Do not go gentle into that good night,Old age should burn and rave at close of day;Rage, rage against the dying of the light. Dylan Thomas And now, the end. Like Bach before him, Beethoven ends (at least for this history) with a fugue. Beethoven had written a grand fugue to close his String Quartet … Continue reading Armageddon: Beethoven’s Final Statement
Month: November 2022
A Thanksgiving
The Te Deum hymn traces its origins back to the 4th Century and is traditionally attributed to St. Ambrose, who is said to have written it for the baptism of the future St. Augustine in 378. The Te Deum melody is one of the oldest in the Gregorian tradition and has inspired composers throughout history. … Continue reading A Thanksgiving
The Greatest Music Ever Written
Time present and time pastAre both perhaps present in time future,And time future contained in time past.If all time is eternally presentAll time is unredeemable. T.S. Eliot, Four Quartets, "Burnt Norton" The Ninth was not the end for Beethoven. Having scaled to the very summit of what symphonic composition can achieve, he retreated into his … Continue reading The Greatest Music Ever Written
The Friday Symposium: Assessing the Recorded History of Beethoven’s Ninth
One of the great joys of classical music is delving into the often rich recorded history of a particular composition. Conductors, often lampooned in popular culture, are all very serious students of the music they perform and their directorial decisions significantly shape the music we hear. How? Tempo is the most obvious lever, but so … Continue reading The Friday Symposium: Assessing the Recorded History of Beethoven’s Ninth
The Answer is Joy
Beethoven is the ultimate progressive, believing that the world exists for us to improve. While his own circumstances were miserable – loveless, pain-stricken and frustratingly deaf – he retained to the last a shining faith in peace and understanding. Norman Lebrecht At the end of his Missa Solemnis, Beethoven asks great and terrible questions. Why … Continue reading The Answer is Joy
A Gertus History of Music 