Tonight I have a concert at Florida International University. I went there for my master's degree in voice. We are singing Ludwig van Beethoven's (1770-1827) 9th symphony. It's official name is "Symphony No. 9 in D minor, Opus 125", but most of you know it for the "Ode to Joy" tune. When I decided to sing it with this choir, I had no idea what I was getting into really. I've never sung this particular piece. Of course I've heard "joyful, joyful we adore thee", but this is 10 times more difficult. By the end of it, the sopranos feel like squeaking chiwawas! This piece is very popular, so popular that in 2003 someone bought an original manuscript of it for 3.3 million dollars! What is truly remarkable is that Beethoven composed it when he was completely deaf.
Here are some interesting Beethoven facts:
His father was an alcoholic and his first music teacher. His father would often come home after a night of drinking and drag Beethoven out of bed for him to play piano for him. His mom died when Beethoven was 18. Tragic!
Beethoven started to go deaf when we was 28. I've heard some theories that he was going deaf because of his father's abuse.
Beethoven didn't get along well with others. He never married, although he wanted to. Marriage was a complicated issue back then it seems. He had very unusual behavior such as wearing dirty clothes, but washing all the time too. AHH!
2 comments:
When I read this post (on Thursday) I thought, "Wow, it would be fun to go and see Meredith sing at FIU!" Then I thought of it again...while I was putting Caleb to bed - the main reason we wouldn't have been able to go in the first place!
That said, I know you are busy now, and just think how all that will change when you guys have a baby! (You'll still be busy, you'll just be home every night!) Well...it's worth it ;) And when I manage my time right, sometimes I do leave the house after dinner...just not often.
Hope it was a good concert!
Our lives will change I'm sure when we have kids! I can only imagine. The concert went very well. It is wonderful singing with an orchestra. There's nothing like it.
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