Sunday, June 2, 2013

Blogger Burnout, Beethoven and The Joy of Life...

I have not blogged for a little while because I have been busy with other things, and I’m not sure there is anyone out there who still reads my boring-little-blog.  But I haven’t forgotten you, and I will be back blogging regularly very soon.  In the meantime, I have a treat for you.  Well, I think it's a treat anyway.

Ever since I was a child, I have always loved music by Beethoven.  I used to sneak out of bed and hide under the dining room table so I could listen to it, whenever my parents played it on the record player.  Beethoven is arguably the  greatest composer who ever lived, and his Ninth and final symphony is universally regarded to be the greatest piece of music ever written.  The choral is taken from a poem written by a poem written by Friedrich Schiller in 1785.

The Ninth Symphony premiered on May 7, 1824 in Vienna.  The performance was conducted by Michael Umlauf, because by that time Beethoven was completely deaf.  He could not hear one note of his extraordinary symphony.  Over the years millions, perhaps billions, of people have listened to Ode to Joy, a beautiful composition that the composer could hear only in his head.

This performance of Ode to Joy is wonderful.  Imagine living in a city where this could happen.  The video is just slightly over five minutes long, and I know folks have no patience for things on the internet that are longer than 45 seconds.  But you’re in for a treat, so pour yourself a cup of tea or coffee – or whatever --- sit back in your chair and relax.  Be sure to watch it to the very end, not the middle, not almost the end, but the very end.  You will get goosebumps and your heart will soar with joy – which is what Beethoven intended.

Enjoy!  I will be back soon.