It is significant that he wrote no opera, and Beethoven only one. Both
composers probably regarded the opera as being less important
artistically than the other great forms in which music is embodied.
In operatic composition, as we have seen, the musicians of those times
were too apt to write down to their public. No such temptation came to
them in their religious works, as no income was expected from this
source. Here the composer could be independent of his public, so this
branch of the art was developed to a much greater degree than the other.
A high standard was thus reached and maintained in religious music.
Beethoven by temperament was not adapted to operatic composition. He was
too much the philosopher, his aims being higher than were desired by an
operatic audience of that time. He could best express himself in
orchestral music, and his genius drew him irresistibly in this
direction. This predilection appears throughout his works. In his purely
orchestral compositions, his genius has absolute freedom. When he came
to opera he found himself constantly hampered by new and untried
conditions.
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