WEDNESDAY
December 16, 1998
|
"O Providence!
Grant me sometime
a pure
day of joy.
For so long now the heartfelt echo of true joy has
been strange
to me."
--- Ludwig Van Beethoven
Born: December 16, 1770
Died: March 26, 1827 |
Today is Beethoven's birthday and
every year I acknowledge this day and celebrate because personally,
his music has given me a lot of inspiration and hope. So,
today my entry is focusing on my first exposure to Beethoven's wonderful
music.
I find a certain assurance in the spirit
of mankind (especially during the holiday season) knowing that
Beethoven had lived and composed music that rang out with freedom,
dignity, joy, and the uplifting of the human spirit.
He was a man that I truly admire,
for he faced many obstacles that stood in the way of his ability to create
music, and in the end he conquered them all. As I sit
here typing away, my eyes are filled with tears as I listen to the
final movement of Beethoven's 5th Symphony, the finale, the
triumph of the human spirit to overcome all odds.
In college there was a time when I just
couldn't get on with my day unless I had listened to Beethoven's 5th Symphony.
It was definitely an emotional boost, that's for sure, and
I may want to start that ritual again... the music is THAT
uplifting to me.
It's funny, I was first introduced to
Beethoven's music when I was ten years old. I was rummaging through
my Dad's old record collection and was surprised to find a recording of
Beethoven's Symphony No. 7. I never heard him play this one
and was wondering why he was getting into classical music when he was more
into pop music. My guess now is that he probably bought it
thinking it was the famous Symphony No. 5, and wasn't interested
in it because it wasn't the same familiar music to him, and he tucked
it away for all "posterity". Well, I found it in the
pile and played it on the stereo. During this time I would
listen to lots of 45's, playing a lot of the popular music of the
time. When I played the Beethoven record I was very fascinated
by the emotional message that came across to me. Even though
I was no expert on classical music, and just a ten year old kid,
I still could understand the communication of human emotion through Beethoven's
music, and it really and truly struck a "chord" in my heart,
in my musical soul.
He's been dead for more than a century
and a half now, but I am truly grateful that he gave me something,
the ability to see the emotional power of music. His music
has lasted well beyond his death, and will definitely live on...
home
|
next
previous
archives
home
e-mail
|
