Jim Henderson <nos### [at] nospamcom> wrote:
> On Wed, 21 Jan 2009 23:07:05 -0500, nemesis wrote:
>
> > "triple_r" <nomail@nomail> wrote:
> >> Jim Henderson <nos### [at] nospamcom> wrote:
> >> > > Dunno. What's he sound like?
> >> >
> >> > His later work is loud, largely due to his deafness.  Check out his
> >> > fifth symphony (a very well known work) or the 9th.
> >>
> >> Or his late string quartets (~Op. 127-135), some of the last music he
> >> wrote, not to mention some of the best.
> >
> > I don't know what loudness you guys are talking about.  If you're
> > talking about dynamics of expression, Beethoven always had a passion for
> > very contrasting dynamics.  His music is filled with passion and extreme
> > emotional states, even from before deafness:  going from pianissimo to
> > fortissimo and vice-versa -- using the full dynamic range the developing
> > piano-forte allowed in contrast with the older harpsichord.  How can you
> > convey passion without dynamics?
>
> Have you heard Barber's "Adagio for Strings"?  Very passionate piece of
> music (I've been fortunate enough to perform it as a member of an
> orchestra), and while there is one notable section that is has a very
> strong fortissimo, the quiet sections aren't any less passionate.
>
> > Think Beethoven is loud?  Ever heard Wagner?  But yes, not too many
> > people enjoyed his "savage" sounds, like Chopin once put it.
>
> I regularly listen to the entire "Ring" cycle.  Beethoven's loudness is
> very different from Wagner's, but it is no less pronounced.  The final
> movement of the 9th symphony is kinda the epitome of this, but the later
> works definitely have fewer quiet places than his earlier works.
>
> Particularly when comparing the different periods of music the two
> composed in; I could as easily argue that Beethoven is quiet as a mouse
> compared to Aaron Copland, Howard Hanson, Igor Stravinsky, or Antonin
> Dvorak.  The four of them are much more modern composers than Beethoven.
> Compared to his contemporaries, Beethoven was quite loud.
>
> This is not to say Beethoven wasn't absolutely brilliant.  It was, and I
> listen to my collection of the 9 symphonies about as often as I listen to
> the Wagner.  There is a lot of musical variety just in those 9 works of
> his.
>
> Jim

Beethoven?
to understand what we are talking about... ;-)

Mp3:

Sinfonia n 5 in Do minore op. 67, 1950, De Sabata Victor


Sinfonia n 8 in Fa maggiore op. 93, 1951, De Sabata, Victor


link: http://www.liberliber.it/audioteca/b/beethoven/index.htm







--
Carlo

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