FROM MUSIC TO WORDS

An analysis on Beethoven and Tolstoy's Kreutzer Sonata

Over the course of human history, stories and music have often been closely linked - many works from literature have been adapted into music, from Shakespeare’s works translated into Verdi’s operas to Tchaikovsky’s ballets adapted from classic fairytales such as Sleeping Beauty and Swan Lake. However, not much has been made in the other direction. One of the very few examples of music being adapted into a story would be Leo Tolstoy’s Kreutzer Sonata, adapted from Beethoven’s composition of the same name. In here, I will analyze both the piece and the novel, and see the links between them.

Attempting to convey music’s intangible power is one of the most frustrating endeavorments of any music-loving writers. Many novelists from different genres have tried to do this and, despite its difficulty, have succeeded. Taken from an interview with debut novelist, Jessica Duchen is a list of several works that are inspired by classical music. The Song of Triumphant Love by Ivan Turgenev, Swann’s Way by Marcel Proust, Bel Canto by Ann Patchett, and arguably the most famous amongst them, The Kreutzer Sonata by Leo Tolstoy.

The story tells of a musical partnership and sexual partnership, inspired by Beethoven’s passionate Kreutzer Sonata which Tolstoy places in the center of his tale of jealousy and rage. The wife of Pozdnyshev and the lover are both musicians who play the piece together. As quoted by Jessica Duchen,

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“The force of Beethoven comes to symbolize the physical passion that the husband both craves and loathes, and from the musical incarnation of which he is permanently excluded.”