BY STEPHANIE ESLAKE
Beethoven’s music has been featured in more than 1500 films and television shows. In the concert hall, his music was performed in more than 13 per cent of all classical music concerts across the world — and that was in 2019 alone.
As we now arrive at Beethoven’s 250th anniversary, we might wonder how artists and audiences can possibly interact with the composer’s music in new ways — presenting his story and works in a way that nobody else has attempted in the centuries of his legacy.
In 2020, this achievement is brought to life. Z2 Comics and Deutsche Grammophon have united with a team of visual artists to produce The Final Symphony: A Beethoven Anthology. The 144-page graphic novel shares the story of his life through the medium of contemporary art.
This original suite of comics from a dozen artists is paired with tales written by Frank Marraffino and Brandon Montclare. It’ll also be published alongside a new compilation album from Deutsche Grammophon. The book is slated for November release.
Here, Frank gives CutCommon readers a sneak preview into the magic of this book, and how Beethoven can move reader and creator alike.
In his other life, Frank writes Marvel comics about zombies.
Congrats on your involvement in this project. This year has seen a huge shift in the way classical music is presented to audiences (coronavirus and live streams, here’s looking at you). However, this project — bringing together Beethoven with contemporary art in a graphic novel — is really something else. Why do you think now is the time for a release like The Final Symphony?
Beethoven is forever! And there’s no better excuse to revisit and toast the maestro than his birthday celebration. But there’s a reason why this may be the crucial time for The Final Symphony graphic novel.
This past year has not been an easy one for a great many people all over the world. We have been so beat-up and broken down, so divided and demoralised, that it is absolutely the right time for the antithetical antidote that Beethoven offers.
His intent in his music was to make people feel something – to feel alive and human — and furthermore, to celebrate the connections between humans. How great is it that one of his best known pieces, maybe his best, the Ode to Joy in the Ninth Symphony, celebrates the highest ideals that humanity might achieve? Hope. Peace. Unity. Fellowship. Joy. It is a beacon for what is possible if we allow the better angels of the human spirit to take flight.
That spirit and those ideals are what we’ve worked to impart into The Final Symphony. And it all springs forth from Beethoven. He transcended what the world thought was possible – both in him and in music. We hope in this book to likewise transcend expectations — not just in the story, but in causing people to examine, through Beethoven’s life and work, just how much we humans are capable of.
We need Beethoven now, more than ever. The Final Symphony attempts to make that argument in a manner that leaves no room for contesting it.
Musicians and listeners who are familiar with Beethoven may also be familiar with the story of his life. In what way does this graphic novel introduce something new about Beethoven and his story, which might challenge the way he’s been viewed in the past 250 years?
There are so many details about Beethoven’s life that have been endlessly documented and explored that I could only guess at what will be new or familiar to readers. But there are three aspects of his life that I found to be pillars of his existence and efforts. We concentrate on them in a way that is uniquely possible in this format of a graphic novel anthology. If it all plays correctly, the thematic three pillars will intertwine and interact like potent motifs and melodies in a great sonata or symphony.
First, we spotlight just how crucial Beethoven’s reading habits were in helping to shape his interests and beliefs. He grew up not only with Bach and Handel, but also with strong literary influences that very well may have been more vital in crafting his aspirational ideals.
Second, we showcase various friendships that Beethoven enjoyed, and spell out just how important they were to him and to the man he became.
And third, although the idea of triumph through struggle is well known in Beethoven’s life, we posit that his very specific successes could only be possible because of how his unique struggles became building blocks and tools for him.
The wonderful thing about an anthology is that we can explore these themes from different angles and perspectives which help build a fuller sense of the subject. In many ways, it is like a musical symphony with different movements each building towards the satisfying whole.
There are 144 pages in this graphic novel, and many artists were involved in its creation. What was your role, and what part of Beethoven’s life did you depict?
The artists in this book, like the stories themselves, are vast and varied. If you think of each artist as if they were members of an orchestra, uniquely suited to their individual instruments, that wouldn’t be far off track. And they all come together to perform for an audience to enjoy and experience a great piece of material. The artwork will delight readers as each artist elevates the quality of the story that they’re telling.
I crafted the story and wrote biographical moments from Beethoven’s life, some of which we dwell on while others are briefly glimpsed. Brandon Montclare and I then complemented and echoed these moments with our telling of many tales from German literature that Beethoven grew up reading and was familiar with. And even a few that he worked on, like his opera Fidelio.
The goal in writing the various individual stories was to impart the feeling one might have when listening to a particular Beethoven piece. Some tales are light and frothy. Others are heavy and dark. And they speak to particular aspects in Beethoven’s life.
Also, these stories and authors were ones that influenced Beethoven, some greatly. This might be the first time in a popular medium that Beethoven’s fondness for literature and its effect on him has been so fully examined and celebrated. That alone makes this book pretty exciting. Especially when you see how the artists have depicted the stories!
How did you use your own artistic style to help share Beethoven’s life?
I may never again tell a story with themes that so closely reflect my core interests and deepest-held inner beliefs. Just as there is so much emotion to draw from in his music, you could sum up our ‘house style’ as bringing as much emotion as we could to the stories, in order to bring them to life. Because emotion really is the stuff of life.
The line art from the artists who illustrated this book may each have a different look, but each brought great passion to their pages, which is the quickest way to achieve and then convey emotion. We want you to read this book and feel something — hopefully, many things! This of course is the most direct through-line from Beethoven’s efforts.
All of the artists in this book have played with passion – just as Beethoven told us to!
So how much does the artwork relate to the music? Did the music help you picture, in your mind, the way you wanted the art to appear?
Oh, yes. Even more so in how the stories play out.
I took a deep dive into Beethoven’s catalogue as I was also sifting through the various literary touchstones familiar to him. You let yourself drift and be guided by the multitude of passages, both musical and poetic — and just as you risk losing yourself in the deep oceans of material, suddenly specific connections begin forming.
When our editor Rantz brought the artists on board, each of their particular styles seemed naturally suited to different stories. It has been uncanny how striking the pairings play out, with each artist seemingly channelling the combined spirit of story and music.
To your question, the art has triumphed far beyond how I pictured it in my mind in just how alive and full of possibility each page is. Just as it is with Beethoven’s pages!
What impact do you anticipate this book will have on its audiences — from introducing new listeners to Beethoven, through to introducing long-term listeners to the engrossing medium of graphic novels?
The hope is that it will give new listeners a supremely accessible, engaging and addictive entrée into Beethoven’s music. And then leave them wanting more!
It would be highly satisfying if they were so enthusiastic about what they experience that they instantly search out more facets from this new world that has availed itself to them.
It would be equally satisfying if long-time listeners hear Beethoven’s music or think of his life in a new way because of how we’ve portrayed elements of each with the unique tools at our disposal when making a graphic novel. We can pinpoint details with point blank precision and then connect disparate dots to form a fuller image.
And, like a mystery revealed, perhaps seeing the greater context in the larger picture will suggest return visits back to Beethoven — and this book!
Before you go, how has this book helped you personally understand or perceive Beethoven and his music in a new light?
After countless hours ‘living’ with the man, I became convinced that Beethoven was a people-person! This might seem unreasonable to those who only think of him scowling and ranting like a vainglorious brat. Although, that behaviour might be, if not acceptable, at least understandable after a childhood of abuse, a life full of medical maladies, and the ultimate [experience of] deafness.
But many were genuinely fond of him, and there are countless first-hand accounts of Beethoven as a rather personable human being. When he left his hometown for Vienna, his acquaintances filled a book of well-wishes for him. He literally reached out to people, not just through his music, but through his relationships.
Community was important to Beethoven. As an adult, he lamented the lack of warmth and common fellowship that he knew in his earlier days in the city of Bonn, where supportive comradery could embrace and elevate you. And he wrote with those convictions. Even after his hearing loss so isolated him from the outside world, he penned his Ode to Joy – the ultimate expression of the wonders that await us when all people join together. Not really a negative sentiment about his fellow humans!
Parting words for us?
Thank you for your interest in this book! And thank you also for being out there on the front lines. You could argue that we who know just how good this music is owe it to the uninitiated to invite them into the festivities.
With The Final Symphony Beethoven Anthology, we aim to do just that. Who knows what we might open up inside of people if we share with new listeners a window into Beethoven — and they start to feel what Beethoven was sharing with us? It just might be transcendent.
Visit the Z2 Comics website to learn more about this graphic novel, released November 2020.
Its striking cover art was created by artist David Mack.
Shout the writer a coffee?
If you like, you can shout Steph a coffee for volunteering her time for Australian arts journalism. No amount too much or little 🙂
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