Rock singer, punk poet, activist and Beethoven admirer Patti Smith receives the International Beethoven Prize 2020.
The International Beethoven Prize goes to the American Patti Smith. The punk and rock singer, writer and activist has been advocating human rights, peace, freedom, poverty reduction, inclusion and climate protection for decades. The prize, which was launched in 2015 by the Beethoven Academy and is endowed with 10,000 euros, is being awarded for the sixth time.
She is considered the “Godmother of Punk”: Born in Chicago in 1946, Patti Smith made her way into the rock scene, which was then heavily dominated by men, and became an icon of the new women’s movement. Her debut album “Horses” was released in 1975 and is still considered one of the most influential rock albums in music history. But she’s not just a musician: Photography, painting, and a great passion for poetry make Patti Smith a versatile artist, a “punk poet”.
Beethoven Prize for permanent social commitment
However, she does not receive the Beethoven Prize for artistic achievements, but for her long-term social and political commitment: she gave and gives countless benefit and protest concerts – and the like. a. for the victims of AIDS, for the democracy movement in the USA, in the election campaign for democratic and green candidates. She wrote numerous protest songs, demonstrated against wars and US foreign policy. This year she signed the “Beethoven Declaration”, a declaration of intent in which her work is in the service of an environmentally friendly society.
Beethoven as a role model
“It is important, especially in the anniversary year, to award a non-classical artist with the Beethoven Prize,” explains Torsten Schreiber, one of the initiators of the prize. “This broadens the view: Patti Smith’s fans are made aware of Beethoven and classical music fans can in turn see what Beethoven means for non-classical musicians.” Because Smith is not just a punk rock icon, she is also a thorough admirer of Beethoven.
She is very moved and is honored to receive the Beethoven Prize, says Schreiber, who had spoken to the singer on the phone shortly before. Beethoven was not only her husband’s favorite composer, guitarist Fred Smith. His passion for composing has always been a role model for her own musical work. The seventh symphony is her favorite work.
The award ceremony is to take place on June 7, 2021 as part of the “Lieder.Freude.Mithaben” festival on the Grafenwerth island in Bad Honnef.
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