December 16, 2004
Happy Birthday Ludwig
Ludwig van Beethoven
A quick Happy 234th Birthday to Mr. Beethoven, who was born on this date in 1770.
I grabbed my symphony set CDs and the recording of his piano sonatas this morning, to listen to while driving to work. It's mindboggling that such beautiful music came from a man who lost his hearing. In fact, at the premiere of Symphony 9, Beethoven stood on the stage during the performance so he could feel the vibrations through his feet. Upon the piece's upliftinging conclusion, a musician had to turn Beethoven around so that he could see the audience's thunderous applause. Just mindboggling.