The Beethoven Enneagram

Written and Performed by

Elizabeth Wagele

Beethoven Enneagram book

*Also read the essay, Beethoven's Personality and Music: The Introverted Romantic - NEW on this web site!

Order the "Beethoven Enneagram" CD and listen to some of the example mentioned in the article from

Credence Communications

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"The Beethoven Enneagram" CD can also be purchased from Black Oak Books in Berkeley CA.

ELIZABETH WAGELE, author of The Enneagram of Parenting, The Happy Introvert, and co-author of Are You My Type, Am I Yours? and The Enneagram made Easy, discusses and demonstrates the Enneagram with illustrations from Beethoven's life and excerpts from Beethoven's piano sonatas. This unique CD joins Elizabeth's graceful words with her sterling performances of Beethoven's music. Here is an experience that will expand your understanding of both Beethoven and the Enneagram.

While you may be familiar with Elizabeth as an author, columnist, and cartoonist, she has also spent her life as a serious student and teacher of classical piano. With the assistance of PostMasters' producers Ellen Chait Olhsson and master engineer Bob Olhsson, she has created an audiophile-quality listening experience: a rare combination of ideas and music, a joy for the ear as well as the mind.

Elizabeth briefly explains the ancient Enneagram system and also looks at Beethoven's life and personality in the introduction. This is followed by a discussion and musical demonstration of each of the types. Elizabeth explores the different issues for each type and performs music from Beethoven's sonatas to illustrate these experiences. It is rewarding to find a broad enough range of emotions within Beethoven's piano repertoire to demonstrate the moods and styles of all nine Enneagram personality types. You easily will hear how the music matches both the general feelings and particular traits of each type.

Elizabeth also suggests ways, musical and emotional, to use the Enneagram for growth. Whether you are an Enneagram student or teacher, or a music fan with no knowledge of the Enneagram, you will find this unusual performance will expand your understanding of the music and the musician. You will understand more about Beethoven, the Enneagram, and yourself.

Events, appearances, and programs.

Download a RealAudio file of the entire selection, complete with music.

Here is the text of Elizabeth Wagele's discussion of Type 7.

The Seven, or "Adventurer"
Some of us spend our lives searching for pleasure and new experiences. The goal of this seventh type is to avoid the darker feelings that fueled Beethoven's creativity, such as suffering and loneliness.
Beethoven himself had the Seven-ish trait of liking to play pranks on people. Wit, humor, and lightheartedness, the Adventurer's defenses, appear often in his music.
Here's a Sonata where Beethoven clowns around. It starts out with a motive that says 'look at me!' (demonstrated by excerpts from Op 2 #2, 1st movement) ...followed by a silly run (demonstrated). After a descending broken chord (demonstrated), it scoots off in another direction, which is typical of an Adventurer (the whole selection from Op 2 #2, 1st movement).
Adventurers like to stay on top and live on the edge. Some love to chase and be chased (demonstrated by an excerpt from the first movement of Beethoven's Op 31 #1).
The virtue for Adventurers is sobriety. Since we don't learn how to deal with yearning and accept suffering and disappointment overnight, this sonata, that combines lightness and seriousness, is a good place to start. It begins in a melancholy way with a longing bell-like motive (demonstrated).The mood changes to playful...(demonstrated) and back again. Moods and themes jump all over the keyboard. The virtue of sobriety has more appeal to the Seven when it alternates with playfulness, as this sonata does.
While this sonata is a masterpiece, the goal of real live Adventurers is to be able to sustain sobriety and concentration for more than a few measures at a time. (Op 31 #3, first mvt)

Cartoon of Beethoven

		The Seven, or "Adventurer" Some of us spend our lives searching for pleasure and new experiences. The goal of this seventh type is to avoid the darker feelings that fueled Beethoven's creativity, such as suffering and loneliness. Beethoven himself had the Seven-ish trait of liking to play pranks on people. Wit, humor, and lightheartedness, the Adventurer's defenses, appear often in his music. Here's a Sonata where Beethoven clowns around. It starts out with a motive that says 'look at me!' (demonstrated by excerpts from Op 2 #2, 1st movement) ...followed by a silly run (demonstrated). After a descending broken chord (demonstrated), it scoots off in another direction, which is typical of an Adventurer (the whole selection from Op 2 #2, 1st movement). Adventurers like to stay on top and live on the edge. Some love to chase and be chased (demonstrated by an excerpt from the first movement of Beethoven's Op 31 #1). The virtue for Adventurers is sobriety. Since we don't learn how to deal with yearning and accept suffering and disappointment overnight, this sonata, that combines lightness and seriousness, is a good place to start. It begins in a melancholy way with a longing bell-like motive (demonstrated).The mood changes to playful...(demonstrated) and back again. Moods and themes jump all over the keyboard. The virtue of sobriety has more appeal to the Seven when it alternates with playfulness, as this sonata does. While this sonata is a masterpiece, the goal of real live Adventurers is to be able to sustain sobriety and concentration for more than a few measures at a time. (Op 31 #3, first mvt)

The year is 1824 and it is a beautiful morning in Vienna. As you walk down the street on your way to the corner market, you see ahead a somewhat undersized and awkwardly built man with broad shoulders walking toward you, head down, carrying a writing journal under his arm. He is a bit disheveled, his clothes rather shabby and his general appearance a little scary. Just as you take a step to cross the street to avoid this character, he lifts his head and you see his face. With his dark complexion, bushy eyebrows, pockmarked skin, misshapen facial features, and frowning countenance, he looks unhappy and distant. Instantly you recognize this man and continue past him...

Read the entire review here.

Ed Jacobs
Enneagram Monthly

The Enneagram suggests there are more ways of knowing than through the left side of our brain. With a few explanations to keep the left side happy, Elizabeth Wagele's CD "The Beethoven Enneagram" offers some delightful sensorial and musical insights into the nine Enneagram styles via the right side of our brain. I enjoyed both her presentation and her playing.

Jerry Wagner

Music, of course, also reflects type. In her splendid CD, Elizabeth combines the world of type with the music of Beethoven in an interesting and compelling way. I suggest you explore her CD for yourself. At the very least you will find enjoyment in her work!

David N. Daniels, M.D

My own belief in the alliance of pleasure and learning was refreshed and strengthened when I obtained a copy of Elizabeth Wagele's Beethoven Enneagram.
Only a few teaching aids exist that develop and explain the non-verbal aspects of the enneagram style. This is a marvelous teaching tool because it helps those who do not learn best through concepts and words.

Read the entire review here.

Clarence Thompson
Enneagram Central

Just wanted to let you know that the Beethoven CD arrived today, and I've just had the pleasure of listening to it. I agree... that it's a great teaching tool, as well as being simply a lot of fun. What a gifted pianist you are!
I can see the possibility of using your wonderful CD as part of an Enneagram class for actors.

Judith Searle

The stirring notes of Beethoven's profoundly beautiful passages and the profound truths expressed through the Enneagram are a perfect match. The utterly charming performance by Liz Wagele makes learning about both a pleasure.
The Enneagram is to the field of psychology and understanding personality what Beethoven was to music--innovative, substantive, and designed to withstand time. Liz brings new life and personality to Beethoven's music with helpful and charming thumbnail sketches of each of the Enneagram types.

Andrea Isaacs and Jack Labanauskas
Enneagram Monthly

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