1、Unit 1Ludwig van Beethoven,a major composer of the nineteenth century,overcame many personal problems to achieve artistic greatness.A Good Master Remembered1 Read the passage and discuss the questions in pairs.Then get together with another pair and compare your answers.1 In what ways does the serva
2、nt admire 2 Beethoven?He admires his persistence in composing and the way be included hisfeelings about his deafness into his music.2 Give two examples of how Beethovens deafness affected him.Beethovens deafness affected him personally because he had to stop being a concert pianist and concentrate o
3、n composing music.It affected him musically because he was able to usehis emotions in his music and write even greater music.3 What might Beethoven have done if he had net gone deaf?If he had not gone deaf,Beethoven would still have been famous as a great pianist.4 What would you concentrate on if y
4、ou were to go deaf?5 Many people were frightened when they first met Beethoven.Why?His moods were changeable and could grow wild and angry.He sometimes appeared like a wild man.In addition he was often so involved in his music that he forgot to brush his hair or wear appropriate clothes.1 Read these
5、 phrases before listening to the tape for the first time.Tick them if you hear them mentioned._Fifth Symphony,First Movement _Choral Symphony_Ninth Symphony _Pastoral Symphony _Fate Symphony_Sunlight Sonata _Moonlight Sonata _Fifth Symphony,Third Movement第五交响曲第九交响曲“命运”交响曲月光奏鸣曲“田园”交响曲“圣诞”交响曲2 Listen
6、a second time and fill in the chart.Symphony numberNickname What it is aboutFate SymphonyNo 5His attitude to his problem of deafness Symphony numberNicknameWhat it is aboutPastoral SymphonyChoral SymphonyNo 9No 6Love of natureHope and joyHOW BEETHOVEN USED HIS DEAFNESS TO MAKE GREAT MUSICIn 1802 Bee
7、thoven became very upsetwhen he realized that he would never hear accurately again.Because he was unable to share his feelings with others,he poured all his feelings into his music.His fifth symphony was the first whereListening Textthese powerful feelings were expressed.In the first movement Beetho
8、ven introduces a strong beat,which is repeated to make a rhythm,it has been described as“fate knocking at the doer”.It shows Beethovens attitude to his problem of deafness.(Extract of music from fifth symphony first movement)But his mood changes as the symphony continues.In the third movement his de
9、spair was transformed into something much more exciting and challenging.It is as if he was refusing to be defeated by his deafness.Listen to the power of the music.(Extract from fifth symphony third movement)Beethovens love of nature was well-known.The countryside calmed and relaxed him and also fou
10、nd its way into his music.On many occasions when he was struggling to finish a piece of music he would go for a long walk to sort out his ideas.He described this as working while he walked.These walks found their way in his sixth symphony,called the Pastoral symphony or countryside symphony,which is
11、 one of his most popular compositions.(Extract from the pastoral symphony)After 1812 his hearing became so bad that he became severely upset.Maybe he felt that nothing good would happen to him again.His musical output almost stopped.But strangely enough,this produced some of his most emotional music
12、.His ninth and last symphony,called the choral symphony,was his greatest composition.He used a poem by a German poet to express his feelings of hope and joy.(Extract from last movement of Beethovens ninth symphony)But Beethovens music was not always grand and important.Many of his pieces for the pia
13、no are personal and gentle.So we will finish with one of his best-loved piano pieces,the Moonlight Sonata.The first movement describes a peaceful,quiet and beautiful moonlight night when all troubles have disappeared and only the beauty of nature remains.(Complete Moonlight Sonata)Many people think
14、that Beethoven was always a genius.Other people think he would never have been such a great composer but for his deafness.Step 1:In pairs discuss:whether you think a genius is born or is made by circumstances;whether you think adversity makes one wise or not.Step 2:Have a class debate.Use the ideas
15、and examples you have collected to help you with your arguments.Beethovens lifeBorn:1770 Died:1827Career:1795:already an important pianist,teacher of music,composer,and giver of concerts1798:deafness began to interfere1802:concentrated only on composing1817:totally deaf1823:last symphony composed S1
16、:Do you think Beethoven was always have been a genius or was he made into one by circumstances?S2:I think he was always a great musician.Lets look at his life before he went deaf.He was already aSample discussionalready a famous pianist and he did do some composing.But his composing was not the most
17、 important part of his work before he became deaf.So I think circumstances made him a great composer.S1:Yes,but I suppose he must always have had it in him to be a great composer and the deafness gave him an opportunity to concentrate on it.It doesnt mean he wasnt born a genius-it just means he did
18、not develop that skill fully at first.S2:OK.What other evidence is there?His compositions were good but not outstanding until the Fifth Symphony when be put all his feelings about his deafness into his music.It was this ability to express his emotions in music that made him a genius.That was the res
19、ult of circumstances.S1:Of course youre right but his compositions were already well-known.He had the ability.Concentrating on it made it greater.Thats all.Anyway lets hear what the others have to say in the class debate,shall we?Write a newspaper article putting forward your point of view about Bee
20、thoven.Remember to:begin by describing your idea of a genius;*collect your ideas about whether Beethoven fits this description or whether he became a genius as a response to disaster in his life.Make each idea a new paragraph and set out a reason for each;*finish by repeating what you said in the fi
21、rst paragraph.Make it clear whether you believe Beethoven showed perseverance to become a genius in the face of terrible difficulties or whether he was a born genius.Some useful words and expressionsDescribing the effect of deafnessDescribing the effect of composinglonely alone isolated differentawk
22、ward strange scared terrifieddesperate perseverant relief calm release success conquering concentrating overcoming demonstrating showing accepting My idea of a genius is someone who has a great talent but must develop this talent through hard work until it become good enough to produce the work of a
23、 genius.Sample writingWHAT MAKES BEETHOVEN A GENIUSBeethoven was certainly a man like that.He had great talents as a composer of music.He played the piano and was a famous pianist of his day.He had also already begun to compose before he became deaf.His deafness forced him to concentrate on his comp
24、osing and that produced some very profound and important music.It made him into a real genius.The perseverance of Beethoven in the face of his deafness made him into a composer far more important than he would have been without it.Indeed it has been suggested that his terrible difficulties pushed hi
25、m into becoming a genius.I would agree with that and so I suggest that geniuses are made not born.Victor Hugo is one of the most famous French writers of the nineteenth century.He wrote novels,poems,and plays.He was as important to French literature in the nineteenth century as Shakespeare is to Eng
26、lish literature in the sixteenth century.Victor Hugo(1802-1885)He was very involved in the politics of his day and wrote many stories showing bow difficult life was for poor people in France at that time.His most famous books are Les Miserables and The Hunchback of Notre Dame.Christopher Reeve(1952-
27、2004)He was an actor in films and became famous when he played Superman in a series of films about that cartoon character.However,disaster struck when he fell off his horse and became paralyzed from the neck down.He bravely tried to cope with his illness and to help others with the same condition.He
28、 gave money for research into his condition but although he improved,Christopher Reeve was never able to walk or take part in films as an ordinary actor again.Sima Qian(about 145 BC-87 BC)Sima Qian was one of the first imperial historians who tried to write a comprehensive history of China.He collec
29、ted documents of people who had worked for earlier emperors and reported their conclusions.He showed that there can be two interpretations of the sameReign when he reported two different ideas about the methods and achievements of Emperor Qin.Eventually he offended the Han Emperor Wu when he support
30、ed a disgraced general.For this offence he was punished and disgraced.Instead of committing suicide to save his honour,Sima Qian continued his work on the history of China.His writings have been invaluable for later scholars.Vincent van Gogh(1853-1890)Vincent van Gogh was Dutch but lived most of his
31、 adult life in France.He became a painter and met many important Impressionist painters such as Monet and Pissaro.He had a very difficult personality which made it difficult for him to get on with others.He cut off the lower half of his left ear and give to a prostitute.As he grew older Vincent beca
32、me more and more odd and he put all his feelings and emotions into his paintings.He used intense colours and violent brushstrokes to make his paintings very powerful and emotional.Yet he only sold one painting in his lifetime.Nevertheless,he bas become one of the most important of the Post-Impressio
33、nist painters.Frederic Chopin(1810-1849)Chopin grew up in Warsaw,Poland but moved to France in 1831.He lived there for the rest of his life.He was a very gifted pianist who earned his living as a performer and teacher.However he was also a talented composer and wrote many important ballades and rond
34、os for the piano.His ambitious style of playing and composition influenced many other composers such as Debussy,Liszt,Tchaikovsky and Rachmaninov.He died of tuberculosis(TB)when he was at the height of his fame.Homework1.Write an article on the research of you own about the five people on page 58,Workbook.2.Review the whole unit and check 3.your studies.
