Beethoven was black?

Africa within ^

[mainestategop]

---

Beethoven: Revealing His True Identity

 

 In the 15^th and 16^th century, written history underwent a massive campaign of misinformation and deception. With the European slave trade in full swing, Afrikans were transported to various parts of the world and were stripped of every aspect of their humanity, and in most of western civilization, were no longer considered human. This triggered a wholesale interpretation of history that methodically excluded Afrikans from any respectful mention, other than a legacy of slavery. This can result in being taught, or socialized, from one perspective. In this instance, historical information tends to flow strictly from a European perspective. No judgment of right or wrong is being made here, only that the breadth was very narrow in scope.

In an age where history is seriously being rewritten, new information is coming forth that is shocking intellectual sensitivities. What was once considered written in stone is now melting away with the discovery of facts that heretofore have been hidden or omitted; things so different that they are generally classified as controversial or unusual.

What specifically is being referenced, is the true identity of Ludwig van Beethoven, considered Europe’s greatest classical music composer. Directly, Beethoven was a black man. Specifically, his mother was a Moor, that group of Muslim Africans who conquered parts of Europe--making Spain their capital--for some 800 years.

In order to make such a substantial statement, presentation of verifiable evidence is compulsory. Let's start with what some of Beethoven's contemporaries and biographers say about his appearance. Frau Fisher, a close friend of Beethoven, described him with “blackish-brown complexion.” Frederick Hertz, German anthropologist, used these terms to describe him: “Negroid traits, dark skin, flat, thick nose.”

Emil Ludwig, in his book “Beethoven,” says: “His face reveals no trace of the German. He was so dark that people dubbed him Spagnol [dark-skinned].” Fanny Giannatasio del Rio, in her book “An Unrequited Love: An Episode in the Life of Beethoven,” wrote “His somewhat flat broad nose and rather wide mouth, his small piercing eyes and swarthy [dark] complexion, pockmarked into the bargain, gave him a strong resemblance to a mulatto.” C. Czerny stated, “His beard--he had not shaved for several days--made the lower part of his already brown face still darker.”

 Following are one word descriptions of Beethoven from various writers: Grillparzer, “dark”; Bettina von Armin, “brown”; Schindler, “red and brown”; Rellstab, “brownish”; Gelinek, “short, dark.”

Newsweek, in its Sept. 23, 1991 issue stated, “Afrocentrism ranges over the whole panorama of human history, coloring in the faces: from Australopithecus to the inventors of mathematics to the great Negro composer Beethoven.”

Of course, in the world of scholarship there are those who take an opposite view. In the book The Changing Image of Beethoven by Alessandra Comini, an array of arguments are presented. Donald W. MacArdle, in a 1949 Musical Quarterly article came to the conclusion that there was “no Spanish, no Belgian, no Dutch, no African” in Beethoven's genealogy. Dominque-Rene de Lerma, the great musical bibliologist, came to the same conclusion.

Included in this amazing discussion is a reference made of Beethoven’s teacher, Andre de Hevesy, in his book, Beethoven The Man. “Everyone knows the incident at Kismarton, or Eisenstadt, the residence of Prince Esterhazy, on his birthday. In the middle of the first allegro of Haydn’s symphony, His Highness asked the name of the author. He was brought forward.

“‘What!’ exclaimed the Prince, ‘the music is by the blackamoor (a black Moor). Well, my fine blackamoor, henceforth thou art in my service.’

“‘What is thy name?’

“‘Joseph Haydn.’”

We have all been fed false information for reasons previously mentioned. It is no secret that scholars, writers, critics, advertisers and Hollywood have changed history for their own specific reasons. What is uniquely different in the intellectual landscape, people of color now have an army of sophisticated scholars to combat the continuation and dissemination of false information that has been accepted as standard, as well as the canon in academia.

It is hoped that the revealing of this information will motivate others to critically look at all data flowing in their brains for authenticity. Hollywood is notorious for changing facts. I am not saying to hate Hollywood, but we do have to hold it accountable for disseminating inaccurate depictions, especially when it changes the course of history, by which our children are influenced.

Graphic credits:

1.) Louis Letronne, Beethoven, 1814, pencil drawing.

2.) Blasius Hofel, Beethoven, 1814, monochrome facsimile of engraving after a pencil drawing by Louis Letronne.

3.) Engraving by Blasius Hofel, Beethoven, 1814, color facsimile of engraving after a pencil drawing by Louis Letronne. This engraving was regarded in Beethoven's circle as particularly lifelike. Beethoven himself thought highly of it, and gave several copies to his friends.

©2003Kwaku Person-Lynn

---

[ Home ] [ Up ] [ Beethoven: Revealing His True Identity ] [ Examining The Virgin Birth / Resurrection Story ] [ Getting A's on Exams ] [ Globalizing Afrikan American History ] [ The 'Educated' Slave ] [ The Origin of Rap ] [ I'm Not Afrikan, I'm Negro ] [ Afrikan Involvement In Atlantic Slave Trade ] [ Have We Come To This? ] [ Setting the Record Straight on the African Influence of Europe ]

[EggsAckley]

Thoughts?? Yeah.

This is total Barbra Streisand. Total. It surfaces about every eight or ten years.

I hold a Master's Degree in Beethoven Studies and have run across this particular piece of crapppola many times. It is completely unfounded, and has been proven to be very many times.

I wish this thing would just die a natural death. There is not a shred of truth in it, and it galls me to see it posted on FR, which for the most part is THE forum for reputable news/articles.

Please, get rid of this. I am not going to bother trying to disprove it.......have better things to do. But you might as well post this one right next to that photo of GW with the little space alien dude.

[bigheadfred]

Well, I _DID_ score high

And here I thought it was just the election results...

[hellbender]

Now here's another famous figure from Western musical history, who is obviously Semitic. And since Palestine is very near Africa, he must be black also. That also explains why the Beatles covered so many songs by black artists. Brown hair, brown eyes: They be black. QED

[bigheadfred]

Please, get rid of this

Dude, chill...snigger... along with the rest of us... :-)

[Chode]

horse hockey...

[Fred Nerks]

from the Malcolm X School of Racism perhaps?

[heartwood]

Huh. That one-drop rule has gone positively homeopathic if those presidents have any black ancestry.

[EggsAckley]

First, I’m not a dude, second, I spent a huge number of years dedicated to studying this amazing man. I know many, many things about him that you don’t, and I joke that I know more about him than is healthy. He was very ....complex. And he WASN’T black. He was Flemish.
But this stupid article keeps surfacing, and usually right before Black History Month. I’m sick of it. Again, post it next to the GW/space alien photo.

[heartwood]

Nose looks like my grandmother’s in this picture and she was 100% German.

[elcid1970]

Gee.... if you take the third movement Presto Agitato from Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata and play it backwards at one third normal speed, it comes out eerily similar to modern hip-hop when chanted along with Ebonic lyrics which proves that Beethoven was really black.

[BIGLOOK]

Paganini was Chinese.....don’t tell anyone!

[SideoutFred]

Beethoven isn't black, but definitely furry.

[cynwoody]

It's not worth anything. It's complete rubbish.

Sure beats that log cabin nonsense, though!

[Othniel]

Egar Winter.

[cynwoody]

[FredZarguna]

All of it is predicated on the idea that one's identity must be limited to groups defined by liberals for their purposes, that there is no legitimacy to any identity or group association not so defined, and that rejection of an assigned group is a false identity.

Lincoln slept in a bed with another man before he was married. This was a common practice on the frontier and near frontier in the days when beds were expensive and bachelors were more common than wives. On this preposterously thin reed we now hear that a man who fathered several children and who had every calumny and disgusting epithet heaped upon him by his enemies -- enemies who would've sent him packing from Washington if there were any hint of homosexual scandal in his past -- was queer.

Meanwhile, his predecessor, a man who never married, was well known for a secret life in Washington in the days before his Presidency, dressed flamboyantly enough to raise eyebrows, and was expelled from the Dickinson Law School for "scandalous behavior" that was never made public, is assumed to be an ordinary single man.

The difference of course, is that Lincoln was a great President, and his predecessor was perhaps the worst ever. Therefore, the great man with no contemporaneous rumor of sodomy must be the gay one. Got that?

Why is it not simply enough for gay Americans to take pride in the fact that, like Lincoln, they are Americans? Or for Black Folks who enjoy or create music to have a common humanity with Beethoven? Beethoven did not identify himself as a white (or black, or red or any other color of) composer. Apparently, being an American is nothing special, but being a homosexual is, and apparently, being a musician or composer is no great shakes, but being Black -- simply by virtue of being born, is.

Thankfully, conservatives don't subscribe to these inane identifications. Our choices -- not accidents of birth -- define us.

[autumnraine]

OH OH OH Thank you for that picture!!

I love those and I haven’t ever seen one with Abraham Lincoln. Perfect picture for it!

[Oztrich Boy]

Who's next? Mozart? Wagner? Chopin? or Bach?

Chuck Berry: I think he's black

[maine-iac7]

amen

[Cvengr]

He looks like Bob Hope to me.