“Lessons From Beethoven and Life” by Stuart Isacoff appears in the Oct. 31 edition of The Wall Street Journal Online:
NEW YORK -- Beethoven is forever contemporary. In his own time, he pushed artistic boundaries so far that the formidable pianist and composer Muzio Clementi once asked him if he really considered a set of string quartets to be "music." "Oh," replied the indomitable composer casually, "they are not for you, but for a later age."
That story appears in Donald Grout's classic, "A History of Western Music." It has been told in several versions, but the theme rings true. Like Shakespeare, Beethoven continually opens a curtain on the modern soul: its struggles, dreams, and incongruities. Read full post
Following the column are two links:
Beethoven for Novices, posted Oct. 26 by Elaine Fine on Musical Assumptions, http://musicalassumptions.blogspot.com, which is on our Favorite Blogs list.
George Augustus Polgreen Bridgetower (1780-1860): Beethoven's Black Violinist, posted Oct. 29 on AfriClassical Blog. We thank Stuart Isacoff for the link.
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