---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Undoubtedly [Beethoven's] music often…"
description: "\"Undoubtedly [Beethoven's] music often verges on kitsch\" — Slavoj Žižek"
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/329/slavoj-i-ek-1738_beethoven_undoubtedly-beethoven-s-music-often-verg_1050386.png"
---

#  Undoubtedly \[Beethoven's\] music often verges on kitsch

![“Undoubtedly [Beethoven's] music often verges on kitsch” quote by Slavoj Žižek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/329/slavoj-i-ek-1738_beethoven_undoubtedly-beethoven-s-music-often-verg_1050386.png)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/329/slavoj-i-ek-1738_beethoven_undoubtedly-beethoven-s-music-often-verg_1050386.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/329/slavoj-i-ek-1738_beethoven_undoubtedly-beethoven-s-music-often-verg_1050386.png)

> “Undoubtedly \[Beethoven's\] music often verges on kitsch”

[Slavoj Žižek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/slavoj-i-ek/)

## About This Quote

This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation.

Beethoven’s compositions can border on sentimental excess, challenging high‑brow standards.

**In simple terms:** Even great music can feel overly sentimental.

Key Takeaway

Critically assess emotional depth.

Themes

music aesthetics culture

Mood

analytical critical

Type

philosophical scholarly

When to use this quote

- classical concerts
- music criticism
- educational curricula

Key Concepts

sentimentality high art

Questions to Reflect On

- What makes music feel kitschy?
- Do you value emotional honesty over sophistication?

A Different Perspective

Subjectivity may vary.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★   No ratings yet

[Beethoven](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/beethoven/) [Beethoven Music](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/beethoven-music-2507595/) [Kitsch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/kitsch/) [Music](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/music/) [Music Verges](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/music-verges-2507594/) [Song](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/song/) [Undoubtedly Beethoven](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/undoubtedly-beethoven-2507596/) [Verge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/verge/)

## Related quotes

> [Beethoven's music tends to move from chaos to order, as if order were an imperative of human existence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-barenboim/beethoven-s-music-tends-to-move-from-chaos-to-order-as-if-order-were/)

[Daniel Barenboim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-barenboim/)

> [If some of those people who wanted to ban Beethoven's music could hear the music that's being played today, wow, what would they do,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/smokey-robinson/if-some-of-those-people-who-wanted-to-ban-beethoven-s-music-could/)

[Smokey Robinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/smokey-robinson/)

> [The feelings that Beethoven put into his music were the feelings of a god. There was something olympian in his snarls and rages, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-l-mencken/the-feelings-that-beethoven-put-into-his-music-were-the-feelings-of-a/)

[H. L. Mencken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-l-mencken/)

> [Beethoven’s music always struck me. Always. He had this fire you know. I remember reading this story of him going deaf and pushing himself…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rodney-mullen/beethoven-s-music-always-struck-me-always-he-had-this-fire-you-know-i/)

[Rodney Mullen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rodney-mullen/)

> [The problem with kitsch is that it is all too profound, manipulating deep libidinal and ideological forces, while true art knows how to remain…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/slavoj-i-ek/the-problem-with-kitsch-is-that-it-is-all-too-profound-manipulating/)

[Slavoj Žižek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/slavoj-i-ek/)

> [Those who were still able to write beautiful melodies were kitsch composers like Tchaikovsky. Tchaikovsky approaches true art not in his numerous beautiful melodies,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/slavoj-i-ek/those-who-were-still-able-to-write-beautiful-melodies-were-kitsch/)

[Slavoj Žižek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/slavoj-i-ek/)

> [Modern art was born from a desire to destroy kitsch.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-scruton/modern-art-was-born-from-a-desire-to-destroy-kitsch/)

[Roger Scruton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-scruton/)

> [I did my homework and didn't go out much, and had a very highly developed kitsch fantasy life where I dreamed of being a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-mortimer/i-did-my-homework-and-didn-t-go-out-much-and-had-a-very-highly/)

[Emily Mortimer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-mortimer/)

> [The peasant finds no "natural" urgency within himself that will drive him toward Picasso in spite of all difficulties. In the end the peasant…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clement-greenberg/the-peasant-finds-no-natural-urgency-within-himself-that-will-drive/)

[Clement Greenberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clement-greenberg/)

> [If you speak of beauty, you are at once suspected of...kitsch.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/balthus/if-you-speak-of-beauty-you-are-at-once-suspected-of-kitsch/)

[Balthus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/balthus/)

> [Her kitsch was the image of home, all peace, quiet, and harmony, and ruled by a loving mother and a wise father. It was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/milan-kundera/her-kitsch-was-the-image-of-home-all-peace-quiet-and-harmony-and/)

[Milan Kundera](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/milan-kundera/)

> [Architectural kitsch is most common in the commercial pop vernacular - typified by the Big Duck of 1931 in Flanders, New York, a Long…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-filler/architectural-kitsch-is-most-common-in-the-commercial-pop-vernacular/)

[Martin Filler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-filler/)

> [If you can't take the kitsch, get out of the kitchen.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-jencks/if-you-can-t-take-the-kitsch-get-out-of-the-kitchen/)

[Charles Jencks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-jencks/)

> [Salvador Dali has been called kitsch, but, although some of this work may be grotesque, its brazenly self-conscious bad taste saves it from being…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/denis-dutton/salvador-dali-has-been-called-kitsch-but-although-some-of-this-work/)

[Denis Dutton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/denis-dutton/)

> [Kitsch of course only comes into existence when we recognize how and why it works.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-bayley/kitsch-of-course-only-comes-into-existence-when-we-recognize-how-and/)

[John Bayley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-bayley/)

## More by Slavoj Žižek

> [The ultimate goal of radical politics is gradually to displace the limit of social exclusions, empowering the excluded agents (sexual and ethnic minorities) by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/slavoj-i-ek/the-ultimate-goal-of-radical-politics-is-gradually-to-displace-the/)

[Slavoj Žižek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/slavoj-i-ek/)

> [“In Kant’s description, ethical duty functions like a foreign traumatic intruder that from the outside disturbs the subject’s homeostatic balance, its unbearable pressure forcing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/slavoj-i-ek/in-kant-s-description-ethical-duty-functions-like-a-foreign-traumatic/)

[Slavoj Žižek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/slavoj-i-ek/)

> [I think Kafka was right when he said that for a modern, secular, nonreligious man, state bureaucracy is the only remaining contact with the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/slavoj-i-ek/i-think-kafka-was-right-when-he-said-that-for-a-modern-secular/)

[Slavoj Žižek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/slavoj-i-ek/)

> [“The cliche about prison life is that I am actually integrated into it, ruined by it, when my accommodation to it is so overwhelming…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/slavoj-i-ek/the-cliche-about-prison-life-is-that-i-am-actually-integrated-into-it/)

[Slavoj Žižek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/slavoj-i-ek/)

> [“In our quest for entertainment and instant gratification, we have become detached from the real world and its problems, contributing to the erosion of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/slavoj-i-ek/in-our-quest-for-entertainment-and-instant-gratification-we-have/)

[Slavoj Žižek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/slavoj-i-ek/)

> [The problem for us is not are our desires satisfied or not. The problem is how do we know what we desire.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/slavoj-i-ek/the-problem-for-us-is-not-are-our-desires-satisfied-or-not-the/)

[Slavoj Žižek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/slavoj-i-ek/)

> [“Ultimately,we hear things because we cannot see everything.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/slavoj-i-ek/ultimately-we-hear-things-because-we-cannot-see-everything/)

[Slavoj Žižek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/slavoj-i-ek/)

> [“In contrast to the situation in 1945, the world does not need the US; it is the US that needs the rest of the world”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/slavoj-i-ek/in-contrast-to-the-situation-in-1945-the-world-does-not-need-the-us/)

[Slavoj Žižek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/slavoj-i-ek/)

> [Humanity is OK, but 99% of people are boring idiots.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/slavoj-i-ek/humanity-is-ok-but-99-of-people-are-boring-idiots/)

[Slavoj Žižek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/slavoj-i-ek/)

> [We need useless theory more than ever today.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/slavoj-i-ek/we-need-useless-theory-more-than-ever-today/)

[Slavoj Žižek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/slavoj-i-ek/)

> [Those who were still able to write beautiful melodies were kitsch composers like Tchaikovsky. Tchaikovsky approaches true art not in his numerous beautiful melodies,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/slavoj-i-ek/those-who-were-still-able-to-write-beautiful-melodies-were-kitsch/)

[Slavoj Žižek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/slavoj-i-ek/)

> [“as in Heinrich Heine’s (a contemporary of Kierkegaard’s) well-known saying that one should value above everything else ‘freedom, equality and crab soup’. ‘Crab soup’…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/slavoj-i-ek/as-in-heinrich-heine-s-a-contemporary-of-kierkegaard-s-well-known/)

[Slavoj Žižek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/slavoj-i-ek/)

> [“The “pursuit of happiness” is such a key element of the “American (ideological) dream” that one tends to forget the contingent origin of this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/slavoj-i-ek/the-pursuit-of-happiness-is-such-a-key-element-of-the-american/)

[Slavoj Žižek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/slavoj-i-ek/)

> [A spectre is haunting Western academia (...), the spectre of the Cartesian subject.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/slavoj-i-ek/a-spectre-is-haunting-western-academia-the-spectre-of-the-cartesian/)

[Slavoj Žižek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/slavoj-i-ek/)

> [“...A friend has to be outside my reach, beyond my grasp. And there can be no friendship with someone whom I am not ready…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/slavoj-i-ek/a-friend-has-to-be-outside-my-reach-beyond-my-grasp-and-there-can-be/)

[Slavoj Žižek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/slavoj-i-ek/)

[Explore all 206 Slavoj Žižek quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/slavoj-i-ek/)

## More Beethoven quotes

> [For me, musicians are poets. Beethoven describes himself as a poet of tones, just like Coltrane's a poet of tempo.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornel-west/for-me-musicians-are-poets-beethoven-describes-himself-as-a-poet-of/)

[Cornel West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornel-west/)

> [I believe so, but at first he must know. He must know in which spirit Beethoven has composed this piece. He must try to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kurt-masur/i-believe-so-but-at-first-he-must-know-he-must-know-in-which-spirit/)

[Kurt Masur](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kurt-masur/)

> [And now, in honour of the 150th anniversary of Beethoven's death, I would like to play 'Clear the Saloon', er, 'Clair de Lune', by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-borge/and-now-in-honour-of-the-150th-anniversary-of-beethoven-s-death-i/)

[Victor Borge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-borge/)

> [“That Beethoven was capable of producing the ultimate musical definition of heroism in this context is itself extraordinary, for he was able to evoke…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maynard-solomon/that-beethoven-was-capable-of-producing-the-ultimate-musical/)

[Maynard Solomon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maynard-solomon/)

> [“He had said it bravely, and that is why one can trust Beethoven when he says other things.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-m-forster-2/he-had-said-it-bravely-and-that-is-why-one-can-trust-beethoven-when/)

[E.M. Forster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-m-forster-2/)

> [The point of recapitulation in the first movement of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony unleashes one of the most horrifyingly violent episodes in the history of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-mcclary/the-point-of-recapitulation-in-the-first-movement-of-beethoven-s/)

[Susan McClary](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-mcclary/)

> [“You'll have a good, secure life when being alive means more to you than security, love more than money, your freedom more than public…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wilhelm-reich/you-ll-have-a-good-secure-life-when-being-alive-means-more-to-you/)

[Wilhelm Reich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wilhelm-reich/)

> [I shall never forget Juliek. How could I forget this concert given before an audience of the dead and dying? Even today, when I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elie-wiesel/i-shall-never-forget-juliek-how-could-i-forget-this-concert-given/)

[Elie Wiesel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elie-wiesel/)

> [“Did Beethoven create his symphonies for his glorification? I don't believe it. I believe he created them because the music in his soul demanded…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-somerset-maugham/did-beethoven-create-his-symphonies-for-his-glorification-i-don-t/)

[W. Somerset Maugham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-somerset-maugham/)

> [“On behalf of all that is good and melodic, Ludwig van Beethoven, I apologize.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-strohmeyer/on-behalf-of-all-that-is-good-and-melodic-ludwig-van-beethoven-i/)

[Sarah Strohmeyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-strohmeyer/)

> [Beethoven can't really be great because his picture isn't on a bubble gum card.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-m-schulz/beethoven-can-t-really-be-great-because-his-picture-isn-t-on-a-bubble/)

[Charles M. Schulz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-m-schulz/)

> [“I hope Ludwig van Beethoven gets his cut, Langdon thought, fairly certain that the original inventor of bone conduction technology was the eighteenth-century composer…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-brown/i-hope-ludwig-van-beethoven-gets-his-cut-langdon-thought-fairly/)

[Dan Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-brown/)

> [“A deaf composer's like a cook who's lost his sense of taste. A frog that's lost its webbed feet. A truck driver with his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/a-deaf-composer-s-like-a-cook-who-s-lost-his-sense-of-taste-a-frog/)

[Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/)

> [Pulse as an active means of expression, Stravinsky and Beethoven are the two masters of that.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/esa-pekka-salonen/pulse-as-an-active-means-of-expression-stravinsky-and-beethoven-are/)

[Esa-Pekka Salonen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/esa-pekka-salonen/)

> [I think there are very few people that I would give the title of genius to, really, but Beethoven unquestionably is one of them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-hough/i-think-there-are-very-few-people-that-i-would-give-the-title-of/)

[Stephen Hough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-hough/)

[Browse all 240 Beethoven quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/beethoven/)

```json
{
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@graph": [
        {
            "@type": "Quotation",
            "text": "Undoubtedly [Beethoven's] music often verges on kitsch",
            "creator": {
                "@type": "Person",
                "name": "Slavoj Žižek"
            },
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/slavoj-i-ek/undoubtedly-beethoven-s-music-often-verges-on-kitsch/",
            "about": {
                "@type": "Thing",
                "name": "Beethoven"
            },
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/slavoj-i-ek/undoubtedly-beethoven-s-music-often-verges-on-kitsch/#quotation",
            "image": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/329/slavoj-i-ek-1738_beethoven_undoubtedly-beethoven-s-music-often-verg_1050386.png",
                "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/329/slavoj-i-ek-1738_beethoven_undoubtedly-beethoven-s-music-often-verg_1050386.png",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/329/slavoj-i-ek-1738_beethoven_undoubtedly-beethoven-s-music-often-verg_1050386.png",
                "width": 1080,
                "height": 1080,
                "caption": "“Undoubtedly [Beethoven's] music often verges on kitsch” — Slavoj Žižek",
                "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
                "creator": {
                    "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
                }
            }
        },
        {
            "@type": "BreadcrumbList",
            "itemListElement": [
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 1,
                    "name": "Home",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 2,
                    "name": "Quotes",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 3,
                    "name": "Slavoj Žižek",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/slavoj-i-ek/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 4,
                    "name": "Undoubtedly [Beethoven's] music often verges on...",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/slavoj-i-ek/undoubtedly-beethoven-s-music-often-verges-on-kitsch/"
                }
            ],
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/slavoj-i-ek/undoubtedly-beethoven-s-music-often-verges-on-kitsch/#breadcrumb"
        },
        {
            "@type": "WebSite",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website",
            "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/",
            "publisher": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
            }
        },
        {
            "@type": "Organization",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization",
            "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/",
            "logo": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png",
                "width": 512,
                "height": 512
            }
        }
    ]
}
```