the great bull with its fierce eye, its head raised, its four hooves planted on the summit, at the edge of the abyss

Posted on by Live & Learn

beethoven-1987-andy-warhol

In painting his portrait, I paint that of his stock — our century, our dream, ourselves and our companion with the bleeding feet: Joy. Not the gross joy of the soul that gorges itself in its stable, but the joy of ordeal, of pain, of battle, of suffering overcome, of victory over one’s self, the joy of destiny subdued, espoused, fecundated… And the great bull with its fierce eye, its head raised, its four hooves planted on the summit, at the edge of the abyss, whose roar is heard above the time. […]

If he cannot do this in the world of facts, he wills it in the world of art; everything becomes for him a field on which to deploy the battalions of his thoughts, his desires, his regrets, his furies, his melancholies. […]

The hammer is not all: the anvil also is necessary. Had destiny descended only upon some weakling, or on an imitation great man, and bent his back under this burden, there would have been no tragedy in it, only an everyday affair. But here destiny meets one of its own stature, who “seizes it by the throat,” who is at savage grips with it all the night till the dawn — the last dawn of all — and who, dead at last, lies with his two shoulders touching the earth, but in his death is carried victorious on his shield; one who out of his wretchedness has created a richness, out of his infirmity the magic wand that opens the rock.

~ Romain Rolland, on Beethoven’s struggle with his loss of hearing at 28 in Beethoven the Creator

 

Notes:

23 thoughts on “the great bull with its fierce eye, its head raised, its four hooves planted on the summit, at the edge of the abyss”

  5. “The hammer is not all: the anvil also is necessary.” This line grabbed me. Seems that oftentimes it’s having something to react to or push against that elicits greatness. Things can’t come too easily.

  8. I wonder if Beethoven could still hear the music in his head or if he made up the music more by the mathematics of the keys (the music scales), knowing what would sound good.

      2. Beethoven could hear his music up until the age of 42. Around 44yrs was when he had suffered complete hearing loss. After that, he made music in his mind, he imagined the sound his notes would made and accordingly compose music

Leave a Reply