Talk:32 Variations in C minor (Beethoven)

Latest comment: 6 years ago by Double sharp in topic Disowned?

Tone edit

I think the text often focusses on the emotion which it may arouse in some listeners and therefore quite subjective, not really the style of an encyclopedia.

Also technical difficulty is quite subjective. —Preceding unsigned comment added by RobertKennesy (talkcontribs) 17:04, 1 March 2008 (UTC)Reply

I hardly think it's typical of Beethoven to vary the dynamics between variations. More accurately, such a tendency is typical of any classical or romantic composer worth his salt. 129.79.132.127 (talk) 23:48, 3 February 2009 (UTC)Reply

OK. Removed that part. Wasn't really necessary. This article could use quite a bit of polish.DavidRF (talk) 02:22, 4 February 2009 (UTC)Reply

Variation XXXII edit

An anon asked where the discussion for the last variation was. The post was lost in mid paragraph above. Its a good question, so I'm moving it down here. DavidRF (talk) 14:13, 29 March 2009 (UTC)Reply

Disowned? edit

I think it is important to note that Beethoven seems to have disowned this piece. I have read that from several sources. At least he thought very poorly of it. I wish there could be some scholarly comment on this. I've always found this fascinating.(71.231.105.38 (talk) 09:46, 23 May 2010 (UTC))Reply

My understanding is that he was irritated that the piece was so popular (like his septet, which came in for similar criticism). I don't think he "disowned" it though. His irritation might be worth mentioning if somebody can dig up a source. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 98.164.194.112 (talk) 06:13, 3 July 2010 (UTC)Reply
Here's a reference somebody may want to add. "Towards the end of his life he heard a friend practicing his 32 Variations in C minor. After listening for some time he said 'Whose is that?' 'Yours,' was the answer. 'Mine? That piece of folly mine?' was his retort; 'Oh, Beethoven, what an ass you were in those days!' (Thayer, ii. 324) Opus131 (talk) 19:02, 5 October 2015 (UTC)Reply
I see it's already been added; also interesting would be the quote from Rosen's The Classical Style suggesting that this disapproval is related to his turning his back to the early Romantic stirrings of his time, instead returning to Haydn and Mozart (and indeed in their resurrection of the Baroque passacaglia form the 32 Variations are quite Romantic in construction; their instant popularity showed the way the wind was blowing). Double sharp (talk) 10:15, 12 February 2018 (UTC)Reply