Beethoven, who is often bizarre and baroque, takes at times the majestic flight of an eagle, and then creeps in rocky pathways. He first fills the soul with sweet melancholy, and then shatters it by a mass of shattered chords. He seems to harbor together doves and crocodiles.
A review of Beethoven’s First Symphony, Tablettes de Polymnie, Paris, 1810. Cited in: Cited in: James Irsay, “The Complete Beethoven Piano Sonatas–Artur Schnabel”, https://www.loc.gov/static/programs/national-recording-preservation-board/documents/SchnabelBeethovenPianoSonatas.pdf, accessed 19 August 2020.
Harbouring doves and crocodiles
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Conducting gloves
The practice of wearing white gloves whilst conducting was common in the nineteenth century. The Musical times reported in July 1884 that: “A German conductor,” we are told, “in order that the public may be more deeply impressed with the feeling of grief intended to be produced by the Funeral March in Beethoven’s ‘Eroica Symphony,’ wears […]
The significance of the individual “You are an extremely valuable, worthwhile, significant person even though your present circumstances may have you feeling otherwise.” – James Newmann, American mathematician
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