Day 9

Well I'm back and instead of continuing with Wagner I've decided to take a short break and listen to Beethoven's 7th symphony in honor of the late Senator Kennedy.

I'm also going to introduce a quick format that I haven't used until now mainly since I've been listening to the same orchestra, conductor and composer since the beginning. Also this is beta, so it may change

Pieces: Symphony Number 7 in A Major, op. 92; Egmont Overture, op 84
Performers: Berlin Philharmonic
Conductor: Joseph Keilberth
Recorded: 1967 (date of pressing, no recording date given)

I choose to listen to this piece after hearing about Senator Kennedy's death, due to having always loved the second movement, which when played slowly, feels like a funeral dirge.

I have two copies of this piece right now (no doubt when I get the big load of records from my parents in a couple of weeks I will have more) and I remember preferring one over the other; this is due to one playing the second movement about 5 beats per minute slower. But I couldn't remember which one was which...I picked the one that was played faster, go figure. At least I got the bonus of having the Egmont-Overture.

I always feel a little funny when anyone asks me who is my favorite composer, kind of like I always feel funny answering that my favorite pop band is the Beatles. It feels like too easy of an answer. Beethoven is where it is at, he was the best; as were the Beetles; yet I somehow feel that it is a cop out, of course they should be your favorite, their the best, but really couldn't you have tried harder?

Anyway, the first movement brought me face to face with the reason why I enjoy Beethoven so much, from the very second the needle began to dance across the vinyl I was filled with emotion. This was to such an extreme that I lifted the needle off the record to take a quick breather before the second movement. Those strings, and the interplay of the horns; and the timpani, the exact use of timpani right as it was needed...Fantastic!

As I stated earlier the second movement (Allegretto) is my favorite and often brings me to tears. But as I said this is not my favorite recording of this movement, it's too fast; or at least that is what I thought. After two minutes of being angry over the speed of the piece I started to seen the possible other intention of the movement; being slightly faster and more staccato I saw how the quick additions of sound created a different picture. If the slower more somber piece was a Rothko, with thick colors building on top of each other, than this faster variation is a Pollock, where individual droplets of sound create a whole. Both are beautiful, different from one another, but beautiful...Alright now hold hands and sing kumbaya

Since this is getting long quick I'll wrap it up. The third and forth movements are fast, and frantic and even show ideas that may have morphed into what would become the beginning of Beethoven's 9th. Overall I agree with Wagner (see I wasn't going to let him go away completely) who once stated that Beethoven's 7th symphony was the "Apotheosis of Dance." I think it suites the symphony nicely.

The Egmont Overture is one of those pieces that you hear all the time, but probably don't know by name. It's grand, it's frantic at times, it plays with dynamics so very well. I found myself consistently thinking about how modern pop (in all of its derivations) lacks dynamics and how disappointing this can be when you listen to a piece with great dynamic control. Perhaps it's the fact that we call just turn our ipods up to eleven in order to ignore our over-crowded bus/subway in the morning, or due to the electrification of all things sonic, but nothing can create tonal imagery quite like the fantastic use of dynamics. Beethoven was a master of this, all the more impressive for a man who was deaf. And if you doubt that dynamics are important, listen to "A Day in the Life" by the Beatles, even though for the most part the piece the volume steady, there are two major crescendos that wash over the listener.


Tomorrow brings the return of Wagner, and the beginning of the final opera of the Ring cycle.