The Eroica -- Keeping Score Web Site, San Francisco Symphony

[DavidO]

Have you all seen this site?

http://www.keepingscore.org/flash/beethoven/index.html

Rather fun, all in all. Plenty of interactivity with Flash & script. Be sure to watch the various videos embedded in certain pages.

One of the joys of reading of Beethoven's life is the inadvertent comedy in so many anecdotes stemming from the troubled & troublesome aspects of Our Boy's personality & idiosyncrasies. My favorite laugh here is the page BEETHOVEN MAKES A GOOD LIVING under PATRONAGE. The site relates what Seyfried had to say about being a page-turner for Beethoven at one of his benefit concerts:

"But--heaven help me!--that was easier said than done. I saw almost nothing but empty leaves; at the most on one page or the other a few Egyptian hieroglyphs wholly unintelligible to me scribbled down to serve as clues for him; for he played nearly all of the solo part from memory, since, as was so often the case, he had not had time to put it all down on paper. He gave me a secret glance whenever he was at the end of one of the invisible passages & my scarcely concealable anxiety not to miss the decisive moment amused him greatly."

That casual "invisible passages" is a hoot, & the reference to Egyptian hieroglyphs is priceless. I about died with laughter when I was reading that.

It's so ... Beethoven.

[heidi]

That is just too cool. I love the 'explore the score'.

[DavidO]

That is just too cool. I love the 'explore the score'.

I'm only now getting to that part, & my goodness! there is just bunches to do in that section!

You can follow along with the score while Tilson Thomas conducts the orchestra, but on your way you need to pause the score playback so that you can see & hear the MARKUPS videos, as well as the LEARN MORE link (which goes into themes in the Exposition & how frequently they appear & are varied) & the film & text in the upper left corner. (Remember to click the SHOW MARKUPS & SHOW THEME buttons at the top.)

I've never really cared for Tilson Thomas as a conductor (except for his masterly early '80s recording of the complete Nutcracker ballet), but I must say he makes the perfect 21st-century composer-explicator for yuppies & newbies. His speech & analyses are understandable, & his manner is fervently pedagogical but not dry. He should do more of these Explore The Score presentations.

[Peter]

Many thanks DavidO for finding this excellent site - the home page which features other works is http://www.keepingscore.org/

[Chris]

Yes, thanks - that was very enjoyable.

[Joy]

Very good site and lots to do and see. Michael Tilson Thomas has been on PBS a few times wth his 'Keeping Score' programs about various composers and I have some on tape. He is a very good teacher and explains things so they are very understandable. I enjoy him.

[Michael]

Very good site. Tilson Thomas seems to be taking on the role of Leonard Bernstein who did so many music appreciation broadcasts in the fifties and sixties.
I have a recording of the Eroica conducted by him (Thomas) and he produces an incredibly large sound from the small orchestra of St. Luke's.

[Megan]

Interesting find DavidO !

[Quijote]

It's a perfectly acceptable site, of course. For more in depth analysis of the Eroica I suggest :

Philip G. Downs, Beethoven's New Way and the Eroica, The Music Quarterly, Vol. 56, No. 4, October 1970;

and

Thomas Sipe, Beethoven: Eroica Symphony (Cambridge Music Handbooks)