Breakfast - Beethoven's no. 8

 


I often describe the symphony as "spielerisch" or playful. Although the opening theme of the 1st movement starts with a grand forte and vivace, the whole opus reminds one of the light hearted evenings of Vienna or the symphonic themes of his one time teacher, Papa Haydn. But above all this, it seems that Beethoven was telling us to take a deep breath, inhale (hinga muna), that eerie stillness and easy air before the coming of something gigantic -- the 9th.
It was also the time when his mental faculties were greatly undermined by the deafness that engulfed him. Beethoven relied on a small notebook where people he conversed with could write their messages. He was by then getting detached with humanity because of this disability. He never really heard his last symphonies. Indeed tragic to anyone whose life is music.
In the end, it's the same humanity he chose to do a "common union" , immortalizing with his music, the verses of Schiller that heralds the brotherhood of all men.

Happy Birthday!
Pasig City. December 2020




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