Oratorium Chrystus na Górze Oliwnej opus 85 Ludwiga van Beethovena a estetyka Friedricha von Schillera

Abstract

Beethoven’s only oratorio, Christ on the Mount of Olives, Op. 85, was created in the phase marked by the strong influence of the thought of Immanuel Kant and the Weimar classics (in particular Goethe and Schiller), described as the climactic phase of Classicism. The musical activity of this phase is a response to the Enlightenment concept of man as a sensual-spiritual being. It gains the power of not only aesthetic but also ethical impact on the recipient. Beethoven, as a creator aware of his mission to create music, which was to raise an individual towards the ideals of humanity, was particularly influenced by Schiller’s philosophical and aesthetic thought: the influence of the great philosopher was by no means limited to the Ninth Symphony. Concerning Beethoven’s oratorio, this influence is particularly noticeable in the way the figure of Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane is depicted – both as a divine being and as a suffering, lonely man facing torment and death. Therefore, the aim of this article is to present Beethoven’s work in the context of the aesthetic writings of Friedrich von Schiller, with particular emphasis on the categories of beauty, sublime and pathetic.