Anton Felix Schindler Quotes in Immortal Beloved (1994)

Ludwig van Beethoven: [in reference to "Violin Sonata in A Major, Op. 47" - "Kreutzer"... ] Do you like it?

Anton Felix Schindler: Shh!

Ludwig van Beethoven: I cannot hear them, but I know they are making a hash of it. What do you think? Music is... a dreadful thing. What is it? I don't understand it. What does it mean?

Anton Felix Schindler: It - it exalts the soul.

Ludwig van Beethoven: Utter nonsense. If you hear a marching band, is your soul exalted? No, you march. If you hear a waltz, you dance. If you hear a mass, you take communion. It is the power of music to carry one directly into the mental state of the composer. The listener has no choice. It is like hypnotism. So, now... What was in my mind when I wrote this? Hmm? A man is trying to reach his lover. His carriage has broken down in the rain. The wheels stuck in the mud. She will only wait so long. This... is the sound of his agitation. "This is how it is... ," the music is saying. "Not how you are used to being. Not how you are used to thinking. But like this."

Anton Felix Schindler: There can be no peace without the truth.

Anton Felix Schindler: Do you know the name Ludwig van Beethoven?

Frau Streicher: The composer?

Anton Felix Schindler: Yes.

Frau Streicher: I knew him.

Anton Felix Schindler: Did he ever stay here?

Frau Streicher: Are you a policeman?

Anton Felix Schindler: No.

Frau Streicher: Then I will not answer your questions.

Anton Felix Schindler: Oh, please, I'm trying to conclude his affairs.

Frau Streicher: Ah, van Beethoven is dead?

Anton Felix Schindler: Alas, yes.

Frau Streicher: Best thing for him. He was a terrible man.

Anton Felix Schindler: Then he stayed here?