Disc 279 is...Symphonies Nos. 2 and 5
Artist: Ludwig Van Beethoven
Year of Release: 1802 (Symphony No. 2) and 1808 (Symphony No. 5)
What’s Up With The Cover?: Not surprisingly, a pleasant little classical painting. This one is "Grape Harvest at Heiligenstadt" by Baltasar Wigand. It was painted around 1820. Significant, because Heiligenstadt is near Vienna, and music lovers go there during wine season to take in Beethovenhaus. Or so I am advised by some travel website by a guy named Rick Steves, a fairly well known writer of travel guides.
As a person who enjoys using classic art for covers for mixed CDs from time to time, I heartily approve of this cover for doing what I would do.
How I Came To Know It: Um...it's Beethoven. I bought this because I wanted some Beethoven, this one had not only his most famous work, but the 2nd Symphony as well, and it advertised "Triple D" production value (see top right of photo). Many years ago a former coworker pointed out to me to look for this as a sign of higher quality recording. Classical music in particular can be a crapshoot on this front, so I was pleased this one worked out.
How It Stacks Up: These are the only two of Beethoven's Symphonies that I have, and they are both awesome. I am going to go with the obvious though, and put No. 5 ahead of No. 2.
Rating: 5 stars.
Again, classical music brings me face to face with my utter lack of knowledge of this genre. Except to say off the top that I know when I like the sound of something, and these two symphonies are absolutely incredible.
Of the two, No. 2 is a little bit more of an easy listen, with beautifully soft horn and violin sections, and No. 5 is the more memorable, with a bit more jump for the modern ear to catch hold of.
It is fitting I should roll this album now, as I recently had an inspirational experience relating to Beethoven's 5th while channel surfing waiting for a hockey game to come on. I don't know what possessed me to go to PBS to see something called "Discover Beethoven's 5th" but there I went.
For the next fifty minutes (I missed the beginning) I was enthralled as I sat and listened to something called the Discovery Orchestra, directed by George Mariner Maull, an affable conductor who takes a live audience through a discovery of classical music, breaking down each piece and showing you why it is pleasing to the ear, and how it works.
Because of this program, I learned what a Sonata is constructed of (an Exposition, a Development and a Capitulation), how he uses syncopation and (for that matter) what syncopation even is. In short, I got an inside look at exactly why Beethoven's 5th is so pleasing to the ear. It was like "Classic Albums" for the classics.
All this dissecting of the music might incline some to think you'd ruin its spontaneity to the ear, but the reverse was true. The show only covered the first movement, but as soon as it was over, I wanted to rush over and listen to the 5th over and over again.
Since then I've forgotten 90% of what Mr. Maull so energetically taught me, but it reinvigorated my love for this piece, and listening to it for the last couple of days was the reactive agent I needed to cement my love in place for what is one of the greatest pieces of music ever written.
I won't steal the Discovery Orchestra's thunder any further - if you want a small taste you can see a five minute youtube trailer for the concert here. Of course, to see the whole thing, you need to buy it from pbs - something I just might end up doing when I am again 'with job.' In the meantime, if you see it on your TV schedule do yourself a favour and PVR it.
In the meantime, if you don't own any classical music and are wondering wear to start, you can't do much better than a little of the old Ludwig Van. It will mess with your gulliver - but in a good way. Just remember to get the whole Sonata, not some 5 minute piece of it. Doing that to classical music is a crime against humanity.
For sentimental reasons I'll always regard Tchaikovsky as my favourite classical composer (you always remember your first), but if I were to take personal bias out of the equation, I can't see anyone matching these two works by Beethoven - especially the 5th. Incredible stuff, that still inspires the emotions to new heights over two hundred years after they were written.
Best tracks: Um...you can't really have a best track in this genre - they're meant to all go together in one listen.
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