Beethoven ownz j00!
You know, I hate it when co-workers don't do what they're supposed to do in a timely manner. Especially when getting my job done on time depends upon them doing their job on time. Especially because, when my job doesn't get done on time, I'm the one who gets the phone calls wanting money. I should just not answer my phone and have the outgoing message on my voice mail say, "If you're calling about your check, please call Bob and yell at him, not me." :p I mean, I know he's busy, but come on! This was supposed to be done by noon on the 21st. It's now the 26th and it's STILL not done. :p
Men. Can't work with them. Can't kill them. :)
Anyway, so today I realized why I've always liked Beethoven's music. I mean, I've probably known all along, but I've never really put it into precise words or thoughts. Today, while listening to his 6th symphony, I did. So now I'm going to subject you all to it. I'm sure you're thrilled. :)
In short, I like Beethoven because he still has the classicism of the Haydn/Mozart era with just the right amount of emotional romanticism. I came to the conclusion that it's the mix that I like. I actually rather like the stricter forms of classicism in general. I think that adherence to form actually tends to force one to be creative; in order to be noticed, you have to do something different, and if you can still be different while bound by a form...Well, that's creativity, IMNSHO. Yet, I don't like the form in its extreme because then everything starts to sound alike.
I mean, Haydn did some creative things, yes, was infamous for his sense of humor that showed in his musical jokes. Some were subtle, like the minuet&trio movement of the so-called "Palindrome" symphony, in which the notes are the same forward and backward. Some were not so subtle, like the final movement of the "Farewell" symphony where the musicians slowly pack up and walk off the stage during the course of the movement, leaving just two lone violinists playing at the end. But still, with only a few exceptions, if you've heard one Haydn symphony or string quartet or whatever, you've basically heard them all. And I tend to think, personally, that the same holds true for Mozart. I think part of the problem is that most music from the classical era was written in major keys. Only one of Mozart's 41 symphonies, for instance, was written in a minor key. The end result is that most classical-era music sounds light, happy, upbeat. Frankly, for me, that can be downright annoying after a while.
On the other hand, there are the romantic composers who came after Beethoven. Folks like Tchaikovsky, Dvorak, Brahms, et. al. Then, all the rules were broken and emotion in one's music was The Thing. So you have Tchaikovsky crying in despair in his music, for instance. Now, I like some emotion in my music. Tchaikovsky's Romeo and Juliet overture will make me bawl like a baby. And I like that. It's cathartic. Sometimes. On the other hand, it can often be every bit as annoying as classicism's eternal happiness and optimism.
So then there's Beethoven, smack in the middle of the two. In fact, if you listen to his music in the order in which it was composed, you can hear the transition from classicism to romanticism. I mean, his first symphony could have been written by Haydn (and was, in fact, dedicated to him), complete with the musical joke of not actually getting to the key of C (as it was advertised as being written in) until about a third of the way through the first movement. By his ninth symphony, at the end of his life, everything's completely different, full of drama and emotion, and including a chorus, which was a first at the time of its premiere.
So, with Beethoven, I get my classicism and my romanticism in one fell swoop...but not too much of either. I get classical form but also the beginning of breaking away from those forms. I get emotionalism, but it's more of the evocative type, not of the manipulative, Tchaikovsky-esque, "Feel THIS emotion NOW, dammit!" type. I can listen to Beethoven's 6th and tell that it was written about country life. I can listen to his fifth and feel the transition from angst to joy in the third and fourth movements, I can listen to the first movement of his "Moonlight" piano sonata and feel the melancholy of it. But I don't feel like I have to feel those things, like I do when listening to Tchaikovsky. And I like that freedom. Beethoven rules. Word. :)
In other news...To stir the pot, or not to stir the pot. That is the question... *thoughtfully waves around large wooden spoon that can also be used as a paddle*
EDIT: Because Joshua Bell rocks, too. And I've found more reasons to love him. I especially love his response to question #4. My feelings exactly...
Men. Can't work with them. Can't kill them. :)
Anyway, so today I realized why I've always liked Beethoven's music. I mean, I've probably known all along, but I've never really put it into precise words or thoughts. Today, while listening to his 6th symphony, I did. So now I'm going to subject you all to it. I'm sure you're thrilled. :)
In short, I like Beethoven because he still has the classicism of the Haydn/Mozart era with just the right amount of emotional romanticism. I came to the conclusion that it's the mix that I like. I actually rather like the stricter forms of classicism in general. I think that adherence to form actually tends to force one to be creative; in order to be noticed, you have to do something different, and if you can still be different while bound by a form...Well, that's creativity, IMNSHO. Yet, I don't like the form in its extreme because then everything starts to sound alike.
I mean, Haydn did some creative things, yes, was infamous for his sense of humor that showed in his musical jokes. Some were subtle, like the minuet&trio movement of the so-called "Palindrome" symphony, in which the notes are the same forward and backward. Some were not so subtle, like the final movement of the "Farewell" symphony where the musicians slowly pack up and walk off the stage during the course of the movement, leaving just two lone violinists playing at the end. But still, with only a few exceptions, if you've heard one Haydn symphony or string quartet or whatever, you've basically heard them all. And I tend to think, personally, that the same holds true for Mozart. I think part of the problem is that most music from the classical era was written in major keys. Only one of Mozart's 41 symphonies, for instance, was written in a minor key. The end result is that most classical-era music sounds light, happy, upbeat. Frankly, for me, that can be downright annoying after a while.
On the other hand, there are the romantic composers who came after Beethoven. Folks like Tchaikovsky, Dvorak, Brahms, et. al. Then, all the rules were broken and emotion in one's music was The Thing. So you have Tchaikovsky crying in despair in his music, for instance. Now, I like some emotion in my music. Tchaikovsky's Romeo and Juliet overture will make me bawl like a baby. And I like that. It's cathartic. Sometimes. On the other hand, it can often be every bit as annoying as classicism's eternal happiness and optimism.
So then there's Beethoven, smack in the middle of the two. In fact, if you listen to his music in the order in which it was composed, you can hear the transition from classicism to romanticism. I mean, his first symphony could have been written by Haydn (and was, in fact, dedicated to him), complete with the musical joke of not actually getting to the key of C (as it was advertised as being written in) until about a third of the way through the first movement. By his ninth symphony, at the end of his life, everything's completely different, full of drama and emotion, and including a chorus, which was a first at the time of its premiere.
So, with Beethoven, I get my classicism and my romanticism in one fell swoop...but not too much of either. I get classical form but also the beginning of breaking away from those forms. I get emotionalism, but it's more of the evocative type, not of the manipulative, Tchaikovsky-esque, "Feel THIS emotion NOW, dammit!" type. I can listen to Beethoven's 6th and tell that it was written about country life. I can listen to his fifth and feel the transition from angst to joy in the third and fourth movements, I can listen to the first movement of his "Moonlight" piano sonata and feel the melancholy of it. But I don't feel like I have to feel those things, like I do when listening to Tchaikovsky. And I like that freedom. Beethoven rules. Word. :)
In other news...To stir the pot, or not to stir the pot. That is the question... *thoughtfully waves around large wooden spoon that can also be used as a paddle*
EDIT: Because Joshua Bell rocks, too. And I've found more reasons to love him. I especially love his response to question #4. My feelings exactly...