にしてはじめて? need help with a sentence

Japanese Language Grammar
1

I’m trying to figure out how to use にして currently but am having trouble. I am confused as to what the はじめて is doing in this sentence:

この曲はベートーベンのような天才にしてはじめて書ける作品だ。

my guess is:

This song could only have been written by a genius like Beethoven.

Which is ignoring the hajimete part. lol

2

Bold guess:
はじめて書くMeans to compose, rather than just write. “to write for the first time”
Anyone can copy and 書くa masterpiece that has already been composed.

1 Like
3

Or, because the Japanese sentence ends with 作品, maybe:

This is a work that could only have been written by a genius like Beethoven.

?

4

I think, in line with what Heiopei said, this is the “originate” meaning of はじめる, or “was first written” as in “The song was first/originally written by a love struck courtesan”

This is just a guess though

5

normally the て-Form of a Verb + はじめて means something like “only after” or “not until”. My guess the sentence means something along the lines of: “This song is a work that could only be written after becoming a genius like Beethoven.”

6

Jgram has two sentences that use にしてはじめて. It seems はじめて essentially just reinforces the にして part. Source: Takoboto | Japanese Grammar nishite 〜にして

7

Thanks, that is what I seem to be finding too.

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