Portrait of Ludwig van Beethoven by Joseph Karl Stieler
(1820) Wikimedia Commons
OK, so, he was no Tom Waits, but still, credit where credit is due. The man made some music, as my piano teachers felt compelled to remind me whenever I groused that I wanted to play some modern rock ’n’ roll, not some dead old German dude.
The New York Times has a sampler here.
Tags: Ludwig van Beethoven
Mad Blog Media 
December 17, 2020 at 8:35 am |
Eroica, Symphony #5, and Ode to Joy! Simply magnificent! 🙂
December 17, 2020 at 8:40 am |
And the “Moonlight Sonata.” I think that one has gotten dropped on every piano student since the ink dried on Ludwig van’s score.
December 17, 2020 at 9:36 pm |
Of course, all nine symphonies ain’t bad.
December 17, 2020 at 8:44 am |
He’s no Tom Waits? WTFO? I guess Waits is like double IPA. I just don’t understand either one.
December 17, 2020 at 8:58 am |
Philistine. Here’s one of my favorite Waits tearjerkers. I scored this album in Tucson back in 1980, if memory serves. Patty Griffin does a good cover of this one.
December 17, 2020 at 9:17 am |
The song? Si. Patty Griffin’s cover? Muy bien.
December 17, 2020 at 11:15 am |
I remember reading an article about his role in what passed for the music industry back then. Before Beethoven classical music was performed and then pretty much forgotten unless the composer “recycled” it like JS Bach did with his cantatas. Beethoven’s stuff was so memorable, so earth-shattering, that his work was performed over and over all over Europe. Even his one-offs were amazing. He only composed one violin concerto (compared to Vivaldi’s I-don’t-know-how-many), but that’s one of the main benchmarks for violinists with pretensions to glory. That’s why we all can whistle the opening bars to his Fifth Symphony, and if you ask about Bach’s Cantatas, the response is “what’s a cantata”?
December 17, 2020 at 11:25 am |
I suspect Ludwig had a jubilant side as well. I can imagine him rocking out to Freddie Mercury’s Bohemian Rhapsody a la Wayne’s World. You know, Ludwig in the backseat of the Pacer singing “Scaramouche, Scaramouche, will you do the Fandango?”
December 17, 2020 at 12:22 pm |
Da da da daah…
Even got a mention from Chuck Berry so must be a great.
December 17, 2020 at 2:04 pm |
Did he ever tell Tchaikovsky the news?
December 17, 2020 at 2:38 pm |
If Ludwig was a guitar player he would’ve had a red Gibson 345 or 355 and played it through a Fender Twin Reverb amp.
December 17, 2020 at 2:51 pm |
Yeah, but could ol’ Ludwig van duck-walk like Chuck?
December 17, 2020 at 12:26 pm |
Here’s an interesting documentary on how Ludwig influenced modern music https://youtu.be/il4N9v92T50
December 17, 2020 at 12:30 pm |
This one too https://youtu.be/Ls5XWu4PhSs
December 17, 2020 at 9:38 pm |
December 17, 2020 at 9:45 pm |
I have the 1963 Berlin Philharmonic/Karajan Nine Symphonies set and another complete set from circa 1980 on DG. yeah, I love the stuff.
December 18, 2020 at 6:49 am |
I have the “Eroica” (David Zinman and Tonhalle Orchester Zürich); Piano Concerto No. 5 (Rudolf Serkin, Seiji Ozawa, Boston Symphony Orchestra); Symphonies 5 and 7 (Vienna Philharmonic and Carlos Kleiber); and of course the Ninth (Berlin Philharmonic, Herbert von Karajan).
There’s a bunch of Bach and Mozart around here too, some Samuel Barber, and like that there. Sundays are reserved for classical in these parts. And generally weekday mornings (“Performance Today” on KUNM).
December 18, 2020 at 8:20 pm |
Call me a Philistine, but I couldn’t care less about Ludwig.
However, Frank Zappa’s birthday is Monday and THAT’S something to celebrate!
December 19, 2020 at 6:11 am |
Meet ya down at Joe’s Garage.