There are some extra fellows
coming for today's rehearsal.
Please make sure that they're properly
turned out and given beer before we start.
Good morning, sir.
- Ries, you're here.
- I'm sorry I'm late.
Doesn't matter.
It gave me time to have a shave.
Don't want to look like a wild beast, do we?
And how are you today?
- Happy to find you in such good humor, sir.
- Why wouldn't I be?
Have you seen my good shirt?
I did ask the girl to press it.
Is this it?
They're complaining downstairs. They say
water's coming in through the ceiling.
I only had a wash.
What's the matter with them?
Do you still want to walk, sir?
I could try and find a carriage.
No. It's a lovely day. Let's walk.
The score's on the piano.
- Do you feel nervous, sir?
- What about?
- The new composition.
- No. Why would I feel nervous about that?
I feel invincible. I could conquer the city.
You'll succeed where Bonaparte has failed.
Bonaparte was sent to liberate us,
not conquer us.
To free us from tyranny.
He's got a rather aggressive way of doing it.
My friend Menzel says he'll be back.
No, they won't attack again.
We've signed a peace.
Anyway, that's not
what I was thinking about.
What were you thinking about?
- Good morning. Have you breakfasted?
- Yes, Mother.
People are running everywhere.
Is it music again?
Herr Beethoven is coming.
Come along, children.
- You'll be late.
- I can't play on an empty stomach.
- I'm sorry, Paul.
- Can you play?
Of course I can play.
I just can't get to the damn place.
I don't want to lose my job.
Welcome, dear Count.
We have a special treat for you today.
As a fellow enthusiast,
I think you'll find it rather thrilling.
- Haydn?
- Beethoven.
He has a new symphony. We shall be
the first people to hear it in the entire world.
Where's my E-flat crook?
I need it.
Come on. Give it to me.
No. No, don't. Don't.
Please. Let it go. Come on.
Thank you.
I booked another horn, as you requested, sir.
But won't two be enough?
There's a triadic harmony
in the scherzo, idiot.
How can you perform a harmony
in three parts with only two horns?
- I haven't read it, sir.
- That doesn't make you any less an idiot.
Isn't this magnificent?
I don't think anyone loves nature
as much as I do.
It's as if the trees take root in my heart.
I would have killed myself long before now
if it wasn't for this.
Carry on, you fellows. Carry on.
As soon as all are here, we'll begin.
Wranitsky - the leader.
Wranitsky, Count Dietrichstein.
How many years have you been
with the household? 18? 20?
Never says a word.
Shall we?
- Are we allowed to listen?
- Yes. Rights of man and all that.
We get to listen, for sure.
The prince thinks it's good for us.
- What sort of music is it?
- You can dance to it or you can pray to it.
One or the other. As a rule.
I'm very sorry, Your Highness.
He can hardly walk. I had to hire a carriage.
Don't mention it.
You were dutiful, I admire that.
Let your father rest awhile.
- What did it cost, Paul?
- A florin, Your Highness.
- You'll get it back.
- Thank you.
- Citizen Fisher.
- Citizen.
- You're late for the revolution, Otto.
- I'm always late.
Herr Beethoven,
I should go up the back stairs.
- But you are an artist.
- I'm just a horn player, sir.
We're artists. We go in the front.
Come on.
- The genius.
- You look well.
I don't think you've met Count Dietrichstein,
from Prague.
- Good morning.
- Ludwig van Beethoven.
This is my student Ries.
I hear you're a gifted pianist,
but I know nothing more. "Van" Beethoven?
Are you Dutch?
No. From Bonn.
And what rank? Landowner?
A landowner?
Do I look like a landowner?
- No, I'm a brainowner.
- "Brainowner. " That's good.
Fertile soil.
Our friend thinks his talent exempts him
from customs of deference.
- It does, doesn't it?
- It does, it does. Well, here it does, anyway.
- What's the matter?
- She's not here.
She'll come.
This will all be gone one day, you know.
It will all be swept aside.
Yes. So they say.
All the wealth repossessed by the people.
There won't be much left by then.
These concerts and that -
he's squandered the family fortune.
And to whom
is this third symphony dedicated?
I don't know. It says "Bonaparte" on the front.
- Bonaparte?
- Forgive me for mentioning the name.
I don't mind.
I'm a great lover of everything French.
The guillotine? The Terror?
That's all over and done with, surely. We
have much to learn from our friends in Paris.
Their society will go forwards,
whereas here we'll just stagnate
because we are nothing. We do nothing.
We make the best music in Europe.
Can music exist independently of politics,
Herr Ries?
- I couldn't say.
- Couldn't you?
I could.
Will the peace hold?
Or will the Russians
and the British drag us into war?
What do you think, Lobkowitz?
I don't really know very much about it,
my friend.
I'm not exactly up to the minute
with international affairs.
What are you giving us today?
Will we find it original?
It's original from beginning to end.
That's impossible, surely.
The fact is,
I've taken a new direction, Your Highness.
- A new direction?
- A new path.
I needed a new path through the woods.
Something was wrong with the old path?
Thank you.
- The fingering.
- Have you seen bar 34?
Most Serene Highness.
We've been working round the clock.
The piece is a monster.
Bloody hell.
They're ready, sir.
My wife says it's about Napoleon.
How may a piece of music
be said to be about something?
I have never seen anything like it.
It may not be music at all.
Stop!
- I thought you were supposed to be good.
- It's off the beat.
And there are so many markings.
Gentlemen.
Gentlemen, it is our first attempt.
Patience, please.
Even to my ears, it did sound rather fiendish.
Rather difficult to play, don't you think?
Violent. Needlessly violent.
- Bonaparte.
- I've marked it exactly as I want it played.
- The marking here, you see - sforzando.
- "Sforzando"?
A sharp attack to each note, Your Highness.
Really hammering it.
- How modern.
- You're trained to make a beautiful sound.
But I don't want a beautiful sound.
Elsewhere, yes, but not here.
This is a summons, an imperative.
Play me the first two chords.
I want more intensity, more guts.
Again, please.
- Don't be so tentative. Play louder.
- We never play louder than that.
And some of it's hard to follow.
It keeps changing.
Yes. It changes. The mood shifts all the time.
But are you telling me you can't play it?
- Not at all.
- Then play it, for the love of Christ.
Could we play it a little slower, sir?
No.
Not slow. Urgent.
That's it, yes. Punch every accent.
My God, it's like a dam bursting.
- Fool! Wrong!
- Don't interrupt!
It's a copyist's mistake, is it?
I've left my two eldest in the nursery.
I hope that's all right.
- What's all the fuss?
- The horn came in too early.
- That's my hand. There's no mistake.
- Of course not.
- Extraordinary.
- Otto, play it as written.
Let's go on, shall we?
I'm terribly sorry.
- Are you trying to wreck it?
- It didn't sound right.
- Didn't obey the rules?
- No.
Go over there. Go over there.
Piss off.
Gentlemen.
A Haydn would be over by now, sir,
wouldn't it?
He's buggered about
with the whole thing, hasn't he?
The shape of it and that.
Is it finished?
- Let's go straight on.
- That was quite superlative.
I thought of a battle. I thought of a general,
horse rearing, saber shining.
And columns of men
streaming through the mountains.
- I was meant to, wasn't I?
- If you like.
If it was a battle, we should have had
snare drum, surely.
Drums and fifes in march time.
I rather gained a picture
of a hero of antiquity.
A Greek, perhaps. Achilles.
I am so sorry. I'm forgetting.
May I present my cousin von Dietrichstein?
The Countess von Deym.
The Countess von Brunsvik.
How is your brother?
He's at Korompa Castle. Otherwise he
would be here. He adores these gatherings.
- He sends his love to you.
- Forgive us for missing the opening.
You didn't miss much. Tasteless intermarriage
of the diatonic and the chromatic.
Hardly worth hurrying for.
Well, what we heard was splendid.
Let's have it very, very softly.
The marking is sotto voce -
"under your breath".
That's absurd. That's a vocal marking.
I don't see any singers, do you?
It's a funeral march, Wranitsky.
Watch out for the crescendos.
They don't go all the way.
I can just see the death carts
in the boulevards, can't you, Therese?
Black plumes on the horses
and gold epaulettes.
But who has died?
Is it the hero?
That wasn't bad.
It's not a symphony, though.
You decide what is art?
Steady on. Steady on, young man.
I didn't say it wasn't art.
The symphony has a structure.
This is a formless mass.
A mere arrangement of noise.
A great piling up of colossal ideas.
It's very moving.
In parts, it has elements of the sublime.
But it is also full of discord.
And it lacks rounding out.
It is not what we call a symphony.
I don't think it's concluded yet. Is it?
My point entirely. It's lunchtime and we're
only halfway through. It has four movements?
Gerhardt.
Matthias.
You must admit, dear friend,
it is rather difficult.
That, Serene Highness, is the most lavish
praise that can be given to an artist.
Really? How paradoxical. Why?
Because difficult is good.
Difficult is beautiful.
Difficult is closer to the truth.
Yes, I see what you're getting at.
Well done, Louis.
So moving. So very...
How to put it?
- French.
- French?
It is new. It is bold. It is French.
The French are marauding thugs
and Bonaparte an ill-bred adventurer.
Louis doesn't think so, do you?
He is the champion of the poor.
Well, that's a good thing, I suppose.
I mean, somebody has to be.
He's a charlatan.
He doesn't give a fig for the poor.
He hasn't done half as much for them
as our Lobkowitz here.
He won't last long if he carries on like that.
He's only a musician employed by the prince.
You can't go insulting your employer.
He's not employed by the prince.
He's not a servant like Wranitsky.
He writes what he likes, when he likes.
But he can't talk to the nobility of Austria
and Hungary as if they were his equals.
He believes he is noble
by virtue of his talent.
He doesn't accept the inequality.
Those are dangerous sentiments, Herr Ries.
People have been hanged for less.
Right. This is for the players.
The gentlefolk will have proper food later on.
Beer, please. And you,
keep your hands off that ladies' maid.
Kirsten?
Hadn't given it a moment's thought.
What do you reckon to the band, then?
They've taken the symphony
to new heights.
Christ, have they?
Go on.
He's like a Roman hero.
He sweeps the old oligarchies before him.
He calls himself first consul,
but there are only three.
What's that if not an oligarchy?
If not the rule of the few?
- The people love Napoleon.
- The people will tire of war.
No. This war means
an end to oppression all over Europe.
I'd rather be oppressed than dead.
I lost my brother in '96.
- My father also served with the volunteers.
- I did.
- I did. And I got home alive.
- Thank God.
There were 60,000 of us,
but we still got thrashed.
You, sir, you wrote us a patriotic song.
We're all patriots here, Albrecht.
Yes. Some of us
are more patriotic than others.
The French came within
50 miles of the city in '96.
I'm damned if I'll ever let them
get that close again.
If Bonaparte is defeated,
we are back in the Dark Ages
and our ideas will go for nothing.
We won't be allowed to speak.
- Better that than be ruled by the French.
- France stands for freedom. I'm for it.
You, sir, what are you for?
I'll tell you what I'm against.
I'm against tyranny.
The truth is, that's what
Bonaparte's been fighting to overthrow.
- On that point, I'm with Otto.
- But will there be a revolution here?
Well, I think that...
That as long as your Viennese has his beer
and his sausage, he won't cause any trouble.
On the other hand, if he misses his breakfast,
he'll revolt. "To the barricades. I'm starving. "
Your Highness, if you don't feed them,
there's gonna be trouble.
I had in fact thought of that.
Sir, you were right about one thing.
Our prince's magnanimity
cannot be faulted.
It is in the nature of good government
to be charitable to the poor.
Yes. Presumably under the very best type
of government, the poor will disappear.
I don't think so, my friend.
I don't think so.
Louis, you're such a dreamer.
May we talk for a moment?
Sir, I am not impertinent, you know.
My crime is that I am hot-blooded. I am
not very good at concealing my emotions.
I don't mean any offence.
- So?
- It's going well, isn't it?
Apart from Ries, it's not going badly.
- I nearly didn't come.
- Josephine.
- My darling...
- If you hadn't come...
It's hard for me.
- Yes.
- It's only been a few months since...
Yes, it's very sudden, I know,
but soon you'll go back to Korompa Castle,
and then, if...
if I hadn't attempted to...
I know.
So I ventured.
And I don't know how it will turn out.
It'll turn out the best for everyone.
Do you remember when your mother
brought you for piano lessons?
I couldn't decide whether
to fall in love with you or your sister.
Thank God.
Thank God it was you.
- Maybe you would be happier with Therese.
- Impossible.
Maybe Therese would not have married
and given birth to four children.
- Maybe not.
- I did.
Von Deym was a good choice.
I understand that. A pragmatic choice.
But now,
sweet Josephine...
Ludwig, how do you think we would live?
Ah, no, no. Things are improving.
Very much so.
- I don't intend to be poor forever.
- You're going to be rich?
- It's inevitable.
- How? You can barely add and subtract.
I agree. I am a useless businessman
who's bad at arithmetic.
My brothers look after my interests.
They're not as financially incompetent as I.
Prince Lichnowsky is prepared to pay me
an annuity of 600 florins.
And last year I got 1800
for a benefit concert.
It's not enough.
It's not enough?
I don't think, my love,
you have the first idea what things cost.
- I don't, really.
- I do.
But my brother Carl's salary at the civil
service is only 250 a year, and he lives on it.
I can get 1800 for a concert.
It's not the money.
- What is it, then?
- I have four children.
- I will be a father.
- It doesn't work like that.
You're not saying no?
- I've been a widow for seven months.
- You're not saying no.
- I love you dearly.
- You're free now to marry whom you wish.
You do like my music, don't you?
It's so loud,
so warlike.
The transitions are so abrupt.
It speaks to me of turbulence.
And I want peace.
Desperately, I want peace.
I admire it. I'm devoted to it.
But it frightens me, to be honest.
It frightens you.
Passion can be a frightening thing.
Sir, excuse me.
They're ready to play the scherzo.
Have you no manners at all?
Can't you see I'm in conversation with a lady?
Yes, sir. Sorry.
You are unforgivably stupid, Ries. Everything
you do is calculated to inflame my temper.
Go and tell Wranitsky
to start without me.
- This bit is done.
- Don't you need to hear it?
- Only the horns. Otherwise, it's done.
- How can you be sure?
The light relief after the funeral, the dance,
the return to life - it's easy. It's done.
Are you angry with me?
- I'm not angry.
- You sound angry.
Are you saying no?
You need to hear your horns.
I need to hear your answer, Countess.
Will you marry me or won't you?
I cannot.
I take it I'm not good enough for you.
Yes, you are. I love you.
But you're frightened of my music.
Obviously, I shouldn't have said that.
- Do you want me to change your mind?
- About the music?
No, about the marriage, damn you.
Forgive me. That was rude. I'm sorry.
Louis, there is no point.
If I could marry you, I would.
But it is forbidden to me.
There is no life without you.
You're my whole world.
My heart is full of all the things
I want to say to you.
Sometimes I think that speaking amounts to
nothing at all. It's a worthless faculty, speech.
The law in Austria is clear.
If I marry a commoner, I not only lose my title
but the custody of my children.
They will be taken away from me.
You cannot be their father.
It has no legality.
We'll travel.
I was thinking of going to France.
I cannot be without my children, Louis.
You cannot marry a man without a title.
No.
I can't.
My horns are coming in now.
Horns!
Yes, that's it. Give it some oomph.
Straight on. Let's get to the end.
Sir?
Sir?
- Ries, you interfering insect! What?
- Sir, Herr Haydn is here.
Master.
Herr Haydn, do come in. We're so pleased
to see you. Let us offer some champagne.
I hope it is an open rehearsal?
- Sir, you are welcome.
- Thank you. Thank you.
Sir, my student, Ries.
He's an idiot.
All students are idiots. It's traditional.
- Shall we sit?
- Your Highness.
He's been capellmeister
to the Esterhzys for more than 30 years.
The old prince is dead,
but his son keeps Haydn on.
But he can write for whoever he wants.
Well, couldn't he before?
No, of course not.
Not for anyone but the Esterhzys.
- And I thought he was highborn.
- Haydn?
His father was a wheelwright.
There's hope for me yet, then.
I doubt it.
Did you do it?
Thank you.
Well, I'm looking forward to it
very much indeed. How's it going?
- Splendidly, splendidly.
- It is a work of quality, Herr Haydn.
- Sad to say, not the highest.
- Oh.
Unlike your own work, sir,
it does not strive for perfection of form.
It's all roaring and grunting.
The only thing
I can remember striving for
is a balance between
the emotions and the intellect.
The key, as ever, is restraint.
I'm not very good at restraint.
And we love you for it, Louis.
None of it is worth anything, finally.
Since my dear wife died,
all I can think about is...
When is the end coming?
Will it be today?
My strength is gone, Your Highness. I...
I suffer dreadful headaches,
dizziness, and...
I can't play the piano any more.
But you have composed The Seasons
A work of brilliance.
No, The Seasons wore me out.
I shouldn't have written it.
It finished me.
He's obsessed with death.
- My master reveres him.
- They're not normal, these people.
You should go to England.
One can earn good money there.
Really?
I'd like to find a publisher
who'd pay me an annual income for life.
In return, they'd have the right
to put out everything I compose.
All I want is financial security so I can work.
I think Goethe has this arrangement.
And, if I'm not mistaken, Handel's
London publisher did the same for him.
But you're not Goethe.
Nor are you Handel.
- And nor will you ever be.
- How do you know?
Because people like that are no longer born.
My dear fellow.
- He doesn't mean to hurt you.
- It's very common, that viewpoint.
They cannot believe a young person
can achieve anything. So reactionary.
I cannot associate with people
who do not believe in me.
- Let's finish.
- I don't feel like it. I want to go home.
- Please, don't go.
- In Heiligenstadt I'm happy.
There are trees and streams and sunsets.
What is there for me here?
My husband has a proposal for you.
Have I? Oh, yes.
I love this piece of music, Ludwig.
It's an extraordinary experiment
upon an unsuspecting world.
I should like to hear it again.
Shall we say 2,000 florins for six months?
Exclusive rights?
This is the finale?
Yes.
Have we a subject?
Heroism.
Excellent.
Please.
Where would you like to go for supper, sir?
Prince Lobkowitz invited us
to dine at the palace.
- You don't want to?
- I'd rather eat with you.
Also, I'm finding
I can't always hear what they're saying.
They think I'm rude,
but really I can't make out the words.
My ears are useless, Ries.
And my guts aren't much better.
- Did you see her, Ries?
- Who, sir?
- The countess.
- Yes, sir.
Beautiful, isn't she?
Well, I think the sister's the prettier.
Ries, you may know something
of counterpoint and harmony.
You know nothing whatsoever about life.
What do you say, Herr Haydn?
Very long. Very tiring.
Unusual, though, wasn't it?
Unusual?
He's done something
no other composer has attempted.
He's placed himself at the centre of his work.
He gives us a glimpse into his soul.
I expect that's why it's so noisy.
But it is quite, quite new -
the artist as hero.
Quite new.
Everything is different from today.
Excuse me, sir.
There's Menzel. I'll just say hello.
What will you have, sir?
- I beg your pardon?
- I said, what will you have, sir?
Menzel's just back from his club.
- There's news from Paris.
- What news?
Bonaparte's just made himself emperor.
- Emperor?
- Yes.
He's had a coronation, and everything.
He's no longer first consul. He's an emperor.
Just like all the others.
Eat your fish, Ries.
Thank you.