -- from the way Beethoven did such-and-so we see that the great man wanted us to learn this little lesson about life. That was in contrast to some rather cool scenes, such as the end of Act 1 where Katherine, Clara, Mike, and Gertie are arguing and Beethoven, Schindler, and Diabelli are arguing all on stage together with rapid dialogue cuts between the two sets of characters and the arguments carrying identical phrases. I thought it would make a great opera ensemble moment.

Overall, I thought the play and production were quite theatrical emphasizing to great effect the things that a play can do.