英语听力：Beethoven 贝多芬 - 09

 The great composer's romantic life was much less successful. He gave piano lessons to many women of noble birth. In 1801, he dedicated¹ the Moonlight Sonata² to one of these aristocratic pupils whom he loved. Her name was Countess Giulietta Guicciardi. "Unfortunately, she is not at my station," Beethoven wrote. “And at this time, it is impossible for me to marry.” Giulietta had a cousin, Josephine Brunsvik, and her relationship with Beethoven intensified³ when she became a widow in 1804. 

 

We're never quite sure what Josephine's side of this is, but Beethoven’s side of it was: this was a real true love affair on his part. And it's the only one that we absolutely know happened and we know who it is. And there are 13 love letters that Beethoven wrote to Josephine over the years from 1804 perhaps to 1807 or 1808. This is a relationship that is just full of importance for Beethoven. In fact, he says, "you are my return to life from my crisis over my deafness. And I'm going to prove myself worthy⁴ of you. I'm going to compose all these compositions." So there is this tremendous blossoming in Beethoven's composition. 

 

Beethoven's productivity was helped by the extraordinary discipline of his working routine. In contrast, his personal life was chaotic⁵ and unsettled.

 

He never stayed in one place for very long. There were 30 or 40 different places he lived in Vienna. Because each time he moved he had to take all his stuff with him and of course things might disappear or get damaged. There's one occasion in 1806 where he stayed the summer with Prince Lichnowsky, way out in Silesia. And Beethoven then had a quarrel with Lichnowsky and left in a hurry, and went straight back to Vienna in the middle of a storm. And of course the storm penetrated⁶ his trunk and all his music got damaged. And so the autographed score, the Appassionata Sonata is still got damp stained. But that's rather useful because you can tell which sketches⁷ had been written before the storm, which one written after the storm. So it helps you to date these sketches. 

 

He spent 10 years on and off with a house known as the Pasqualati House. Herr Pasqualati, the landlord, kept the flat underneath⁸ Beethoven's empty so he could make as much noise as he liked. One of the first pieces he composed here was the Violin Concerto⁹ in D. 

 

Er, if you think this is hard work, it must have been pretty hard work for people moving Beethoven’s furniture and his piano. 

 

The Beethoven Museum in the flat next-door gives no hint of the squalor in which Beethoven chose to live.

 

Picture to yourself the dirtiest, most disorderly place imaginable, blotches¹⁰ of moisture...

 

Books and music were strewn about in every corner. Here, the fragments of a cold snack. 

 

He seldom picked up anything with his hands without dropping and breaking it. On several occasions, he upset his inkwell into the piano." 

 

Under the piano. And I do not exaggerate. 

 

An unemptied pot de nuit beside a small warm… " "No furniture was safe from him. All was overturned dirty and destroyed."

1 dedicated   

adj.一心一意的；献身的；热诚的

参考例句：

• He dedicated his life to the cause of education.他献身于教育事业。
• His whole energies are dedicated to improve the design.他的全部精力都放在改进这项设计上了。

2 sonata   

n.奏鸣曲

参考例句：

• He played a piano sonata of his own composition.他弹奏了一首自作的钢琴奏鸣曲。
• The young boy played the violin sonata masterfully.那个小男孩的小提琴奏鸣曲拉得很熟练。

3 intensified   

v.（使）增强， （使）加剧( intensify的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Violence intensified during the night. 在夜间暴力活动加剧了。
• The drought has intensified. 旱情加剧了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 worthy   

adj.(of)值得的，配得上的；有价值的

参考例句：

• I did not esteem him to be worthy of trust.我认为他不值得信赖。
• There occurred nothing that was worthy to be mentioned.没有值得一提的事发生。

5 chaotic   

adj.混沌的，一片混乱的，一团糟的

参考例句：

• Things have been getting chaotic in the office recently.最近办公室的情况越来越乱了。
• The traffic in the city was chaotic.这城市的交通糟透了。

6 penetrated   

adj. 击穿的，鞭辟入里的 动词penetrate的过去式和过去分词形式

参考例句：

• The knife had penetrated his chest. 刀子刺入了他的胸膛。
• They penetrated into territory where no man had ever gone before. 他们已进入先前没人去过的地区。

7 sketches   

n.草图( sketch的名词复数 )；素描；速写；梗概

参考例句：

• The artist is making sketches for his next painting. 画家正为他的下一幅作品画素描。
• You have to admit that these sketches are true to life. 你得承认这些素描很逼真。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 underneath   

adj.在...下面，在...底下；adv.在下面

参考例句：

• Working underneath the car is always a messy job.在汽车底下工作是件脏活。
• She wore a coat with a dress underneath.她穿着一件大衣，里面套着一条连衣裙。

9 concerto   

n.协奏曲

参考例句：

• The piano concerto was well rendered.钢琴协奏曲演奏得很好。
• The concert ended with a Mozart violin concerto.音乐会在莫扎特的小提琴协奏曲中结束。

10 blotches   

n.（皮肤上的）红斑，疹块( blotch的名词复数 )；大滴 [大片]（墨水或颜色的）污渍

参考例句：

• His skin was covered with unsightly blotches. 他的皮肤上长满了难看的疹块。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• His face was covered in red blotches, seemingly a nasty case of acne. 他满脸红斑，像是起了很严重的粉刺。 来自辞典例句