Here are some fun musical facts for today. Have you ever heard any of these before?
1. How many? J.S. Bach was married twice in his lifetime, between his two wives he had 20 children. Many of his children became composers.
2. Farewell. Joseph Hayden was begging the king to let his musicians have a break to visit their families. The king told him that there were many future parties for them to entertain. So, Hayden replied with a symphony named the "Farewell Symphony". When the piece was performed and as each movement progressed, a musician would pack up and leave until the end when there were none left to play. The embarrassed king only saw the musicians after their vacation.
3. The 5th Symphony. Ludwig Van Beethoven is probably best known for his famous 5th symphony with its opening 4 notes, "dun dun dun DAH!". What may be lesser known is the fact that this repeated rhythm is actually the letter "V" in Morse code. You see at the time, Beethoven's country, Germany, was at war. Beethoven wanted to communicate victory!
4. Times have changed. The lute was as popular in the pre-Baroque periods (1400-1500's) as the piano is today in classical music.
5. The Curse. It is said that every great composer never wrote more than 9 symphonies. When they tried to begin their tenth, they died before it was completed. According to Arnold Shoenberg, this superstition began with Mahler, who, after writing his 8th symphony, wrote another piece, then he wrote his 9th symphony and thought he had beaten the curse, but died with his 10th symphony incomplete. In an essay about Mahler, Schoenberg wrote: "It seems that the Ninth is a limit. He who wants to go beyond it must pass away. It seems as if something might be imparted to us in the Tenth which we ought not yet to know, for which we are not ready. Those who have written a Ninth stood too close to the hereafter."
6. It's too long! When Beethoven premiered his 3rd symphony it was unlike anything people had heard before, it was the beginning of the grand symphony with more drama and passion. It was also twice as long as anything he had ever written. It was reported that one weary listener commented during the work, "I'd give another Kreutzer if they would stop!"
7. Nostalgia. In this etude Chopin is rumored to have proclaimed, “In all my life I have never again been able to find such a beautiful melody.” It is also reported that while Chopin was playing this for a student, he suddenly began weeping and cried “Oh, my homeland!” This etude is one of the best expressions of Chopin’s nationalism and the love he felt for his Poland.
1. How many? J.S. Bach was married twice in his lifetime, between his two wives he had 20 children. Many of his children became composers.
2. Farewell. Joseph Hayden was begging the king to let his musicians have a break to visit their families. The king told him that there were many future parties for them to entertain. So, Hayden replied with a symphony named the "Farewell Symphony". When the piece was performed and as each movement progressed, a musician would pack up and leave until the end when there were none left to play. The embarrassed king only saw the musicians after their vacation.
3. The 5th Symphony. Ludwig Van Beethoven is probably best known for his famous 5th symphony with its opening 4 notes, "dun dun dun DAH!". What may be lesser known is the fact that this repeated rhythm is actually the letter "V" in Morse code. You see at the time, Beethoven's country, Germany, was at war. Beethoven wanted to communicate victory!
4. Times have changed. The lute was as popular in the pre-Baroque periods (1400-1500's) as the piano is today in classical music.
5. The Curse. It is said that every great composer never wrote more than 9 symphonies. When they tried to begin their tenth, they died before it was completed. According to Arnold Shoenberg, this superstition began with Mahler, who, after writing his 8th symphony, wrote another piece, then he wrote his 9th symphony and thought he had beaten the curse, but died with his 10th symphony incomplete. In an essay about Mahler, Schoenberg wrote: "It seems that the Ninth is a limit. He who wants to go beyond it must pass away. It seems as if something might be imparted to us in the Tenth which we ought not yet to know, for which we are not ready. Those who have written a Ninth stood too close to the hereafter."
6. It's too long! When Beethoven premiered his 3rd symphony it was unlike anything people had heard before, it was the beginning of the grand symphony with more drama and passion. It was also twice as long as anything he had ever written. It was reported that one weary listener commented during the work, "I'd give another Kreutzer if they would stop!"
7. Nostalgia. In this etude Chopin is rumored to have proclaimed, “In all my life I have never again been able to find such a beautiful melody.” It is also reported that while Chopin was playing this for a student, he suddenly began weeping and cried “Oh, my homeland!” This etude is one of the best expressions of Chopin’s nationalism and the love he felt for his Poland.
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