The Lasting Influence of Beethoven: A Journey Through Music History

(DRAMATIC ORCHESTRAL MUSIC) (GENTLE ORCHESTRAL MUSIC) (BRIGHT MUSIC)

[SARAH] Ludwig van Beethoven challenged his musicians technically like no other composer did before. I am very happy that he did

because he wrote fantastic solos for the horn. A world without Beethoven? I can't even to begin to imagine it.

Ludwig van Beethoven shaped entire musical genres, pushing boundaries and even breaking them. He was a pioneer, and not just when it came to music.

What would be missing today in jazz or film scores if it hadn't been for Beethoven's many innovations? Would the concert business as we know it even exist?

And how did Beethoven change the role of the artist? What would a world without Beethoven look like? That's what I wanted to find out.

So I visited musicians, managers, even politicians all over the world to trace his influence. My journey begins with the most famous four notes

in classical music and their enormous influence on popular music. (BEETHOVEN'S 5TH SYMPHONY)

He did something actually quite clever without making it too relentless. (BEETHOVEN'S 5TH SYMPHONY)

-[Translator] It all started with Beethoven and Chuck Berry. <i>♪ But I'm gonna write</i> <i>a little letter ♪</i>

<i>♪ Gonna mail it to my local DJ ♪</i> <i>♪ It's a rockin' rhythm record ♪</i> <i>♪ That I want</i> <i>my jockey to play ♪</i>

<i>♪ Roll Over Beethoven ♪</i> -[Sarah] Chuck Berry might not agree, but rock 'n roll started here.

(BEETHOVEN'S 5TH SYMPHONY GUITAR) Ludwig van Beethoven needed just four notes to create an entire musical cosmos

and one of the most famous compositions of all time. (BEETHOVEN'S 5TH SYMPHONY) Beethoven's Fifth Symphony, first performed in 1808,

is a global hit. Only four notes and they still challenge musicians today. (BRIGHT MUSIC) (IAN HUMMING)

-Relentlessly going on with that bass guitar. (DRAMATIC ROCK MUSIC) -Ian Anderson from the band Jethro Tull

also needed just four notes to write the 1971 hit single "Locomotive Breath." Rudolf Schenker, the rhythm guitarist

for the German band Scorpions, raised the stakes to five notes. (DRAMATIC ROCK MUSIC)

His guitar riff in "Rock You Like a Hurricane" is one of the most popular in recent musical history, surpassed only by the original.

(BEETHOVEN'S 5TH SYMPHONY) In his Fifth Symphony, Beethoven constantly varies the four notes,

through all the orchestral parts and keys. The simplicity of the idea amazed his contemporaries. 150 years later, the concept was rediscovered

in England, by rock musicians. (UPBEAT ROCK MUSIC) The Kinks were among the first in 1964

with just three notes. <i>♪ I don't know what I'm doing ♪</i> A year later, three notes were

all the Rolling Stones needed, too and they still weren't satisfied. (DRAMATIC MUSIC)

Deep Purple became superstars with these four notes. (CROWD CHEERING) The idea caught on in the United States, as well,

and heavy metal was full of catchy riffs. These four notes shot Nirvana to stardom in 1991. (UPBEAT MUSIC)

And The White Stripes' five notes have become a global football chant. Did Beethoven discover the perfect formula

for a hit song back in 1808? We are in Hanover at the Expo Park and I am standing right in front

of the very famous Peppermint Studios where inside the Scorpions are rehearsing. (STICKS TAPPING) (GENTLE MUSIC)

<i>♪ We're gonna head</i> <i>out in the dance ♪</i> <i>♪ To try to win the race ♪</i> <i>♪ You're the leader</i> <i>of the pack ♪</i>

<i>♪ Oh ♪</i> With over 110 million records sold, the Scorpions are one of the most successful bands

of their generation. Rudolf Schenker wrote the band's best-known guitar riffs. [Sarah, in German] Do you know, what I found?

This quote from the Internet, "Rudolf Schenker is the Beethoven of Hanover." (RUDOLF LAUGHING)

-[Rudolf, in German] That's very flattering, but there are worlds between us. You can't take that too seriously.

But that's a nice thing. -[Sarah] I was so happy, when I read that. But it fits the topic.

(DRAMATIC MUSIC) -[Rudlof] It has to be played aggressively. Now, I would put a beautiful, suspenseful note under it.

(DRAMATIC MUSIC) (RUDOLF WAILING) (MOURNFUL HORN MUSIC) -[Sarah] With a crescendo.

-[Rudolf] Yeah, like that. Just some suspense! -[Sarah] So many rock bands have stolen Beethoven. -[Rudolf] Of course,

the subconscious always plays a role. For example, Americans have been influenced by the blues. The Europeans, the English and of course,

we Germans especially, have been influenced by classical music because it's in our genes. That's why Metallica are such big Scorpions fans.

They said: "Hold on, the Scorpions sound completely different. We've got to check this out."

They noticed: “Wait a minute, there are other influences.” And they noticed the influence of classical music. Because the blues shapes you differently.

We here can't play the blues at all. We're shaped by classical music in such a way that we focus on melody and a certain rhythm.

(CROWD SHOUTING) (DRAMATIC ROCK MUSIC) I believe that the riffs are perceived differently over the decades and centuries.

In the past, life was less hectic. Nowadays there's an abundance of everything, so you have to find something that has signaling effect.

This is extremely important. And then you have to keep that feeling alive, so that it's not only there for a short time and dies off.

And when you're writing music, you have to arouse curiosity in order to keep the listener with you.

(DRAMATIC ROCK MUSIC) -[Sarah] The result? Short, melodic riffs which inspire audiences

around the world. (UPBEAT ROCK MUSIC) (BRIGHT FLUTE MUSIC)

[Sarah] The flute is Ian Anderson's trademark. He has been influenced by both English folk music and the greats of classical music.

(BEETHOVEN'S 5TH SYMPHONY) -I was comparing the "Beethoven's Fifth," the opening statement as being typical

of the motif in music, not just classical music, rock music, jazz, pop, whatever, a motif, an idea that is repeated very often

as a repeating motif, which then tends to be shortened to a riff. The idea of a riff

in jazz or rock is usually a repeating motif. Of course, Beethoven did use that idea and develops that idea of that.

<i>♪ Ta-da-ta-dam ♪</i> And I would guess that is what happened with Beethoven. He wasn't sitting there,

mulling over these same few notes. <i>♪ Ta-ta-ta-dum ♪</i> He probably just went, he probably spilled his coffee

and accidentally went: ♪ Ba ba ba bum ♪ Oh, that sounds good! Which is the way most of us work.

(BRIGHT ROCK MUSIC) A good rock riff, I suppose, is gonna be simple, direct, it's going to repeat

because it is truly a riff, not just a motif, an opening gambit, if you like a statement, it is usually a repeating phrase.

So that, you know, the great rock riffs I suppose that come mind, or come to my mind, perhaps one of the greatest ever

would have been Ritchie Blackmore's wonderful riff in a piece called "Smoke on the Water." You know, I love the one, the ZZ TOP one,

that is this wonderful shuffle thing with a lot of backbeat stuff that is called "La Grange." It goes,

(BRIGHT FLUTE MUSIC) which repeats all the way through. <i>♪ Have mercy ♪</i>

So that's a great rock riff. A very simple one to play. It's just, essentially, it's really three notes.

And in many ways, you know, it's that same thing with the wonderful "Whole Lotta Love," which is in this key in fact.

(UPBEAT FLUTE MUSIC) (UPBEAT ROCK MUSIC) Maybe Beethoven, you see, if he was born again today,

I don't really see him riding around in the stately family Mercedes with two screaming kids in the back.

I think of Beethoven more like an off-road motorcycle guy, you know, getting a bit down and dirty in the mud. That's my idea of Beethoven.

(MOTORCYCLE REVVING) (DRAMATIC ORCHESTRAL MUSIC) (GENTLE MUSIC) [Sarah] Repetitive motifs have always played

a defining role in music. But Beethoven amplified their impact. And pop music is still influenced by him today.

Did Beethoven have any idea that, 150 years later, musicians would continue to be so inspired by him? I went to Vienna, where he became famous, to find out more.

In 1792, Beethoven didn't arrive in Vienna as a celebrity on a motorcycle, but as a young piano virtuoso,

in a horse-drawn carriage. He had already earned a considerable reputation in Bonn and quickly became a well known face

in Vienna's musical society. (BRIGHT ORCHESTRAL MUSIC) Beethoven clearly left his mark on the Austrian capital.

His homes are now museums, and the places he worked are now sites of pilgrimage for his fans from all around the world.

(DRAMATIC MUSIC) When he arrived in Vienna as a 21-year-old composition student,

there was no indication his arrival here would divide musical history into the world before Beethoven and the world after Beethoven.

(GENTLE MUSIC) In Vienna, Beethoven developed into an artist and composer of international standing.

Starting with his First Symphony, he demonstrated his systematic approach. (GENTLE ORCHESTRAL MUSIC)

Beethoven didn't start the symphony in the usual way, with a thunderclap in the home key. Instead, he broke all the rules

by opening with a dissonant chord... which initially leaves listeners in the dark and then leads them astray.

The opening circles around the symphony's actual key of C Major, but it never arrives there.

Beethoven's First Symphony showed he was someone who hoped his works of art would stand the test of time. No more short-lived light music

for the nobility, instead masterpieces for Europe's increasingly music-loving bourgeoisie. Beethoven was the first composer to consistently assign

his compositions opus numbers, "Symphony No. 1, Opus 21." He saw himself as an artist, on the same level as the writers,

sculptors and painters of his day. (DRAMATIC MUSIC) And he set the highest of standards,

for himself and others. Earlier composers were guided by musicians' abilities. Beethoven ignored them, formulating precise notations

in his scores for tempo, dynamics and articulation. His art required trained professionals who dedicated long rehearsals to mastering his works.

And that required institutions that could finance those efforts. Something unexpected happened,

his revolutionary demands were met. (LIGHT MUSIC) Welcome to Vienna,

for many the musical capital of the world. And I am here at the Musikverein, the Golden Concert Hall.

Today, the Vienna Musikverein, meaning music association, is known for its legendary concert hall, which opened in 1870.

Many consider it to have the best acoustics in the world. And we all know the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra's New Year's Day concert,

which is broadcast every year live worldwide. The Musikverein was founded in 1812, with an idea that changed the world of music.

Citizens joined forces to support Vienna's musical life. Beethoven also became a member, but in his own way. (Thomas, in German)

Beethoven was commissioned by the association, ¡Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde, to write a piece of music. But he was quite unhappy with the text he had to work with

or the Music Association gave him a text that he didn't want to set to music. But he'd already received

what today we would call a down payment. Things dragged on. The work was never created. Beethoven was famous,

and it turned out that he wouldn't deliver anything. And of course you can't say to Beethoven, "Please give me the money back."

So they did something that probably wouldn't be done today. They decided he should keep the money, and they would make him an honorary member.

(Sarah, in German) -[Sarah] The association has been active for so long, until today,

and has such a big impact on the musical life in Vienna. How have you managed to be so influential for so long? (THOMAS SPEAKING IN GERMAN)

-[Translator] On the one hand, we were the first. But we didn't just hold concerts. Back when we were founded in 1812,

our main concern was actually the Conservatory. It was the only place in the whole Austro-Hungarian empire to learn music, to study music.

Concerts were not the primary focus, this was only the third purpose. Teaching, collecting, concerts.

That has changed a lot over time. (DRAMATIC MUSIC) (SARAH, IN GERMAN)

You have been the artistic director here for 31 years, you must have heard a lot of Beethoven. -Yes. (BOTH LAUGHING)

Would you say that Beethoven is a bestseller? (THOMAS, IN GERMAN) For sure! There's no debate.

Beethoven is always extremely popular. Listening to his music is extremely popular and, as you rightly say, it's a bestseller.

What would you say, is Beethoven's appeal? Why do people still adore coming to a Beethoven cycle? This is the classical music.

This is the pinnacle of classical music, a kind of absolute music. So neither you nor the association

could imagine a world without Beethoven? We can't imagine it. But if he hadn't existed,

we wouldn't know what we'd missed out on. -Luckily, he did, and luckily we have him! (BRIGHT MUSIC)

[SARAH] The concept of concert halls for professional musicians quickly conquered the world in the 19th century.

Associations, foundations and cities financed these temples of classical music, these architectural masterpieces.

(DRAMATIC MUSIC) In 1891, the first American temple of music opened its doors.

Carnegie Hall is one of the most iconic concert halls in the world. The first concert was in 1891.

And guess what was on the program? Beethoven of course! (DRAMATIC MUSIC)

Beethoven, who else? (GENTLE MUSIC) And then they all started coming to New York.

Richard Strauss celebrated some of his greatest successes here. Gustav Mahler conducted here.

(UPBEAT MUSIC) Tickets to see swing legend Benny Goodman were resold on the streets for astronomical sums.

The Beatles' and Bob Dylan's concerts are legendary. If you make it to Carnegie Hall, you've really made it. But how do you get there? Practice, practice, practice.

-Literally, I mean, from the word go, Beethoven has been a part of our live here. -As executive Director and artistic director,

could you even imagine a world without Beethoven? -Well, there are so many things about him. I mean, he was a revolutionary in every single way,

because if one thinks about it, how people wrote music and the context of writing music before him. Where you were basically writing music for people,

most of the times you were even told what you had to write. -You only had the one set of orchestra players. -Yes, you had your fixed resources,

but you also had to keep somebody satisfied, whoever was paying you. And Beethoven didn't feel he had to satisfy anybody.

He only wrote what he believed in. He, every single form that he touched, he completely transformed.

I mean, every single aspect of what he did, he changed music forever. (DRAMATIC ORCHESTRAL MUSIC)

-What does the public like to hear the best from Beethoven? -Well, I mean, it is interesting. I mean, you as a player and me as an ex-player,

I don't think there's any piece I played more in my entire life than the Beethoven 5th or the Beethoven 7th Symphony.

I mean, those were on programs endlessly, so I'm- -They have been played over 300 times at Carnegie Hall. I mean, just that one piece!

-Right. -It's hard to even imagine. -It's insane, isn't it? But the fact is, you could do a Beethoven symphony cycle

or a piano sonatas cycle, every single year, year after year after year. But the fact is, Beethoven has an effect which,

I think, almost no other composer does, I mean which is you can always sell his music. And people use it.

If you just think, when the Berlin Wall fell, it's the Beethoven 9th Symphony. In Japan it has to be done every year around Christmas.

All around the world it is a piece that symbolizes great moments in history. It almost has to be played at great moments in history.

The effect he has had in so many different ways. But frankly, preparing the platform for the future. But also, in a way he was the first great romantic,

I mean, even though he wasn't yet there, but he prepared the ground for the romantics completely, because the whole thing of the emotion and the passion

that he brought to everything. So it's every dimension he changed. -What do you think works best?

Do you put Beethoven together with modern music? Is there any sort of formula you found that has worked very well, or does Beethoven work best,

as a concert planner, in a complete Beethoven program? -You know, we never think in terms of what works best. What we are thinking is, what illuminates what?

So I mean the fact is, yes, you can put Beethoven in a context with contemporary composers, you can put him in a historic context,

you can, I mean this is again, what's fascinating about him, you can put him in almost any context. -Basically, you can't imagine a world without Beethoven.

-It's truly unimaginable. I mean, I would love to know what a great composer coming afterwards, where they were building on so much of what he transformed,

where would they have been? -[Sarah] Beethoven not only broke new ground with his compositions,

he also set completely new standards for the concert business and established music as an art form.

-When you look at something like the '60s, when the arts where fundamental in America to all the big changes that happened

in terms of race relations acts, women's rights, gay rights, all of these things. The arts played the central role.

Now, Beethoven was the first musician and the first composer, who actually had a genuine social conscience.

He was fighting for things that he really believed in. His music is about revolution, it is about change, it's always about being utterly compelling

in what you write, never comfortable! (FIRE CRACKLING) (CANNONS BOOMING) -[Sarah] Beethoven composed his 3rd Symphony

in turbulent times. Napoleon Bonaparte had overrun Europe with war, and brought the ideas of the French Revolution

to Europe's monarchies. (DRAMATIC MUSIC) Beethoven passionately supported the revolution's ideals

of "Freedom, equality, fraternity." His Third Symphony, the "Eroica," reflects that enthusiasm.

Although Napoleon even threatened Beethoven's adopted home of Vienna, the composer decided to dedicate his symphony

to the French general, a gesture he angrily took back, furiously scratching Napoleon's name from the score when the military leader declared himself emperor.

In the score, he wrote that the symphony was subsequently, "Dedicated to the memory of a great man." Today, the "Eroica" is considered revolutionary,

a great symphonic achievement. Beethoven's political convictions influenced many of his other compositions.

In 1805 he wrote his only opera, "Fidelio," an opera of liberation. Its theme is the struggle of the individual

against an overpowering dictatorship. (GENTLE MUSIC) So Beethoven was a political composer.

Can social critique and political commitment be expressed through music? Today, Beethoven's Ninth Symphony

is not only the official anthem of the European Union, but also a symbol of freedom worldwide. And it's been the soundtrack of great historical events

including the fall of the Berlin Wall. To this day, Beethoven's Ninth encourages musicians to take a political stand.

(TRIUMPHANT MUSIC) <i>♪ See now like</i> <i>a phoenix rising ♪</i> <i>♪ From the rubble of the wall ♪</i>

<i>♪ Oh how thy tears manifested ♪</i> <i>♪ Peace and freedom evermore ♪</i> <i>♪ Brother, sister,</i> <i>stand together ♪</i>

<i>♪ Raise your voices now as one ♪</i> <i>♪ Oh by history divided ♪</i> <i>♪ Reconciled in unison ♪</i>

-In 1985, there is only one real question in people's minds, as far as I'm concerned and one decision to be made:

Which side are you on? (UPBEAT MUSIC) -[Sarah] In the mid-1980s Billy Bragg became

the musical face of Britain's political conflicts. The coal miners' strike had paralyzed the country for months.

The miners were protesting against pit closures, and many people across the United Kingdom were showing their solidarity.

-In 1984 I just started a career as a solo, kind of punk singer-songwriter when the miners' strike happened in the UK,

and the working class mobilized against Margaret Thatcher. Suddenly, I was in the right place at the right time to start a more ideological kind of political song writing.

-[Sarah] Like many musicians of his generation, Billy Bragg was influenced by punk rock, which emerged in England in the late 1970s.

-The Clash were responsible for my politicization. When they played at the first Rock Against Racism festival in London in 1978, I went along.

It was the first political activism I had ever taken part in. And that day changed my perspective on the world.

(PLAYS BEETHOVEN'S 9TH ON GUITAR) I think, Beethoven can be a role model today. When I was tasked with writing a new English language lyric

for the "Ode to Joy," rather than try to translate directly the original poem, I just took one line: <i>“Alle Menschen werden Brüder.”</i>

"All men become brothers." That's that universal idea of humanity and build on that. My lyric is more or less an expansion of that idea

and I think, that it speaks to us down the ages, whenever the "Ode to Joy" is used it's always that humanity that is evoked.

The joy of humanity in all its forms is there in Beethoven's 9th Symphony. (SINGING IN GERMAN)

The currency of music, what we do, is empathy. That's what we're singing about. We're trying to make people feel as if they're not alone.

We're trying to make people feel emotions for someone they've never met perhaps, or experiences that they've never themselves had.

So, that's what we are dealing with at gigs, whether they are political or not. I mean, any songwriter is dealing with that.

But if you match that empathy with activism, if you encourage your audience to become active, then you really have the opportunity to do something;

because if you mix empathy with activism, you'll get solidarity. (SINGING IN GERMAN)

-[Sarah] So, is it the text or is it the music of the final movement of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony

which has such a political impact? I've decided to ask someone who knows his way around politics as well as Beethoven.

Norbert Lammert is one of Germany's best-known politicians. He was president of the German parliament for 12 years

and he's a great Beethoven fan. (SARAH, IN GERMAN) Do you think that the piece is powerful

as a political statement more through the text, or does the music also have something to do with it? (NORBERT, IN GERMAN)

-The influence that music and musicians have had on societal development is remarkable, especially in recent human history.

Incidentally, the connection between music and lyrics plays a rather decisive role. Pure instrumental music, I believe,

usually does not produce that kind of comparable mobilizing political effect. Singer-songwriters or composers,

who deliberately tackle political topics and texts, can achieve much better results. -[Sarah] The Ninth Symphony is still

a bold statement for many. I did a little experiment at the Brandenburg Gate and played the theme of the last movement

of the Ninth Symphony for the tourists. Most of them said it was the "European anthem" and not Beethoven's Ninth Symphony.

-The melody has become the European anthem without the words and has clearly become independent. Almost everyone knows the melody.

Not everyone, by a long shot, knows the words. (SINGING IN GERMAN) (BRIGHT GENTLE MUSIC)

-[Sarah] The Venezuelan pianist Gabriela Montero lives in Barcelona. She has a skill that few

classical pianists have mastered, the art of improvisation. -Knowing the anecdotes of how Beethoven would sit down

and improvise in the middle of his sonatas, in the middle of his written works, gave me a sense that perhaps in the past

the great geniuses allowed themselves a license to see music as not something that was fixed, but rather malleable.

(PIANO MUSIC) -[Sarah] Gabriela Montero is also known for her political commitment.

She's a strong critic of the regime in her home country of Venezuela. -People often ask me, why I became involved,

why do I talk about politics and such ugly things that I share sometimes. If you were to look at my social media inbox,

you would see hundreds if not thousands of stories of Venezuelans who have shared with me countless stories of horror, of exile, of murder, kidnap, starvation,

family members dying for lack of medicine. The most basic human needs are not enjoyed by a whole country.

(DRAMATIC MUSIC) Beethoven knew that music is a great amplifier and magnifier of underlying motivations.

His example of using the beautiful tool of music to tell a story, to raise awareness, and to leave an imprint in history.

Telling us today what he went and he lived through at the time, is something that's valid for all generations.

I think, he was a great example of someone who not only saw music as a tool for joy or a tool for aesthetic beauty,

but rather a tool for carrying a message that was perhaps even more important than just writing something sublime.

(SINGING IN GERMAN) -[Sarah] What was the most innovative thing about Beethoven?

-The longer I delve into music in general and into Beethoven in particular, the more I come to the conclusion

that the connection between tradition and innovation was the most outstanding feature for him. One cannot seriously say that Beethoven had nothing to do

with the history of music, the pre-existing traditions. Quite the contrary! And conversely, there is hardly anyone else

who handles this tradition so confidently, and then immediately blows it up. (GENTLE MUSIC)

-[Matthias] Okay, one more time! (GENTLE MUSIC) (SINGING IN GERMAN)

-[Sarah] In 1816, Beethoven revolutionized the tradition of Lieder, songs with poetic lyrics. -That was very beautiful, that German.

-Okay, but let's do the transition one more time. -The transition because there was, you weren't quite together here, on the bar before.

(MATTHIAS, IN GERMAN) (SINGING IN GERMAN) (GENTLE MUSIC)

-Which transition? -[Sarah] For some, it's a song cycle. For others, it's the world's first concept album.

Beethoven's "An die ferne Geliebte." Six songs tell the story of unrequited love in 15 minutes. -The biggest invention is

for sure the "Ferne Geliebte" that he created, really a song-cycle. It's the first in music history, I would say,

that he was composing a very long song, but with this kind of Zwischenspielen and no interlude,

this very powerful kind of Nachspiel. But in fact, you have different kind of songs, different kind of episodes,

and he is really telling a long story. This is really for sure the biggest invention in the aspect for the song repertoire.

-[Sarah] With its sophisticated transitions, the piano does much more than merely accompany the singing voice.

(SINGING IN GERMAN) -The more I've discovered Beethoven's repertoire, the more I've come to appreciate

that every one of his compositions is a masterwork in its own right. Regardless, if they're Lieder,

that aren't necessarily known to be the best Lieder in the world, or not considered that way,

but they are true genius, you just have to look for it. (BRIGHT MUSIC) (SINGING IN GERMAN)

-"An die ferne Geliebte" became the model for all great song cycles of classical and romantic music. Franz Schubert adopted the close connection

between piano and singing voice from Beethoven. (GENTLE MUSIC) (SINGING IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

Gustav Mahler expanded the idea, and had the singer accompanied by an orchestra. <i>♪ I'm diggin' up</i> <i>good vibration ♪</i>

150 years later, the idea was picked up in a completely different place. In the mid-1960s, pop music was revolutionized

in the hills north of Hollywood. This is where the first concept albums were created, shedding pop's teeny-bopper image

and making it into a global, million-dollar business. Hollywood! Lights! Camera! Action!

Home of the movie industry and also home of some of the most iconic pop songs ever produced! <i>♪ Ooh, ooh,</i> <i>ooh, good vibrations ♪</i>

One driving force was Brian Wilson of The Beach Boys. His goal was to write mini symphonies for kids. (UPBEAT MUSIC)

For his concept album "Smile," he hired a young lyricist, the arranger and composer Van Dyke Parks. (BRIGHT MUSIC)

I read about your "Good Vibrations" session. You suddenly said, "We've got to put a cello in there." -Yeah, plug a cello, eighth-note triplets,

fundamental eighth-note triplets. -How did you come up with that idea? -God gave me a plan!

And God gave me a plan, that is that I would be a good arranger and come up with a good idea for something

that had a 2 1/2 minutes time lapse. A signature like the Red Ruby Slippers, something to distinguish.

The Bank Dick handshake. "Play it again, Sam!" -Your very first single.

(BRIGHT MUSIC) Ta-da! Van Dyke Parks released the first-ever pop music version

of Beethoven's "Ode to Joy." This is your "Number Nine," your very first solo single, and it's Beethoven.

Tell me why! Why Beethoven for this? -I will tell you. I knew what I loved and I loved that music that Beethoven I understand had adapted

and defined in the Ninth Symphony. I was knocked out by that. And then, there's that piece

and that piece was probably the first time that it dawned on me, that somebody was extrapolating something from an idiom,

a folk idiom, roots music. That made a big dent in my life. And I just, immediately, I mean, pre-teen,

had bifurcated conveniently the nexus of the street and the elite. A music that came from the street,

that found its way into the parlors and so forth. Gottschalk, for example, on an American scale. <i>♪ Come lift my voice</i> <i>and take it ♪</i>

-[Sarah] Thanks to Van Dyke Parks, Beethoven became a kind of folk-rock pioneer at the same time that Bob Dylan was making folk-rock popular

around the world. -I've got Beethoven on this shoulder here. I've got the absolute nihilist here,

Bob Dylan's "Sprechstimme," which out-spreched any Stimme I've ever heard before. He's a master of it.

It's undeniable, that pop music is attractive, because it has a physicality and it recognizes the eurythmic appeal in music.

And that's what Beethoven and certainly Brahms on steroids had for me! -Brian Wilson and Van Dyke Parks

shared an ambitious vision, rather than a simple collection of tracks, "Smile" was to be a song cycle telling the history

of the United States, carefully composed right down to the last detail. "Smile" wasn't released in its entirety until decades later,

but the idea was quickly copied by the world's most successful bands. Right next door in Laurel Canyon,

Frank Zappa created his concept album "Freak Out." And in England, The Beatles were also inspired by "Smile." They invented a fictitious music group,

"Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band." The British band, The Who, released a rock opera called "Tommy."

And Pink Floyd's concept album "The Dark Side of the Moon," about a descent into madness, became one of the most successful

albums in music history. And this is something you've used in your music ever since. Beethoven wrote the very first song cycle ever,

"An die ferne Geliebte." And funnily enough, and this is why I really wanted to talk to you about this,

this is what you've been doing. This is what you did immediately after your album "Song Cycle."

-Well, okay, this is interesting, but that was imposed upon me by the medium. The medium was the album

and the album had a constituent elapse time. -This concept album. -It's funny, yeah, that concept album did come out of Laurel Canyon.

To be sure, all of those people are too numerous to mention all those. Zappa was there in Tom Mix's cabin, which has burned to the ground.

Other groups, Joni Mitchell and Crosby, Stills, and Nash and all of that stuff. Everybody in Laurel Canyon had the idea

that a concept album, that is, since people were now listening to the album, that was a technological advancement.

We were at the gilded age of analog recording. And that album form provided that continuity that people sought.

And it became a discipline and a pro-form. Everything had to be just so, for example, you had to think about the first cut.

You had to think about the last cut. You had to think about the amount of time, thinking about the amount of time it would take

to turn it over and get to the B-side. What the first cut would be and how would it end? And do you want it to build or evaporate?

<i>♪ I'm back ♪</i> -[Sarah] On his 1968 concept album, "Song Cycle," Van Dyke Parks explored the myth of California,

from the splendid national parks to the artificiality of Hollywood. <i>♪ Crack of the batbeat</i> <i>on Vine Street ♪</i>

When you did you own song cycle, Beethoven, he described water, running water and woods and birds songs in his music,

you were lucky, you were recording analog and you could put the sounds of the water and stuff in that. -That's right. I wanted to do that.

So I felt that it was unavoidable, but the most interesting component was when I decided not to write the song called "Vine Street,"

I had lived on Vine Street. -There's Beethoven is there, too. -And there is Beethoven,

and Randy Newman put that in there because of that disc. So, you know, this is my rosebud. Beethoven is bigger than rosebud to me.

-Your most recent album, "Spangled!" it's also a concept, you decided to put famous Pan-American songs together

with a reason. What has kept you on this track? -In my case it's the people around me.

-Gaby Moreno! -[Sarah] One of the people around Van Dyke Parks is Grammy Winner Gaby Moreno,

a singer-songwriter from Guatemala. She and Van Dyke wrote the concept album "Spangled!" The song cycle evokes the time

when there was still a lively cultural exchange between Latin America and the USA with neither hatred nor border walls.

(GENTLE MUSIC) <i>♪ There's a place</i> <i>where I've been told ♪</i> <i>♪ Every street</i> <i>is paved with gold ♪</i>

<i>♪ And it's just across</i> <i>the border line ♪</i> And this idea of having a concept, is this something, you've consciously tried to do in your own stuff,

or did this come through the work with Van Dyke Parks? -I've always thought that, you know, it's important for me to think of an album

from beginning to end. Ideally, in an ideal scenario you want people to listen to it from beginning to end.

-And did you have the concept before or did the concept come while you were looking for the pieces?

-I remember, at first there was a lot of songs in Spanish. So "Nube Gris," he started sending me that one, which ended up on the record, "Historia de un Amor,"

and then, I can't remember quite well, but I think, he just sent me "Across the Borderline," which is a song written by Ry Cooder and John Hiatt

in the 1980's. So, he sent me that song and I was like, and something sparked in me and I said,

"Okay, this, I get it, we get it! This is the concept!" We gonna do a record that celebrates

not only the cultures in Latin America, but also the U.S. and try to like unite the North and the South and Central America, and think of it,

because in Guatemala, as I always say, in Guatemala they teach us that, "The continent is America," you know, one continent!

So what's important for me is to just reflect that on this record, where we're celebrating the wonderful music

that comes from all these parts of America. -[Sarah] Singer-song writing legend Jackson Browne joined the celebrations.

<i>♪ Right down the Rio Grande ♪</i> <i>♪ A thousand footprints</i> <i>in the sand ♪</i> <i>♪ Grieving a secret ♪</i>

<i>♪ No one can define ♪</i> <i>♪ The river flows</i> <i>on like a breath ♪</i> <i>♪ In between our</i> <i>own life and death ♪</i>

<i>♪ Tell me who will be next ♪</i> <i>♪ To cross the borderline ♪</i> -Politics is another thing that really appealed to me

and Beethoven's maverick status. -It encouraged you. -It encouraged me. (SINGING IN GERMAN)

-[Sarah] Beethoven's song cycle, "An die ferne Geliebte," was a wonderful concept which is still being copied by composers and arrangers today.

With this next completely different idea, Beethoven shaped an entire genre and enchanted an audience of millions.

(BRIGHT ORCHESTRAL MUSIC) In 1808, Ludwig van Beethoven began to create images in the minds of his listeners.

He gave his Sixth Symphony descriptive movement names such as "Awakening of cheerful feelings on arrival in the countryside."

He began to describe images using the orchestra. For the country outing, he featured woodwind instruments who were usually more in the background of the music.

Beethoven's new ideas were a success. The first movement conjures up associations with excursions in idyllic country life.

(DRAMATIC MUSIC) But that idyll is disturbed. "Thunder, Storm" is the title of the fourth movement.

Here brass and percussion dominate. The idea of program music, music with a meaning or concept, was born with the Sixth Symphony

and quickly became an important genre of romantic music. (GENTLE MUSIC) In his "Symphonie Fantastique" from 1830,

Hector Berlioz chose the same instrumentation for the "Scene aux champs" movement as Beethoven had done twenty years earlier.

(DRAMATIC MUSIC) In Richard Strauss's monumental "Alpine Symphony," Beethoven's instrumentation is still unmistakably the model

for Strauss's 1915 program music. The idea of using sounds to create moods and associations with landscapes took over Hollywood

with the introduction of sound in films. Movies soundtracks became elaborately orchestrated. (GENTLE MUSIC)

(BRIGHT MUSIC) One of the very early sound films, "Fantasia" by Walt Disney, uses the first movement

of Beethoven's 6th Symphony to depict an idyllic fantasy nature scene. (DRAMATIC MUSIC)

Beethoven's music has since been used in countless film productions around the world. (TENSE SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC)

(GENTLE MUSIC) Composers who had fled Europe, such as Erich Wolfgang Korngold,

brought Beethoven's legacy to American films, creating a new lasting standard. (GENTLE MUSIC)

Music in the style of Beethoven intensified the effects of idyllic landscapes and romantic love scenes. - [Woman] Oh. (laughs)

-[Man] Why are you running away like that? - [Woman] Oh, I don't know. -It is quiet here, isn't it.

-Yes. -Look, Captain, on the staff. The bearer of the albatross.

(DRAMATIC MUSIC) ä-And when the enemy approaches, we can hear rolls of thunder, Korngold's cannonballs can be heard from afar.

(DRAMATIC MUSIC) (MYSTERIOUS MUSIC) And even the greatest modern-day film composer

makes clever use of Beethoven formulas. In the "Star Wars" films, the forces of good, embodied by Princess Leia and Luke Skywalker,

are played by woodwind instruments. Evil with its imperial march is dominated by brass instruments.

Coincidence? (DRAMATIC MUSIC) We are at one of the greatest music festivals in the world,

the Tanglewood Music Festival in Lenox, Massachusetts. And one of the yearly highlights is "Film Night," where, of course, they play the music

of the legendary John Williams. The composer of "Jaws," "Indiana Jones", "Jurassic Park", "Harry Potter", "Star Wars" and many, many others,

has influenced the film music industry of the last decades more than anyone else and won many Oscars and Grammys along the way.

The typical John Williams sound touches millions of fans around the world and me especially as a horn player. (DRAMATIC TRIUMPHANT MUSIC)

(MYSTERIOUS MUSIC) (TRIUMPHANT MUSIC) (DRAMATIC MUSIC)

As a moviegoer I could not imagine a world without John Williams. And this is what we're talking about today,

a world without Beethoven. -It's also impossible to imagine. -It is.

-So, Beethoven was the first composer to actually write programmatic music. In his Sixth Symphony he gave each movement a title,

so the listeners would know exactly what they were listening for. -Yes, the Sixth Symphony is maybe an anomaly to him

that he thought he might have been making entertainment. -You said in an interview that you felt that Beethoven was one of the greatest organizers of sound.

-No question! The idea of organizing sound with instruments in this case into shapes and eventually into things

that will exchange emotions, it's hard to imagine like a life without Beethoven. I had a conversation about this meeting with you

with an elderly doctor friend of mine, who is very, very brilliant. And I said: "What is your answer

to 'What would the world be like without Beethoven?'" And he said very quickly to me, "What would life be like, if we'd never seen a rainbow?"

-But how do you decide which instrument is gonna be the one to portrait Princess Leia,

or which instrument is gonna be the one to make us scared. Is that something, do you have a program you've worked out over the years?

-There are instruments that are associated with certain things, you know. I recently did a recording with Anne-Sophie Mutter,

which you probably know. And she wanted to play "Star Wars." And I said, "Anne-Sophie, you have,

'Star Wars' you have to have trumpets -and cymbals and horns." -Horns! -You know and all that.

You really can't play that on the violin. But we had fun adapting things that could be played. (DRAMATIC MUSIC)

-[Sarah] The music of John Williams is not only for movies, it's played in concert halls around the world, including here in the Vienna Musikverein

where Beethoven himself was an honorary member. -Tradition in theatre and in film, if you have a villain you probably have,

in the old days you would have a diminished seventh cord played tremolando somewhere. There is an expectation culturally

of certain kind of things, where the horn is established as the hero. -We like that.

(TRIUMPHANT MUSIC) -These connections apply. They're historical. They're cultural.

That forms a structure within which you have some freedom. -You know, in the 7th Symphony in the 3rd movement (THOUGHTFUL HORN MUSIC)

(GENTLE MUSIC) and then the trumpets and horn go (DRAMATIC MUSIC)

and then he does this (DARK DRAMATIC MUSIC) and then he goes into the theme.

-I see, I see a shark. -I see a shark! I see a shark! (DRAMATIC MUSIC)

And when Simon Rattle- -Terrifying! -Yeah, a terrifying shark. And we've always wondered

if that was the precursor to the "Jaws Theme." - I think so. I think, I think Beethoven had been swimming.

(DRAMATIC MUSIC) -[Sarah] The drama in Beethoven's music has been an endless source

of inspiration for film scores. But his influence is also seen in the success of a somewhat unremarkable invention.

(METRONOME CLICKING) For some, it's an instrument of torture, for others an indispensable companion

for rehearsing and performing, the metronome, providing the correct tempo at all times. (DRAMATIC MUSIC)

In 1818, Ludwig van Beethoven caused another sensation in the music world. He wrote an article praising the previously unknown invention

by his friend Johann Nepomuk Malzel, the metronome. Since then, life in music without a metronome has become hard to imagine.

(BRIGHT MUSIC) (METRONOME CLICKING) (DRUM MUSIC)

(METRONOME CLICKING) (ALEXANDER, IN GERMAN) The metronome is basically

the click-track-tool that is embedded in the recording software. There is a musical grid, so to speak,

there are certain time signatures, a certain tempo. If I'd clicked start or record, I'd hear this, for example. (METRONOME CLICKING)

Beautiful. (DRUM MUSIC) (ALEXANDER, IN GERMAN)

Apart from the fact that it delivers a very stable tempo, a click track also works as a synchronous reference. Many pop and rock music productions are done

as multi-track recordings, each instrument in a song is recorded one at a time. For example drums are often recorded first

and then a week later, a guitarist plays along, and then in another studio, a singer sings his lines. These separate tracks are held together

by this click reference. (BRIGHT MUSIC) (METRONOME CLICKING)

(BRIGHT MUSIC) -[Sarah] Beethoven published metronome markings for his symphonies in a Leipzig music journal.

He left nothing to chance. Before that, composers had used Italian tempo markings from largo, slow, to presto, fast.

But they were approximate markings. Thanks to metronome markings, every conductor knows the precise tempo

Beethoven wanted for his symphonies. (GENTLE MUSIC) Paavo, why do you think it was so important

to Beethoven to promote this new idea, the metronome? -It's like evolution. Like a fish coming out of the water

and realizing we need feet, you know. And then they grow feet and then they start walking. And so I think that probably that has something

to do with it because all of a sudden the control goes from the hand of the composer into the hand of a stranger who has nothing to do with the creation of the piece

and this whole recreative process, the interpreting process was born. (GENTLE MUSIC)

-[Sarah] Paavo Jarvi is one of the world's top conductors, and he is a great fan of Beethoven's metronome markings. (BRIGHT MUSIC)

-He published the metronome markings probably because he wanted to make sure that people are in the right area of tempi.

And of course so much controversy is to this day around these metronome markings. And the main problem really is that they are very fast.

A lot of them are much faster than the traditional Beethoven interpretations that we know now are comfortable with.

(DRAMATIC MUSIC) And in a way, I think that that's exactly why he published them.

Because he sort of could foresee that things would get slower, more romantic. There is a kind of a slowing down the grandness,

the Wagner effect, if you will. (METRONOME TICKING) -[Sarah] The metronome, which Beethoven so appreciated,

makes it possible to set the same tempo anytime and anywhere. Since 1895, a German company

has been producing Malzel's metronomes and selling them all over the world, they are based in the well- hidden, idyllic town of Isny.

In Allgau, in South Germany, there is the most famous metronome manufacturer in the whole world, Wittner Metronomes.

I never thought I could get so excited about metronomes, but look at this one! (METRONOMES TICKING)

Metronomes are high-tech. Before a model is sold, it has to pass an endurance stress test.

(HORST, IN GERMAN) Historically, it was in the case that in the baroque period, they only had dances that roughly predefined the meter.

There was the allemande, the courante, the sarabande and so on. And when these dances went out of fashion,

there were no longer any meters, or no concept of them. Then came the Italian tempo markings, allegro, adagio and so on.

But what do they really mean? There was no definition. Let's come back to Beethoven.

He interpreted his allegro differently than Salieri, for example. That means that there was a need for a binding tempo reference.

(DRAMATIC MUSIC) (SARAH, IN GERMAN) Beethoven wrote that his metronome was sick.

How can a metronome be sick? (BOTH LAUGHING) (HORST, IN GERMAN)

You have to bear in mind the state of technology in those days. The metronome is a highly precise mechanical device.

The slightest deviations, in term of dimensions, we're talking about a weight discrepancy of one or two grams, will cause a different metronome speed.

(DRAMATIC MUSIC) -We conveniently and post factum, so to speak, we can say, well you know he was deaf and his metronome was broken.

And there is even some kind of a story somewhere in a letter where it says that his metronome was not functioning correctly.

I mean, I think it's all nonsense. I mean Beethoven was deaf, he wasn't stupid. (DRAMATIC MUSIC)

-Beethoven's insistence on exact tempos set standards. With his special feeling for rhythm, he inspired a completely different genre

long after his time. (SMOOTH JAZZY MUSIC) Later in his life, Beethoven moved further and further away

from what his listeners expected to hear. Some critics even considered him crazy. Syncopations, piano cascades.

What sounds like a jazz piece from an American bar around 1920 is actually Beethoven's last piano sonata op. 111, composed almost 100 years earlier.

It seems like he shortens the notes as he goes along. To create this sort of jazzy effect. -Yeah, I think he programs in this natural momentum

so you, each variation gains more notes per beat whereas the meter itself doesn't change. (BRIGHT JAZZY MUSIC)

- [Sarah] Was he bored? Had he already tried everything else? Beethoven wrote a set of variations in this piano sonata.

He varied not only the melody and the harmonies, as others had done before him, he varied the rhythm. This piece remains a challenge for every pianist.

-I think as you come from the main theme and as this develops, if you make the rhythm too crisp too soon

then somehow it takes away the whole natural character that, in my mind, Beethoven was trying to build. (SMOOTH JAZZY MUSIC)

It's really unique because Beethoven, the way he writes it with these falling passages, it really swings naturally.

And he creates this swing. I mean, he really writes it in there. And to go along with it you have some Blues notes,

some Blues tones and it's really brilliant what he does. (BRIGHT JAZZY MUSIC) -[Sarah] In 1822, you can only imagine

how confused the music critics were. What would it sound like if you played it more classical, more like it's exactly written?

Is it even possible at this speed of? (BRIGHT MUSIC) -I mean it- -It becomes edgier, doesn't it?

-Yeah and it does, it takes the fun out of it. -The groove. For a long time, the sonata was considered unplayable

because of its tempo. About a century later musicians on a different continent discovered

how much fun playing syncopation at a high speed could be, Jazz. (BRIGHT UPBEAT MUSIC) (DRAMATIC UPBEAT MUSIC)

(BRIGHT JAZZY MUSIC) (UPBEAT SWINGING MUSIC) -[Sarah] To find out what the Jazz world thinks

about Ludwig van Beethoven, we are here at the absolute temple of Jazz, the House of Jazz in New York City.

And who better to speak to all about this? Wynton Marsalis himself. (UPBEAT JAZZY MUSIC)

Wynton Marsalis is one of the most famous trumpet players in the world. He's won nine Grammys, and he is the artistic director

of the House of Jazz at the Lincoln Center. (UPBEAT JAZZY MUSIC) Something people have credited Beethoven with,

there is his piano sonata, his very last piano sonata no. 32 op. 111, and people say, actually it was Stravinsky

that came up with the quote the quote, it was a pre-echo of Boogie-Woogie because of the snappy baselines and the syncopation in there.

What would you say as a Master of Jazz? -I think that it is a dotted 16 note rhythm. With Boogie-Woogie,

the consciousness of it is the ground rhythm that does not change. So even Passacaglia and those kind of forms

where the bass repeats. And the challenge of playing Boogie-Woogie is maintain: badumbadumbadum, over a long span.

The challenge of striding jazz style is can you keep that left hand in strict march time and play these figures on the top.

(BRIGHT JAZZY MUSIC) (SMOOTH JAZZY MUSIC) So yeah, the dotted 16 note rhythm is related.

-But people are hearing that today and saying, "Oh, that must be what it was." But it's a big credit to Beethoven

that something he did then people are still analyzing. -You know, Beethoven did so much more than that. That that's a reduction of him.

I feel like just Beethoven's modernity. Like the person of the 20th century who most resembles Beethoven is Louis Armstrong.

Because Louis Armstrong actually gave you a sense of what it meant to be modern, what it meant to be free. Beethoven in terms of him as in relation

to Jazz is just his freedom in improvisation. Of course we don't recall some, but every account of his playing is.

what he could do was go from really thunderous, bombastic, virtuosic playing to the most tender, beautiful, melodic

and also how he traversed the keys. -[Sarah] But would that have been written down? Or would he just have gone with it?

No, he'd just go with it. He is a piano player. He don't, why does he have to write it down. -You find rhythm all over Beethoven's music.

-If you think of Beethoven's music, he understands the count three in an environment of two, which comes from African music.

Which he probably got it from, through Middle Eastern music, what they would call Turkish music. So when you are in a two rhythm,

dong, dong, dong, dong, dong, and you put three on top of it, didididing, ding, ding, ding, ding.

If you listen to the 3rd Symphony, he does that. It starts with a syncopated offline. Just bing, bing, bing.

Then all of a sudden its, bah, bah, bah. It's like half notes grouped in two. Bah bom, bam bom.

So you're in three but he is grouping the notes in two. (DRAMATIC MUSIC) This is a kind of ultra-syncopation.

What I love about it is, he is using it as a syncopation for the same reason we use syncopation. It's, I'm giving you a time

and your body has the expectation of this time and now I'm playing with you, with the time. So in this string quartet that I love,

F major, opus 135, it's a movement in three. So it's fast, it's vivace. Do, bodi, bah, bo, di, bah diddy.

Buh, buh, buh dip, bah, bah, bah. Bah, bah, bah. Bo, di, di, uh, um.

(DRAMATIC MUSIC) -[Sarah] Beethoven's rhythms are also a challenge for the Armida Quartett from Germany.

(DRAMATIC MUSIC) (HANDS CLAPPING) (WYNTON SCATTING) It rocks.

-See, they' re talking to each other. (WYNTON SCATTING) -[Sarah] He didn't like that.

(WYNTON GRUNTING) -I love that! (DRAMATIC MUSIC) -[Sarah] Beethoven also played around with the rhythm

in his last string quartet. In the second movement he hides the first beat of the bar which would usually be the most important beat

in European music. (BRIGHT MUSIC) (SARAH, IN GERMAN)

So what's the difficulty of playing this Vivace for you? Is it playing against each other? You start, but not on the one, you're on the three.

What's so hard about that? (JOHANNA, IN GERMAN) Well, basically it's like playing contemporary music.

Everyone has got his pattern and has to stick to it. And yet as a group we still have to feel a common pulse, otherwise we'd lose ourselves,

because it actually goes against our natural need for structure, to stick to a pattern, which is actually against the beat.

-[Sarah] Could you take this apart slowly and play it for me so that I can see where the three is and where the one is? (GENTLE MUSIC)

Ah, here you found each other, on the one, finally! Can you play it again, fast, the way it should be? (BRIGHT MUSIC)

-So he's like a football player, a juke he would do and does some kind of fake, or a soccer player would do. They'll be playing,

and make you think they are going this way. And they do it. He's doing that with the rhythm.

(DRAMATIC MUSIC) -[Sarah] It's incredible how much Beethoven has shaped our music world.

Whether in jazz, film scores or rock music, his innovations and ideas are everywhere. (DRAMATIC MUSIC)

A world without Beethoven? Unimaginable! (GENTLE MUSIC)

(QUIET DRAMATIC MUSIC) (DRAMATIC MUSIC) (BRIGHT MUSIC)

(DRAMATIC MUSIC) (QUIET DRAMATIC MUSIC) A world without Beethoven is actually,

no, well, everyone we have spoken to, no one could imagine it. -I don't know.

I mean, there is a lot in the world. I always think about any person, whatever he did, you could take it out of the world and the world is fine.

I mean, you can, there are a lot of people who have never heard of Beethoven, you know. And their lives are not bad.

(DRAMATIC MUSIC)