TOCHER AUS ELYSIUM...

Today is Beethoven's birthday.  According to tradition, Schroeder is celebrating by playing his piano sonata #31 in A-flat, op 110 ("Alone!" he emphasizes to Lucy!). 

Life can be filled with tragedy, and Beethoven's life of deafness is surely a great example, especially if (as has been plausibly suggested, it was caused by eating from clay-fired bowls that were decorated with lead-based paint that leached into the ceramic and the lead thence into his system).  He insisted on conducting even when he could no longer hear:  including the premiere of his Ninth Symphony.  The 2nd movement got a standing ovation (in those days, it was acceptable to applaud after every movement and even call for an encore of it)--but Beethoven was lost and was still "conducting" even after the orchestra finished playing.  His back was to the audience, and so he could not hear their approval until one of the singers took him by the hand and turned him around to face the cheering.

Below is not that 2nd movement, nor is it the famous finale ("Ode to Joy").  Instead, it is my favorite portion of the symphony:  the slow 3rd movement.  There is incredible beauty (really mystical) here--let this be a chance to "smell the flowers" with the ears for about 10 minutes and give thanks that when Beethoven realized his deafness was progressive and incurable, he did not commit suicide (as he was contemplating) but instead chose to live until he could bring forth all that he felt was within him to produce (his words, from the Heiligenstadt Testament).  ENJOY!