classic music

D'Annunzio and Beethoven PART THREE

Italian

It would be impossible not to mention symphony, a topic dealt with on several occasions, in the continuous relationship between D'Annunzio and Beethoven. In “Contemplazione della morte”, in the letter to Mario Pelosini, the poet mentioned the first four notes of the “Fifth Symphony” that tradition associated with destiny

knocking on the door. D'Annunzio illustrated this image by describing a young man he met in Paris: “a beardless face shaped by destiny's resolute thumb as Beethoven's; a closed heart where maybe the four awesome notes of the Fifth Symphony played”.
As far as the meaning of the first theme in the prayer he said at Fiume in honour of Toscanini is concerned, we can read in D'Annunzio's words speaking of the Fifth Symphony's first notes almost a painful presentiment of a future tragedy.
The speaker's mind, however, was also imbued with a strong will that, despite Giovanni Giolitti's sharp criticism, continued to be unconquered as always. That is why the poet, at the end of the prayer, mentioned the last notes of the Symphony that exalted triumph and victory: “And tomorrow we would like to hope that the Cause may triumph in the Fifth Symphony's final movement, in that undertaking of the fight, in that bursting of ruling will”.
Even the “Ninth Symphony” is remembered by the poet in “Il Fuoco” where he highlighted the Chorus that D'Annunzio portrayed as having the genius' extraordinary power and the fight with itself. The choice to insert the voices in the Symphony was in fact a very difficult one for Beethoven as he thought that voice was not a natural solution for his musical ideas. D'Annunzio greatly admired his composition and associated it with his own ideals and political views.
This short excursus about D'Annunzio's interests for music helped us highlight Beethoven's figure: it should not be forgotten, however, that other musicians drew his analytical and psychological attention. Among them were Richard Wagner and Franz Liszt. Even though Wagner and Liszt played a minor role with respect to Beethoven, they all make us understand D'Annunzio's view on music. To him, in fact, music was an explanation of strong and incisive feelings and a moving away from Chopin's Romanticism. Furthermore, he contributed to spread the knowledge of some sophisticated musicians such as Debussy and Strauss and also outlined a detailed analysis of Italian music in 1500 and in 1700.
D'Annunzio was also interested in using blazing images and operatic performances that resulted in a particular kind of theatre that was based on a verist conception and that pushed him to collaborate intensely with Franchetti. “La Figlia di Iorio” is one of the most important works they created together. He also collaborated with Mascagni (“Parisina”, 1913), with Montemezzi (“La nava”, 1918) and with Zandonai: they created the famous “Francesca da Rimini”, a highly symbolic work where the fusion between text and music is one of the first examples of active collaboration between the composer and the writer. Other examples of collaboration between the poet and other musicians concerned melodrama, and among them were Casella,

Respighi, Pizzetti, (“Fedra”, 1915) and Malipiero. D'Annunzio was a reference point for transalpine musicians such as Debussy with “Le martyre de Saint Sebastian”. This stylistic and ideological path gave rise to the desire to find new ways and new systems, facing relevant clashes in an Italy shaken by thousands of problems at the time.
With his musical choices and his work “Classici della musica italiana” D'Annunzio became the pivot of Italian culture and influenced the publishers and the musicians' ideas. Was it just a fad? A detailed answer would be impossible. The poet had become a myth rich of courage which resulted in a desecration that bordered exasperation. Besides fads and contents, he continues to be the witness of an annoying as well as rich of contrasts and ambiguous Italy. D'Annunzio managed to direct original concepts in a musical dimension looking for the rhythm and the purity of Renaissance lines in words themselves. The musical references, apart from those about Beethoven, are many and underscore an element that can frequently be found in the correspondence between D'Annunzio and composers: the will to live and influence his collaborators, which he often managed to fulfil. His visceral relationship with Beethoven, an author that he could not mould and change as he liked, maybe indicates a feeling of esteem and psychological affection that he did not have for other contemporary musicians.
We would like to end our analysis by quoting a sentence by D'Annunzio that expresses the respect and the devotion he felt towards the musical “giants”: “when Beethoven speaks it is the silence of the world”.

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