Beethoven Was a Narcissistic Hooligan

Guardian ^ | 6/7/2005 | Dylan Evans

[justshutupandtakeit]

One look at that sheet music will demonstrate its incredible complexity.

[Cinnamon Girl]

No.

[b-cubed]

Audience: "Hey Beethoven yer a narcissistic hooligan"
Beethoven: "what???"

Tht one got me!!!!!

[justshutupandtakeit]

If you are a Beethoven lover buy yourself a copy since it can take years to read being filled with footnotes and musical examples. But it is the definitive biography of Beethoven. An amazing work about an amazing man.

[Aquinasfan]

The best music today comes from the private sector, i.e. FILM SCORES.

My favorite classical (?) piece is the theme from "The Magnificent Seven." Call me a heathen.

OK, Beethoven's 9th and the Moonlight Sonata come close. And don't forget "Flight of the Bumblebee" and "The William Tell Overture." (Just kidding).

[Republicanprofessor]

Okay, here's the ping list. This is a test. If you are not on it, let me know.

I will be away for some time this summer, so I will let sitetest and/or borges know so that they can activate the ping list when necessary. It's always good when a couple of people have the list.

[Borges]

The Maynard Solomon bio gets all the publicity. Have you read that one?

[reformed_democrat]

. . . don't forget "Flight of the Bumblebee" and "The William Tell Overture."

A long time ago I read that a truly cultured individual was one who could hear The William Tell Overture and not think of The Lone Ranger.

I suppose I will never achieve true culturedness.

[Finny]

I will admit that as I've gotten older, I've found Mozart a little more to my liking. Don't get me wrong, it's not that I disliked his music. But in symphony orchestras (just youth symphonies, nothing serious) and on keyboard (again, just simple stuff, not the hairy stuff that you as a much more accomplished player know), the emotional egagement of Mozart was ho-hum, frivolous, and shallow -- I remember so well during rehearsals and concerts thinking this when our program included Mozart. Beethoven, on the other hand, was engaging, it moved all of us in the orchestra and bound us together as players -- a journey. It's entirely possible that Mozart's more sophisticated works were beyond our capabilities and so we didn't play them, though even what I've listened to over the years in the ways of Mozart, has rarely thrilled me, with a few exceptions (sorry, can't recall the titles).

Bach remains my favorite. Our elementary and high school orchestra (same teacher & players throughout) was small but intense, most us beginning at tender years with the Suzuki method and growing up together. Thus our teacher had us playing mostly Baroque music, lots of Bach, Telleman, Vivaldi, etc. We were pretty accomplished in this regard, and toured the state a few times.

As for keyboard, this may not sound like much to you, as it's probably child's play (it was in Bach's time!), but I learned six of the 15 two-part inventions, and someday hope to learn all of them. Bach does something to me, always has. The music is so perfectly mathematical yet so extraordinarily spiritual, indicating to me a connection between math and God.

[Aquinasfan]

I suppose I will never achieve true culturedness.

Me either. But if they're looking for a way to torture prisoners at Gitmo, they should try one of those. I can't take more than a few minutes of either.

[Diva Betsy Ross]

I always say that Beethoven's 9th is proof to me that God exists. I would be full of myself if I was Mr. B as well!His was a talent directly from God, IMO.

[Republicanprofessor]

"A long time ago I read that a truly cultured individual was one who could hear The William Tell Overture and not think of The Lone Ranger."

I think those "cultured" individuals must have been born before 1950 or after 1970 (or whenever they wouldn't have seen the Lone Ranger on TV). That sure counts me out.

Now, me, I'd settle for a cultured individual being one who knows how to put titles in italics (you pass). (Using HTML makes this titles in italics even tougher....I don't think the test can count with HTML.) All people on this thread seem to know what they are talking about. Except perhaps the bozo who wrote the article that started it all.

[Billthedrill]

An astonishing letter. Thanks for sharing that - it's said that when he finished the direction of his 9th Symphony they had to gently turn him so that he could see the audience applauding. Frankly I'm surprised he didn't kill himself as the deafness progressed.

[Pyro7480]

The music is so perfectly mathematical yet so extraordinarily spiritual, indicating to me a connection between math and God.

Mathematical Signatures in Nature: A Sign of Design?
Fibonacci Numbers and the Golden Section

[GaltMeister]

Here's some Hammerklavier links for you. Here's one on Amazon, Alfred Brendel on the ivories: Brendel Link

LvB's complete piano works, CD, printable sheet music: Sheet Music Link

Enjoy!

[investigateworld]

Hey Snoop Dog bes numba one!
(jest kidding)

[Borges]

Have you ever heard the William Tell Overture in its entirety? I mean with the Dawn, Dusk and Storm and Morning sequences not just the march at Noon that comes at the end. It's a wonderful piece of tone painting. And the Flight oc the Bumblee isn't any longer then a few minutes.

[sitetest]

Dear Republicanprofessor,

"...so I will let sitetest and/or borges know so that they can activate the ping list when necessary."

I guess I deserve that, as I'm an instigator. ;-)

I'm willing to help out.


sitetest

[Cinnamon Girl]

My favorite scene is when Beethoven tries out the Italian girl's piano and has to put his head on the case in order to hear himself playing "Moonlight Sonata." And you know what happens next. I could watch that scene over and over.

[Borges]

I like how they have Solti and a 100 piece orchestra blasting away on the soundtrack when the actual orchestra on screen is of much smaller forces. The original theaterical cut of amadeus remains one of the best films ever made about music.