- Date: 1884
- Sculptor: Henry Baerer
- Medium & size: Bronze bust, over lifesize, with a smaller bronze figure below; granite pedestal.
- Location: Near the north end of the Central Park Mall, opposite the Naumburg Bandshell
Like an illustration of Thomas Edison’s maxim about perspiration and inspiration, the head of strong-willed, energetic Ludwig van Beethoven looms over the petite figure of Music. Poised between the Enlightenment and nineteenth-century Romanticism, Beethoven transformed the shape of musical compositions, the art of conducting, and where and when and how classical music was performed. For most of us, though, what matters is that Beethoven’s music – its passion and grandeur – cranks up our emotions to a fever pitch and leaves us satisfied, yet wanting more, more, more.
The sculpture of Beethoven on the Mall stands as a reminder of the centuries before the MP3 player, the Walkman, or even the phonograph. When Central Park was under construction in the 1860s, if you wanted to hear Beethoven’s music, a live performance was your only option. And if you were in New York, the performers would probably have been German-Americans.
Germans were among the first waves of immigrants to the United States. Some fled here after the political revolutions of 1848 were ruthlessly suppressed. Others fled when Bismarck’s Prussia started seizing territory for the German Empire. Yet others fled religious persecution.
In Manhattan, most German-speaking immigrants settled in “Kleindeutschland”, at the unfashionable northern edge of the city. So many earned their living sewing ready-to-wear clothing in their homes that the tenements of “Little Germany” became the city’s original Garment District.
In their free time, these immigrants thronged to hear German music, often performed by German singing societies and orchestras. The New York Philharmonic was founded in 1842 by an Italian and an Irishman, but the first work it performed was Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony. In the 1880s, when the Metropolitan Opera was struggling to survive, it saved its bacon (or its bratwurst) with several seasons of operas sung exclusively in German.
As early as 1860, concerts were presented at the north end of the Mall in Central Park, sometimes to an audience of more than 10,000. In 1862, to shelter the performers, the Board of Commissioners erected a colorful Music Pavilion designed by Jacob Wrey Mould.
Among the frequent performers on the Mall was the Beethoven Mannerchor, or Men’s Chorus, who in 1884 dedicated this this bust of Beethoven accompanied by the Genius of Music. The inscription from them is on the back of the granite pedestal.
More
- For more on Central Park in the 1850s-1870s, see my book Central Park: The Early Years.
- For early images of Central Park, see the pages on this site for through 1860, 1861-1865, and 1866-1870.
- In Getting More Enjoyment from Sculpture You Love, I demonstrate a method for looking at sculptures in detail, in depth, and on your own. Learn to enjoy your favorite sculptures more, and find new favorites. Available on Amazon in print and Kindle formats. More here.
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