Beethoven was especially happy in discovering the ideal potentialities of the wood-wind, and from him originated the practice of reuniting the higher species both in contrasting and amalgamating choirs.[30] No better model for successful flute writing can be cited than that in the Allegro of the "Leonora" Overture, No. 3; and the genial attributes of the oboe which, though latent, had never before been exposed, are fittingly treated in the scherzos of the Pastoral and Choral symphonies. The clarinet was now a regularly constituted member of the orchestra, and specimens of characteristic writing for it are to be found in the slow movements of the symphonies in B flat and A, and also in the Finale of the "Eroica," where a judicious introduction of clarinet arpeggios lends warmth and color to the Melos.
Perhaps no other orchestral instrument received more careful consideration from Beethoven than the bassoon, and his partiality for it resulted in detaching it from its former subservient position as bass for the wood and horns, and elevating it to the dignity of an equal associate to the remaining wood-wind, with especial regard for the quality of its tenor range.[31] Thus Beethoven evinced a peculiar predilection for redoubling a melody, assigned either to violins or to an instrument of wood, with a bassoon in the sub-octave. Again, he recognized its sustaining powers as independent bass, provided the balance of the instruments to be sustained were nicely adjusted. Gevaërt calls attention to just such a combination in "Egmont," where one bassoon acts as bass to the strings while the 'cellos and double-basses occasionally assist. And, as he further remarks, the choice was admirable, for no other instrument, as, for instance, the horn, would have been suitable. Consistent with his sentient appreciation for the bassoon, Beethoven rescued the double-bassoon[32] from comparative obscurity, and although he employed it invariably as a reduplication of the 'cellos and basses, it was awarded a more conspicuous rôle in "Fidelio" than in the C minor Symphony.
Classic conservatism in the use of the brass found no exception even when consigned to Beethoven's inspired pen other than the previously mentioned augmentation of horn parts and the more frequent requisition for trombones. His horn writing[33] followed that of Mozart, but his style was freer, bolder, and the results more resonant, especially in such passages as the familiar jubilant fanfare in the Scherzo of the "Eroica" and again in the Scherzo of the "Pastoral." On the other hand, the decidedly primitive functions of the trumpets[34] were in no wise ameliorated, an incident that is largely to be accounted for by the mechanical limitations of the instrument which still existed at that day. As for the trombones, to have drawn upon them merely for increase of volume, would have been contrary to the ethics of Beethoven's artistic creed. The fact that they did add sonority was therefore but a subsidiary issue, and in climaxes such as the Finale of the Fifth Symphony, their mission was primarily that of lending grandeur and richness to the final scintillating tableau.[35]
In conclusion, the kettle-drums must receive especial mention. It will be noticed that as yet but passing reference to them has been made in these pages, for it was left to Beethoven to discover their genuinely tragic resources. He not only enlarged the scope of the instruments by having them tuned to intervals other than the conventional and stereotyped fourth and fifth, but gave them expressive powers such as had never been attained before. Consequently there was added to the orchestra a practically new member, since he caused the tympani to respond to his dictates, as it were, with warm and throbbing pulse-beats, at times permeating, dominating, subduing the entire orchestral color-scheme. Striking illustrations of this latent power are to be found in the third movement of the C minor Symphony[36] and the Finale of the Pianoforte Concerto in E flat; likewise in the Finale of the Eighth and the Scherzo of the Ninth symphonies, in both of which they are tuned in octaves; and in the introduction to the second act of "Fidelio," where they are tuned to the interval of the diminished fifth. Further specimens of specifically solo writing will be recalled in the Adagio of the B flat Symphony, the beginning of the Violin Concerto, and the introduction to the "Mount of Olives."
A discussion of Beethoven's titanic achievements, even if confined to his orchestral writings, is prone to lead the student into so deep a maze of absorbing illustrations of his genius, that it becomes necessary to find an arbitrary stopping place. Therefore this review may be tersely summed up by saying that the culmination of classic purity, the subordination to human feeling of purely formal structure and sensuous tone-effect, and a systematic development of descriptive music, are the essentials of Beethoven's creations. His orchestration stands as a model for all time. He is the connecting link between the classicists and the romanticists. And in a word, the consummation of his artistic striving was freedom and spirituality.