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April
Issue |
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Keep
making your own music!
Ludwig van Beethoven (1770–1827) was a famous composer. He
started going deaf in 1800. He had to use his “inner ear” -
his memory of sounds - to compose his great music.
His Ninth Symphony is the longest symphony ever written.* It closes
with a choir singing the “Ode to Joy”. He took 10 years
to compose it. Here was Beethoven, deaf, but demanding that the choir
sing about joy!
When the Symphony was first played on 7 May 1824, in Vienna, the
audience loved it. However, he could not hear them. A singer had
to turn him round so he could see them cheering.
But many of the music critics made bad remarks about the Symphony.
It was music completely new at that time.
To include a choir was innovative. In fact it was shocking. It was
the first time in history such a thing had ever been done. Because
it involved singing, it was only part symphony. It was a mixture
the critics were not comfortable with.
One conductor called the piece “tasteless”. A composer
called the grand finale “badly set”.
The critics were even more upset because Beethoven had not followed
the normal form of a symphony. This means the first movement should
be “fast”, the second movement “slow”, the
third movement “dance” and the fourth movement “fast”.
Beethoven broke the rules with his Ninth Symphony.
Today, Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony is accepted all over the
world as one of the greatest pieces of music ever composed. But why
was there so much criticism when it first came out?
The reason is that the Ninth Symphony was a new approach to music
at that time. The people were used to music composed in a certain
way. So when Beethoven invented a different form, the critics did
not like it.
There is a lesson here for every one of us.
We are asked to be innovative. We are asked to think of new ways
of doing things. We are asked to look out for better ways of doing
things. We are asked to dare to be different.
When we try to do things in a new way or to do new things, there
will be people who do not like it. This is because they are not comfortable
with it. They are used to doing things in one way. They are not able
to look at things in a different way. They will say unhelpful things.
When this happens, remember Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony!
If your idea is good, you should not worry about all the bad remarks.
With time, people will see how good your idea is.
So keep thinking... keep trying… keep doing… keep making
your own music!
Lim Siong Guan Head, Civil Service
*For those who wonder why the CD has a normal playing length of 74
minutes, there is a story that it was chosen so that it would be
long enough to record all of the Ninth Symphony. |
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