What has Beethoven meant on your life?

Started by Symphonic Addict, December 16, 2020, 03:08:42 PM

Previous topic - Next topic

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

relm1

I hardly ever listen to him now but he was instrumental to me in my youth.  Definitely my first symphonic odyssey.  My big brother introduced him to me while he was packing to go to college and I was just 9 at the time.  So it imprinted on me hope, optimism, determination, fate, strength and perseverance.  One of the biggest takeaways it gave me was long structure, how you have to listen to what happens over time to understand the music properly not just the section you like but how he developed the idea.  When I was a music student, when we were studying structure, when we got to theme and variation, I wrote it on a theme and variation of Beethoven.  I very rarely listen to it now however when I played it orchestras, I made have had to perform it which isn't quite the same thing is listening but a variation of it.  I have performed his Symphony No. 5, 6, Choral Fantasy, I think Egmont Overture (just can't remember, might have been a different overture), and one or two other things.  I think we also played a piano concerto or two and violin concerto.  The fact that I might not exactly recall the work shouldn't mean it wasn't memorable or a significant incident, just that there might have been a much more memorable incident in that very same concert and over time it is those more memorable events that retain the test of time.  Sort of like remembering a first kiss not necessarily kiss # 75 which was far greater.

(poco) Sforzando

"I don't know what sforzando means, though it clearly means something."

Carxofes fregides

#22
My father was a big Beethoven fan within casual standards, and seeing and hearing his Beethoven CDs and cassettes (I remember he had the Karajan symphonies in both formats) may have played a role in shaping classical music as important in my mind when I was little.

Also, I think I never disliked having to study his Sonatas, unlike Mozart's, which really got on my nerves when I was a kid. They had an edge to them and allowed you to loosen up and play harder to an extent. Actually I think the Pathetic Sonata may have been my first big playing experience. He might have been my favorite composer at some point.