Thus we find him writing:
"Though at times I shall be the most miserable of God's creatures, I
will grapple with Fate, it shall never pull me down." On the artistic
side this affliction had its compensations in that it isolated the
composer from outer distractions, and allowed him to lay entire stress
on the spiritual inner side of his art; certainly this is one of the
strongest notes in his music--the pure fancy manifested therein. As a
deaf musician he is comparable to the blind seer who penetrates more
deeply into the mysteries of life than those whose physical eyesight
is perfect. Beethoven's closing years form a period of manifold
complications, caused by the care of his scapegrace nephew, by his
settled deafness and precarious financial position. Yet he grimly
continued to compose, his last works being of titanic dimensions such
as the Choral symphony, the Mass in D and the last Quartets and
Pianoforte Sonatas. Beethoven died on March 26, 1827; nature most
appropriately giving a dramatic setting to the event by a terrific
storm of hail and snow, lightning and thunder. It would take too long
to dwell on the many characteristics of the man Beethoven. Power,
individuality and sincerity were stamped upon him, and his music is
just what we should expect from his nature. He embodied all the
longings, the joys and sorrows of humanity, and gave them such burning
utterance that the world has listened ever since.

[Footnote 133: The prefix van is not a symbol of nobility.]

[Footnote 134: See the two _Beethoveniana_ by Nottebohm.]

To touch now upon a few of the formal aspects of Beethoven's work, as
far as verbal analysis can help, it may be asserted that he is the
acknowledged master of the Sonata Form as Bach was of the Fugue, and
in his hands this form, and also the Air with Variations, were raised
to a potency the influence of which is felt even to-day. From
beginning to end every portion of the Sonata Form was made over and
vitalized. Instead of the perfunctory "flourish of trumpets" which
served previous composers for an introduction, this portion with
Beethoven deftly leads on the hearer to a contemplation of the main
work, and is as carefully planned as the porch of a great Cathedral.
For examples, witness the continually growing excitement generated in
the introductions to the Second and Seventh Symphonies, the breathless
suspense of the introduction to the Fourth, and the primeval,
mysterious beginning of the