Shiho Fukada for The New York Times
Posted on 10/13/2005 4:11:50 AM PDT by Pharmboy
Shiho Fukada for The New York Times
The recently discovered manuscript for Beethoven's "Grosse Fuge."
Heather Carbo, a matter-of-fact librarian at an evangelical seminary outside Philadelphia, was cleaning out an archival cabinet one hot afternoon in July. It was a dirty and routine job. But there, on the bottom shelf, she stumbled across what may be one of the most important musicological finds in years.
It was a working manuscript score for a piano version of Beethoven's "Grosse Fuge," a monument of classical music. And it was in the composer's own hand, according to Sotheby's auction house. The 80-page manuscript in mainly brown ink - a furious scattering of notes across the page, with many changes and cross-outs, some so deep that the paper is punctured - dates from the final months of Beethoven's life.
The score had effectively disappeared from view for 115 years, apparently never examined by scholars. It goes on display today, just for the afternoon, at the school, the Palmer Theological Seminary in Wynnewood, Pa.
"It was just sitting on that shelf," Ms. Carbo said. "I was just in a state of shock."
Like Ms. Carbo, musicologists sounded stunned when read a description of the manuscript by Sotheby's, which will auction it on Dec. 1 in London. "Wow! Oh my God!" said Lewis Lockwood, a musicology professor at Harvard University and a Beethoven biographer. "This is big. This is very big."
Indeed it is.
Any manuscript showing a composer's self-editing gives invaluable insight into his working methods, and this is a particularly rich example. Such second thoughts are particularly revealing in the case of Beethoven, who, never satisfied, honed his ideas brutally - unlike, say, Mozart, who was typically able to spill out a large score in nearly finished form.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
The 5th is good too :-)
Have ever you heard the Brahms 3rd and 4th symphonies? There's a not a shred of muddiness in them. The finale of the 4th is spine tingling. Simply beyond compare. And the violin concerto and 2nd piano concerto may be the best in their genre of the 19th century. He's survived all manner of fashion taste and will continue to endure.
Ludwig Van Ping. :-)
Interesting.
None of which is its fault. :-) It's the perfect example of the Heroic aesthetic of Beethoven's middle period. It should be perormed with brisker tempors then its often given. the Andate especially which is one of the great slow movements in all of Beethoven.
Wow so many typos in that post. Sorry!
Well gee whiz. Who could argue with logic like that? LOL
I agree with everything you said. I also think the second movements of both the Third and Seventh Symphonies are often performed much too slowly, taking much of the natural phrasing out of them.
But I AM tired of being disappointed by poorly interpreted Beethoven, especially the Fifth.
Never could get past the first one or two hearings of his symphonies, but I must admit that his violin concerto is pretty good (but then again, I even like Tschaikovsky's violin concerto!).
I will look for the symphonies you mention only because I have so much faith in Freepers...
Why the sheepish admission of liking of the Tchiakovsky? It's also great. He and Brahms are the two greatest composers of their generation.
I should note that Haydn did work out everything at the keyboard though.
A music loving friend of mine put it this way: if Mozart was all talent and no genius...he'd be Haydn.
I can't say that I'm familiar with a Gino's Pizza ad. It's hard to not associate it with the Lone Ranger though. :-)
During high school, I was obsessed with Shostakovich's 5th Symphony. Listened to it all the time, and even used it as a (sometime) successful background to putting the moves on a female. I bought the CD a few years back (same recording by Bernstein) and halfway through it I found myself laughing out loud: it sounded so, well, silly. That piece did NOT stand up to time. Tchaik's stuff does better.
Your friend is very clever.
( :-D
Thank you!
Will do!
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