One of the most interesting things to me about Romanticism as a musical movement was the different ways different composers lived under Beethoven’s legacy. Ludwig van Beethoven, probably the greatest composer the world has ever saw and will ever see, was the most instrumental figure in the transition between Classicism and Romanticism. He cast a long shadow that composers of the Romantic Era worked to come to terms with.
While some composers such as Johannes Brahms felt undeniable pressure to become as great as Beethoven, other composers such as Fryderyk Chopin found their own styles that were distinct from Beethoven’s. However, Beethoven’s influence to the Romantics and to Western classical music was undeniable. Such was his greatness that even Richard Wagner, a composer notorious for his ego, could only claim to be Beethoven’s successor. As Romantic composers worked and thrived under Beethoven’s shadow, they produced a tremendous amount of great music, both traditional and innovative, and became legends in their own right.
As a classical music fan I am obviously grateful and appreciative of everything Beethoven did for Western classical music and music as a whole, but my admiration of him goes beyond just loving his excellent works. Besides loving Beethoven’s music I am grateful of his influence and legacy, because without it we wouldn’t have the amount of wonderful and varied Romantic musical pieces available to us to enjoy today.
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