Plot: This story is a continuation from the previous story "In All Her Splendor"
Synopsis:
After coming across a couple of tickets for the Beatles' sold-out Shea Stadium
appearance in 1965, Doc decides to give them to Clara and Calpurnia sending them
back in time to that year using the time limousine.
However, after the concert, the two time travelers were about to go back to the future when they receive to unwanted passengers: The Beatles. Both Clara and Calpurnia pass out allowing the Fab Four access to the time circuits without understanding what they are. John Lennon sets the destination location for Vienna, Austria in hopes of seeing an old acquaintance there. But unbeknownst to him, he had inadvertently set the time circuits of 1824.
Upon arriving, the Beatles get out and go into town. When Clara and Calpurnia awake, they discover that they are in the past. A look at the video tells them that the Beatles did go back in time with them thus making it impossible for the two to go back to the future leaving the Beatles behind for fear of what their disappearance might do to the timeline. (See "Tomorrow Never Knows").
Upon entering Vienna, the two time travelers split up in hopes of bettering the odds on searching for the four. Meanwhile, the Beatles, not knowing that they are in the past, have come across a mansion that in their own time is where their friend is spending the summer. After some discussion, they are admitted in. From a distance, Calpurnia sees this and tries to go in but is thwarted. However, she encounters a house servant and renders her unconscious taking her clothes. Being passed off as a maid she goes inside and starts searching until she comes across a room where some teenage girl is playing a piano and singing. The girl has a sweet voice and Calpurnia, letting her know it, encourages her to keep singing. Then, someone else comes in and tells the girl to stop singing and just play. The girl acts confused saying that she was told that it was alright to sing. That's when the woman that the girl was talking to catches Calpurnia sneaking out. Calpurnia looks at the face of the woman and is shocked to learn that she had encountered a carbon copy of herself and passes out.
When she comes too, Calpurnia learns that her look-alike and the girl she met earlier were mother and daughter respectively. The mother, a widow who lost her husband during the Napoleonic Wars, has been living with her brother the great composer Ludwig Von Beethoven who by now deaf. The widow's daughter wants to sing in the choral the night her uncle conducts his 9th Symphony but her mother would have none of it. The girl is engaged to Baron Von Tannenhousen. However, the girl doesn't like the baron and tells her mother so.
Not wanting to pry into the internal affairs of Clara's past, Calpurnia starts asking about the whereabouts of the Beatles. Just then, Beethoven receives a guest. It's Clara. She was seen prowling the premises. The look-alike is about to send for the authorities when Calpurnia intercedes saying she's with her and she too is looking for the Beatles. That's when another guest arrives and it's Baron Von Tannenhousen. Both Clara and Calpurnia find out why the girl doesn't like the baron: He's the spitting image of Brutus as well as Biff.
Background:
Ludwig Von Beethoven (1770-1827) was famous for his nine
symphonies. In addition, he wrote his Moonlight Sonata, Fur Elise, and
the opera Fidelio.
Beethoven was born on December 17,1770 in Bonn, Germany and learned music at an early age. His father was a singer and an instrumentalist for the Elector of Cologne at Bonn. Ludwig studied with his father and court organist C.G. Neefe. In 1787, he went to Vienna, Austria but had to return home when he heard that his mother was dying. He returned to Vienna five years later only this time he stayed studying with Haydn, Schenk, Albrechtsberger and Salieri. He made his public debut in 1794 and proved to be a fiery pianist. Between the years of 1799 and 1801 he composed his first three piano concertos, his first two symphonies and a set of six string quartets op.l8.
Unfortunately, as the years progress, Beethoven started going deaf. By the time he wrote the 7th Symphony, he had to cut the legs out from underneath his piano so he could play in on the floor as to feel the vibrations when he was composing.
His 9th and final Symphony was composed between the years of 1822 and 1824. It debut in Vienna on May 7, 1824. After that, he retired and died three years later on March 26, 1827. Over 10,000 attended his funeral which was a reflection of his popularity.
I first heard
about Beethoven while I was young. It was on Disney's Wonderful World of
Color. Inspired, my family played Beethoven's 5th and 6th Symphonies. The
most notable person who admires Beethoven could be seen in Peanuts where
Schroeder is on his toy piano playing the classics, Beethoven being one of them.
As
for Beethoven's niece, I patterned her after Charlotte Church. For those who
don't know who she is, Charlotte is a singer in the classical sense. She began
singing at a very young age debuting at the age of twelve. She supplied the
vocals for the mini-series Joan of Arc. She made her acting debut in Touched
by an Angel in an episode called "A Voice of an Angel." in which
she was singing Panis Angelicus. She had made appearances mostly around
Christmastime and on public television. She's got her own webpage at http://www.charlottechurchmusic.com
with all the info on her her music, her upcoming appearances, and her latest
album releases.
Mark
this down as a "spur of the moment" thing. When it came to the
part where I was writing about Beethoven's niece, I had to come up with a name.
I knew I was going to name her mother Helga but when I came around to thinking
of a name for the daughter, I had to come up with something very fast. So I
thought about Jackie (which is short for "Jacqueline"). For those who
don't know who Jackie is, she was an usherette at Candlestick Park (site of the
last Beatles concert) during the '80's. One time I used her wedding day as a
"Present Date" in one of my stories. (See "Woman of the
Year") Now I don't know whether or not Jackie is her real name but I
know this: If I called Beethoven's niece "Jackie" instead of
"Jacqueline", my e-mail inbox would be loaded with e-mail saying
"Jackie's not a German name".
On August 15, 1965, the Beatles changed the concert tours
forever when they made their Shea Stadium appearance. Instead of concert halls
and small basketball arenas, rock and roll bands would start using big ballparks
or any outdoor arenas for the concerts when they toured the country or the
world. There was a dispute on how many people actually attended that concert.
Some estimated it to be 54,000. Others 55 or 56,000. But the highest guess was
60,000.
And finally, this is my first Clara story. Clara, as you know, is the wife of Doctor Emmett Brown. This story also heralds the return of the Beatles. The Beatles, as you know, were first featured in my first BTTF story "Time Travel to a Hard Day's Night." (formally know as my version of "Back to the Future Pt IV") They have been featured in three more stories since then. This is the fourth Beatle story. And now for those clicking onto my story via my Beatles' page, let me tell you about Calpurnia. Calpurnia was the wife of Julius Caesar. She came into the world of my version of Back to the Future in "Back to the Ides of March" and started getting a recurring role in my previous BTTF story "In All Her Splendor". This is also a second of three straight Calpurnia stories which concludes in my next story "When in Rome." So you really need to read the previous story to understand what she's doing in the 1980's.
I've dedicated this story to George Harrison who died on December 1, 2001.
