Unpopular Opinions

[Florestan]

Plus in any case the English "beech" IS cognate with Latin "fagus". https://www.etymonline.com/word/beech#etymonline_v_8232

If you understand how a g becomes a k (extremely closely related sounds) and how a k then becomes a ch, then yes there's a resemblance.

That's what I was alluding to, plus a "b" softening to a "f". 

Hat off to you! 

[Madiel]

Repeating because you probably missed this edit: many languages have a word for honey related to the English word "mead".

And Danish "sky" is not a translation. That is the actual word. It means "cloud". You can understand how the northern English got confused when they borrowed it. The more usual Germanic word for sky is related to "heaven".

[Madiel]

That's what I was alluding to, plus a "b" softening to a "f". 

Hat off to you! 

It's the other way around. F turning into B. I believe it's part of Grimm's Law.

[Florestan]

Repeating because you probably missed this edit: many languages have a word for honey related to the English word "mead".

Yes. Romanian for "mead" is "mied". But --- Romanian for "honey" is "miere", related to French, Spanish and Italian "miel".

And Danish "sky" is not a translation. That is the actual word. It means "cloud".

Am I right in supposing that it is ;pronounced approximately like the English "shew"?

[Florestan]

It's the other way around. F turning into B. I believe it's part of Grimm's Law.

Yes, might be that.

[Madiel]

Am I right in supposing that it is ;pronounced approximately like the English "shew"?

I'd have to actually use that English word in order to tell you.

But if you're asking whether the "y" is somewhat like the "ew" in English words, which is basically one of our "u" sounds, then close enough.

https://forvo.com/word/sky/

[Jo498]

The so-called Grimm's law (interestingly usually not called by that name in German...) was a shift that marked a departure of the Germanic branch from others. Prominent and easy examples are k/c -> h (kyon, canis -> hound/hund), p -> f (pater - father/vater), not quite as easy kw -> w (->f) as in the pronouns "quo wo" or numbers quattuor -> vier, quinque -> fünf. (And the latin qu is a p or t in greek tettera 4, pente 5, pou - quo tis - quis (the kw seems the older one in some words, though, I have seen "ekwos "as PIE for "horse") One takes such differences and the rules for the changes and projects them into the past. Again we have almost 3 millenia of changes documented reasonably well for Greek, Latin, Sanskrit and their respective filial languages, such as the romance languages or Hindi.
Of course there are often words that are imported or excepted, like the example above of "to read" in Romanian coming from slavic (tshitat in Russian) not from legere or so.

The reconstructions are a bit like "inverse scattering" in physics. It's easier to figure out the products of a collision when you now which particle to put in, than to look at products and figure out which collision occured. But the latter is of course possible within limits.
It gets more speculative inferring culture from language. But there one does have prehistoric archaelogy to back it up, sparse as it might be. AFAIK some hypotheses founded on linguistics already in the 19th century have fared much better than vaguely comparable stuff (like the common earth mother goddess cult in the stone age or so.)

[MusicTurner]

I'd have to actually use that English word in order to tell you.

But if you're asking whether the "y" is somewhat like the "ew" in English words, which is basically one of our "u" sounds, then close enough.

https://forvo.com/word/sky/

Here's a surprisingly sophisticated (instrumentally speaking) Danish children's song, where they pronounce it correctly (of course). It's very early in the accompanying/sung text (0:26), which is about a tiny cloud/'sky', that went for a morning walk ...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1PcOuio7CVE

[Madiel]

The final movement of Beethoven's 5th symphony goes on a bit long.

[Symphonic Addict]

The coda is not long enough, though. 

[Madiel]

Truth is, I tend to be bored and tuned out before the coda arrives.

And then feel guilty.

[Florestan]

The final movement of Beethoven's 5th symphony goes on a bit long.

Agreed. Valid also for the 9th. 

[Jo498]

I am not sure if either opinion is all that unpopular.
I think the finale of the 9th is on a large scale but not all that long considering how much is going on there, especially compared to later 20+ min movements e.g. in Mahler, Bruckner, Shostakovich.
For the finale of the 5th I think that it is a bit long (one of the few Beethoven pieces where I will not complain if the repeat is not taken) but works quite well. It's created as the opposite in many respects to the extremely condensed first movement. It deals reasonably well with the problem that a completely jubilant finale will lack necessary contrast or conflict for typical sonata development by using the spooky soft reprise of the scherzo music.
For me the finales of the Kreutzer and Waldstein sonatas are better candidates for outstaying their welcome

[Madiel]

I don't know the Kreutzer finale off the top of my head. I don't have any problem with the Waldstein... and heck the 9th symphony has told you it's going to be epic the whole way through.

[amw]

Agreed. Valid also for the 9th. 

Also the 8th, 3rd, 6th, the Grosse Fuge, the Waldstein, the Egmont Overture, the Missa Solemnis, the Archduke Trio, the Triple Concerto,

(I should also say I generally forgive these transgressions though)

[Jo498]

The Egmont Ouverture doesn't have movements...
I'd also rate the final of the Pastoral at least as "lengthy" as the one of the fifth, but even lengthy Beethoven is compact compared to Schubert, Bruckner, Mahler, Shostakovich.

[Florestan]

Also the 8th, 3rd, 6th, the Grosse Fuge, the Waldstein, the Egmont Overture, the Missa Solemnis, the Archduke Trio, the Triple Concerto,

If Egmont Overture is too long, then the finale of Hammerklavier is what? 

[Madiel]

Length is not simply a function of chronological time. It is a function of harmonic movement, or lack thereof.

[Florestan]

even lengthy Beethoven is compact compared to Schubert, Bruckner, Mahler, Shostakovich.

At least Schubert's length are heavenly. 

As time goes by, my tolerance for Late Romantic and post-Romantic longueurs dwindles more and more, especially when lacking in melodic content. Those people seem to have suffered from what Federico Mompou most aptly labelled as "phonorrhea". 

[ritter]

At least Schubert's length are heavenly. 

As time goes by, my tolerance for Late Romantic and post-Romantic longueurs dwindles more and more, especially when lacking in melodic content. Those people seem to have suffered from what Federico Mompou most aptly labelled as "phonorrhea". 

I'll take that "phonorrhea" any time over Mompou's particular brand of "phono-inopia". 

Buna dimineata, Andrei.