BeethovenandLennon(贝多芬与列农)LudwigVanBeethovenwasoneofthegreatestmusiciansinthe19thcentury．JohnLennonwasoneofthegreatestmusiciansinthe20thcentury．Althoughthereisaperiodofabout200yearsbetw

　　BeethovenandLennon(贝多芬与列农)

　　LudwigVanBeethovenwasoneofthegreatestmusiciansinthe19thcentury．JohnLennonwasoneofthegreatestmusiciansinthe20thcentury．Althoughthereisaperiodofabout200yearsbetweenthem,theyarequitesimilarincertainways．

　　Bothmenexpressedthespiritoftheirtimeintheirmusic．Beethovenlivedintheperiodofrisingcapitalism．Atthattime,peopleweretryingtobreaktheperiodoffeudalism(封建制),andtheywerepursuing(追求)freedom,equality,anduniversallove．Thissocialtrend(趋势),especiallytheFrenchrevolution,greatlyinspiredBeethoven．Hismusicwasveryactive,passionate(充满热情的),andvigorous．Someofhisworkspraisedheroism,someconveyed(传达)thelovefornature,andsomeextolled(赞美)harmonyamongpeople．Similarly,Lennon’smusicrevealedhistime．Inthe60sand70s,theyouthinAmericaweredeeplyfrustratedbythediscriminationandinjusticeinthesocietyandwerelongingtobuildanewone．MostofLennon’ssongexpressedtheideasoftheyouth．Inoneofhissongsentitled“Imagine”,hesings,“Imagineallthepeople,livingunderpeace”,and“Theworldwillbeunitedtogetherasone”．Thesewordsshowhisanti-warattitudeandhishopeforpeace,andreflectthespiritofthe60sand70s．

　　Bothmenweresocialrebelstosomeextent．Theyrefusedtobowtosocialconventionsandpower,BeethovenadmiredNapoleonhimsomuchthathededicatedhisSymphonyNo．5,thethemeofwhichisheroism,tohim．ButthenNapoleoncornedhimselfandbecameanemperor．BeethovenwassoangrythatheopenlydeclaredhetookbackwhathehadsaidaboutNapoleon,regardlessofpossiblepersecution．Lennonwasalsoconsideredatrouble-makerhewasnotevenallowedtogivepublicperformances．Butheignoredallthisandstucktohisbelief．

　　Asmusicians,bothmenledtogreatleapsinthehistoryofmusic．Beethoven’smaincontributiontomusicwashissymphonies．Itwashewhoclearlydefinedtheformofsymphonyandfullydevelopedit,whichmarkedtheendoftheclassicalperiodandthebeginningoftheromanticperiod．Hisninesymphonies,especiallyNo．5,No．6,andNo．9,areashighlyregardedtodayastheywere100yearsago．Lennon’sachievementcombinedrhythmandblueswithrockmusic,whichlaidthefou