[Borges]

Whenever I hear that music of the angels metaphor I most often hear it applied to Mozart. Beethoven’s music was quite earthy actually - angsty and, in his later period, quite esoteric. It’s hard to call something like the Grosse Fugue, great as it is, music of the angels. Or the vulgar ‘Ode to Joy’ theme which sounds like nothing so much as a German Beer Hall tune. What he does with it is great but the tune itself is very common. Leonard Bernstein used to mock it all the time. Beethoven wasn’t really a melodist.

[IronJack]

the vulgar ‘Ode to Joy’ theme

Wow. The most sublime choral arrangement ever written is "vulgar" and a "beer-hall tune." Your aesthetic needs some severe tuning. Or maybe you've recently received a blow to the head?

Leonard Bernstein used to mock it all the time.

Leonard Bernstein was a tin-eared hack who wasn't fit to copy Beethoven's liner notes. His opinion of the Maestro's music is about as meaningful to me as Michael Moore's.

Beethoven wasn’t really a melodist.

See above comment on your aesthetic. Or maybe you just need new hearing aid batteries.

[dfwgator]

Beethoven’s music was quite earthy actually

"Tell your ma....tell your pa...gonna send you back to Arkansas..."