A welcome mat for curious readers!

[Sorrano]

Welcome, Jacred!

My own introduction came on 5's: the 5th symphony and 5th Piano Concerto and from there branched out. Seems I'm particularly partial to the piano music.

[Peter]

Welcome Jacred - some interesting choices there and it looks like you're especially drawn to the later works?

[Jacred]

Welcome, Jacred! You've got a nice cross-section of Beethoven's works there. And of course there are hidden gems around every corner!

Thank you! I try to maintain variety. Which is why I find myself prodding around his WoO so often these days.

Welcome aboard Jacred, Nice selection of Beethoven's works. Have you been to any performances?

Thanks! I've attended a few performances by the Toronto Symphony Orchestra. The first concert I went to performed Beethoven's 5th symphony--my 15-year-old self was very impressed! Most recently, I went to a concert of Bach's Brandenburg Concertos 1 and 3 and Brahms' 4th symphony.

I'm a college freshman, so I don't travel around much. My friends and I are going to a performance of Beethoven's 4th piano concerto and the Symphonie Fantastique in a few days. Exciting, isn't it?

Welcome, Jacred!

My own introduction came on 5's: the 5th symphony and 5th Piano Concerto and from there branched out. Seems I'm particularly partial to the piano music.

Hi Sorrano! It seems like we're not very different. His 5th symphony and his 5th piano concerto were early favourites of mine too (and they still are). I also stuck to his piano sonatas a lot when I first started. The Hammerklavier was the "point of no return" for me; I think after listening to it a few times, my passion for Beethoven was pretty much cemented.

[Jacred]

Welcome Jacred - some interesting choices there and it looks like you're especially drawn to the later works?

Thanks for the welcome.

Yes, I really like his later works! But I do listen to his earlier works at least as much. I actually started out somewhere in the middle of his output.

[Peter]

Thanks for the welcome.

Yes, I really like his later works! But I do listen to his earlier works at least as much. I actually started out somewhere in the middle of his output.

Wonderful that you started so young listening to classical music and Beethoven in particular. My first introduction to Beethoven was an LP of the 4th and 5th symphonies and I was also instantly hooked!

[PDG]

Crikey Megan, this thread is 17 years old! I doubt you'll get a response from PDG now unless he's still lurking somewhere.

Still lurking, Peter, but never with menaces...I hope you're well...

[PDG]

Oh shock! I don't know how this page came up but I replied to it and never looked at the date! I hope PDG. is still around.

I am , Megan, Thank you. I'm fine. Still listening to great music. I trust you are well, too.

[Jacred]

Wonderful that you started so young listening to classical music and Beethoven in particular. My first introduction to Beethoven was an LP of the 4th and 5th symphonies and I was also instantly hooked!

It's an amazing feeling to actually "get" Beethoven for the first time, instead of following what everyone else tells you about him. And then to step off the beaten path a bit and listen to his less popular works.

Somehow, I thought of this quote:

"...meaningless blur of disco beats, hip-hop samples, jingles, and ringtones. Can Beethoven ever elude the fate of monumental meaninglessness to which he seems consigned?"
Article: https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2...deus-ex-musica

I know it's not like that here, good thing. I guess part of what drew me to Beethoven was realizing how much his music reflected the dynamic person that he was--someone who was simultaneously ordinary and extraordinary.

[PDG]

And here I thought the old gang was back together again!

No reason why we shouldn't be, Joy? Although of course I can't speak for the other long-time absentees...

[PDG]

Happy days! .

They were. Apart from the unhappy ones...

[PDG]

Hi!

Seeing as this is an old thread, I do hope this post finds you somewhere out there.

It did, friend. As a catalyst event, it "hit the spot"!

[PDG]

When I opened it I thought PDG had returned to the fold!

Well, hello Michael. How on earth have you survived without me for so long? I hope you are keeping well. God speed...

[PDG]

It was PDG who started this thread many years ago. A true Beethoven fan, for some reason he hated (or so he claimed) the composer's folksong arrangements.
So, I just came across this news item about a current performance of these works (roughly 140 of them!) in the Beethovenhaus in Bonn.
If you're out there, PDG, this is for you:

http://www.dw.com/en/bthvn-week-expl...sic/a-42306468

Thanks, Michael, I will of course listen with great interest. Might be best though to do that before I get my ears de-waxed, rather than after...

[Peter]

Still lurking, Peter, but never with menaces...I hope you're well...

Thank you PDG and it's good to see this resurrected thread has attracted you like a moth to the lamp!

[Peter]

It's an amazing feeling to actually "get" Beethoven for the first time, instead of following what everyone else tells you about him. And then to step off the beaten path a bit and listen to his less popular works.

Somehow, I thought of this quote:

"...meaningless blur of disco beats, hip-hop samples, jingles, and ringtones. Can Beethoven ever elude the fate of monumental meaninglessness to which he seems consigned?"
Article: https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2...deus-ex-musica

I know it's not like that here, good thing. I guess part of what drew me to Beethoven was realizing how much his music reflected the dynamic person that he was--someone who was simultaneously ordinary and extraordinary.

I think 'simultaneously ordinary and extraordinary' is an excellent way of putting it! This is true of all great artists, often very flawed people (like us all) with unexplainable and phenomenal creative power (unlike most of us!).