WHAT DO U THINK?????

[amy summers]

What is ur favourite beethoven piece??
plz tell me,i hope 2 include this in my project.

[Bob the Composer]

My favorite (so far) is Beethoven's 8th. It could change tomorrow!

Bob

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I am not a number, I am a free man!

[PDG]

Originally posted by amy summers:
What is ur favourite beethoven piece??
plz tell me,i hope 2 include this in my project.

Hi Amy,

There are far too many great works to choose just one! I suppose his most famous works must be the 5th & 9th Symphonies, the Moonlight & Pathetique Piano Sonatas & Fur Elise. I love the Pastoral (6th) Symphony, the Emperor (5th) Piano Concerto, the Opus 132 String Quartet & the Opus 110 Piano Sonata. But there are hundreds of other pieces.

For your project, you could put down a short list of nick-named works in the certain knowledge that all are very popular.

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PDG (Peter)

[Peter]

Originally posted by Bob the Composer:
My favorite (so far) is Beethoven's 8th. It could change tomorrow!

Bob

At last - another supporter of the poor old 8th - I love this symphony!!!!!

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'Man know thyself'

[Joy]

Originally posted by Peter:
At last - another supporter of the poor old 8th - I love this symphony!!!!!

So do I. When I was ten yrs. old. The 4th mm of this symphony was one of my favourties and I have defended it ever since. I can't understand the write ups I have read about it when it was performed. I love the powerful ending.
Joy

[Rod]

Originally posted by Peter:
At last - another supporter of the poor old 8th - I love this symphony!!!!!

Who's been putting it down? From certain perspectives one could say it is the best!


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"If I were but of noble birth..." - Rod Corkin

[Peter]

Originally posted by Rod:
Who's been putting it down? From certain perspectives one could say it is the best!

Whenever someone is asked to list their favourite B symphonies in order, they invariably place the 8th near the bottom!
I agree with your evaluation.

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'Man know thyself'

[Joy]

Originally posted by Rod:
Who's been putting it down? From certain perspectives one could say it is the best!

I don't know if anyone is putting it down in today's time, but I read once where a critic in Beethoven's time, after hearing the 8th wrote "Ah, the master is truly deaf." Can you imagine reading that the next morning in the newspaper? How awful.
Joy

[Peter]

Originally posted by Joy:

I don't know if anyone is putting it down in today's time, but I read once where a critic in Beethoven's time, after hearing the 8th wrote "Ah, the master is truly deaf." Can you imagine reading that the next morning in the newspaper? How awful.
Joy

Not as bad as being hailed as totally insane as he was after the 7th!


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'Man know thyself'

[euphony131]

All the talk about the 8th is very interesting. I too love the 8th -- who could forget the 2nd mvt's ode to Johann Maelzel courtesy of the metronome-like tick-tocking? Or the thunderous closure? Not to mention the robust 1st and 3rd mvts!

Also the 4th symphony is very awesome. That 1st mvt. where you go from this place of trepidation and darkness into TOTAL SUNSHINE (a precursor to the scherzo-to-finale transistion of the 5th?) is just sublime!

I have to say Beethoven's 4th and 8th are the most egregiously under-rated symphonies in the history of Mankind. Seriously.

Why is this? Some say: "Oh! It's because they come between No's 3 and 5, and No's 7 and 9!" But that's a lame excuse. That's like saying the 7th shouldn't be noticed because it comes after the 5th. HUH? Perhaps we should ignore the 9th because it comes last? Excuuuuuse me???

When I was a teen first getting into the Master, I made the mistake of not getting the 4th and 8th symphonies (not to the mention the 1st and 2nd) for a long time. My naivete was based on the fact that nobody seemed to talk about these particular works. So I reasoned with my immature mind that these ones must not be very good. I couldn't have been more wrong! People ought to start talkin' about them! They ROCK!

[This message has been edited by euphony131 (edited 05-17-2001).]

[Chris]

The 4th is probably my favorite, but I'd have to say the 8th is my least favorite with perhaps the exception of the 2nd.

[Rod]

Originally posted by euphony131:
All the talk about the 8th is very interesting. I too love the 8th -- who could forget the 2nd mvt's ode to Johann Maelzel courtesy of the metronome-like tick-tocking? Or the thunderous closure? Not to mention the robust 1st and 3rd mvts!

I believe the story connecting the scherzo with Maelzel has been discredited. I'll check and correct myself if necessary.


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"If I were but of noble birth..." - Rod Corkin

[Claudie MICAULT]

Like Leslie, I lived a long time of my life without knowing the 4th and the 8th... just because I could not find, in my little town, a record of them... They just had the 6th, the 9th, the 5th and the 3d !!! Later they have got the 1st, the 2d and the 7th... but never the both I needed to complete my collection.... I also prefer the 8th... now.

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Claudie

[MCS]

My absolute favourite would have to be the 9th. It was this piece that opened my ears to LvB's music. It grabs a hold of me from the very first notes and doesn't let go until the glorious finale is over.

BTW, there is a note in today's Globe and Mail about a city councillor in Ingersoll, Ontario (pop. 10,000) who wants to use "Beethoven's Ninth Symphony to curb repeated acts of vandalism at the gazebo, a local teen hangout. 'It might keep the kids away,' she argues. 'They don't like it.'" The newspaper goes on to point out that in the movie A Clockwork Orange it was precisely the 9th that main character Alex listened to after a night of pillaging and mayhem. The article ends with "Dunno, maybe Vic Damone would work better." (Or perhaps Perry Como, known over here as Mr. Relaxation.)

Mary

[PDG]

I don't understand this. If kids don't like something, they are more likely to vandalise it, not less. No? Maybe Ontario wants a load of Alex-types roaming around!

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PDG (Peter)