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The story behind Beethoven's “Ode to Joy”

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11–20 of 55 posts

Re: The story behind Beethoven's “Ode to Joy”

#11
post #2

Nothing any of us do today will exist in 500 years, but I suspect Beethoven's Ninth will continue to inspire.

For comparison, the 500th anniversary of Jean d'Okeghem's death was commemorated in 1997, and there is small but significant scholarly and performance community active today which are devoted to his works. Although there is no unbroken tradition of performance for Okeghem's music, we would like to think that we are his heirs in some way. There was a particular touching anecdote relayed by Fabrice Fitch that on the very evening of the Okeghem anniversary after the conference, he gathered with a few fellow musicologists, and, using a photocopier as a lectern, sang the 16th century lament "Ergone conticuit" written in remembrance of Okeghem.

Similarly, the 500th anniversary of Josquin des Prez, a much bigger star, was celebrated last year via numerous CD releases, journal papers, and concerts. Josquin is so famous that even though he may have been neglected for 100-200 years he may well be considered part of the enlarged classical canon today. In fact Robert Levin in a lecture explicitly mentioned Josquin when he asked the very same question about Beethoven. Going by these examples, it seems likely that Beethoven will endure.

Re: The story behind Beethoven's “Ode to Joy”

#12
post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think a name like Einstein will stick around though. It's too embedded in the public consciousness to disappear, and his breakthroughs are too big to forget.

Most people don't understand special relativity, much less general (or the photoelectric effect) so it's not at all a given that Einstein will remain a household name. Nowadays "Hitler" is the default bad guy but before him it was "Napoleon" in much of Europe, and before that "Pharaoh". I'm pretty sure the same will happen to $DEFAULT_SMART_GUY

We (collectively) remember Newton, even if the average person doesn't understand gravity beyond "keeps us on the ground" or calculus. We can go back thousands of years and we still remember Pythagoras.

Einstein's association with nuclear energy will be what keeps his memory alive.

Re: The story behind Beethoven's “Ode to Joy”

#14
if you are someone with very little musical knowledge but have a mild interest in Beethoven, I highly recommend the Wondrium (was: "Great Courses") class on him[0], by Prof. Greenberg (also available on Audible).

And basically all other classes by the same author too, they're fun, educational, and you can feel the passion coming through and get to you.

[0] https://www.thegreatcourses.com/courses/great-masters-beetho...

Re: The story behind Beethoven's “Ode to Joy”

#15
post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think a name like Einstein will stick around though. It's too embedded in the public consciousness to disappear, and his breakthroughs are too big to forget.

Most people don't understand special relativity, much less general (or the photoelectric effect) so it's not at all a given that Einstein will remain a household name. Nowadays "Hitler" is the default bad guy but before him it was "Napoleon" in much of Europe, and before that "Pharaoh". I'm pretty sure the same will happen to $DEFAULT_SMART_GUY

> Most people don't understand special relativity,

but most people recognize the formula E=MC^2 even if they don't know what it means, and can tell you the name of the dude sticking out his tongue in a picture.

Understanding someone's work is orthogonal to them being well known.

Re: The story behind Beethoven's “Ode to Joy”

#16
My favorite musical composition story is Beethoven's Fur Elise. He started writing the song for his student, whom he was in love with. She wasn't very good, so the song was easy.

Then he found out she got engaged, and he made the rest of the song super difficult so she could never play it.

You can listen to the song and hear when his heart breaks: https://youtu.be/CQIDLhBJ2y4

Re: The story behind Beethoven's “Ode to Joy”

#17
post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think a name like Einstein will stick around though. It's too embedded in the public consciousness to disappear, and his breakthroughs are too big to forget.

Most people don't understand special relativity, much less general (or the photoelectric effect) so it's not at all a given that Einstein will remain a household name. Nowadays "Hitler" is the default bad guy but before him it was "Napoleon" in much of Europe, and before that "Pharaoh". I'm pretty sure the same will happen to $DEFAULT_SMART_GUY

[deleted]

Re: The story behind Beethoven's “Ode to Joy”

#19
post #16

My favorite musical composition story is Beethoven's Fur Elise. He started writing the song for his student, whom he was in love with. She wasn't very good, so the song was easy. Then he found out she got engaged, and he made the rest of the song super difficult so she could never play it. You can listen to the song and hear when his heart breaks: https://youtu.be/CQIDLhBJ2y4

I'm not sure there's enough evidence for this theory, but it does sound amusing

Re: The story behind Beethoven's “Ode to Joy”

#20
post #16

My favorite musical composition story is Beethoven's Fur Elise. He started writing the song for his student, whom he was in love with. She wasn't very good, so the song was easy. Then he found out she got engaged, and he made the rest of the song super difficult so she could never play it. You can listen to the song and hear when his heart breaks: https://youtu.be/CQIDLhBJ2y4

I'm not sure there's enough evidence for this theory, but it does sound amusing

[deleted]
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