Give the man a chance and he'll happily be a monkey. So says me.. today a wiser fool... To mock the Big Bee - nd I don't mean our Bacchan, was a foolhardy act. He trashed me with Egmonte. Then showed me the way with King Stephen's. Played with my spirits, soaring them at times.. higher and higher, as in above - the famous 5th Symphony motif and boy did I fly.
I've just scratched the surface of the great master's works yet. Mostly overtures. Many a times impatient with his softer more rythmic pieces 'Leonore's ' for instance, he always manages to reignite the passions with more vivid, more exultant and far more heroic compositions - ofcourse the 5th comes to the mind.
To be honest though, many of them did leave me unmoved.. Leonore, Creatures of Prometheous and some of them awoked interest only in parts - The ruins of athens for instance.
Finally its also a happy coincidence that one of the first beautiful melodies I learnt on Guitar - Ode to joy , is part of Beethoven's 9th symphony. Having played it, now listening to it as I write this I feel the joy that the original poem by Scheiller that Beethoven set to music evokes. Peom's the part of Symphony in vocals. Its in German, but an interesting part of it goes like this (starts with joy as daughter of Elysium etc etc.. but this part is more interesting to me) (by the way this piece of music is now European national anthem) :
May he who has had the fortune
To gain a true friend
And he who has won a noble wife
Join in our jubilation!
Yes, even if he calls but one soul
His own in all the world.
But he who has failed in this
Must steal away alone and in tears.
Some interesting tit bits about big Bee
Went deaf in late 20s.
Composed 9 symphonies ~ by contrast Motzart and Schubert combined composed 150!
Was impetous and did not like to eat with servants in Princes court, would at times throw dishes and break plates in distress at this insult ( Musicians, even composers like Beethoven were of category equal to servants)
Was great great believer in personal freedom and liberty
His 9th Symphony first concert received 5 standing ovations. Even imperial couples would receive only 3 during their apperances, and hence police broke the ovations as this was considered disrespectful!
As expected he lived a heroic, larger then life, but a troubled existance !
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