Mauricio Kagel - Maurico Kagel: Ludwig Van (1970/2020) [Hi-Res]

Mauricio Kagel's Ludwig Van features an arrangement of fragments of Beethoven's works, modified as if heard by the deaf composer himself; it is distinct from Kagel's 1970 composition "Ludwig van, Hommage à Beethoven".

The work was commissioned by Westdeutscher Rundfunk for the bicentennial celebrations of the birth of Ludwig van Beethoven in 1970, in conjuction with a black-and-white film. The film examines the reception of the composer and his works and how he has become a consumer product of the culture industry.

A deconstructive analysis of the film investigated Beethoven as a cultural icon, revered yet exploited; the use and misuse of his works, including their appropriation to advance nationalist agendas; the difficulties and anxieties of influence performers face; Beethoven scholarship and attempts to "tame" the composer to accord with bourgeois ideals; and the difficulties of peering through the myths to catch a glimpse of the "real" Beethoven. Kagel uses the term Musealisierung or "musealisation" in speaking of the Beethoven cult, the term used by Theodor W. Adorno to indicate that "museums are the family sepulchres of works of art".