| There was a short, pocked-faced, | | | | most music geniuses have not been great |
| plain-looking man walking the streets of | | | | mathematicians and vice versa; Beethoven |
| Vienna in the early 19th century. No | | | | often struggled with basic arithmetic. |
| wonder all women he proposed to rejected | | | | Furthermore Joseph Haydn, the father of |
| him and so he remained single all his | | | | the string quartet, considered it as |
| life. The poor thing! As a boy, much | | | | great conversations with nature. And |
| to the chagrin of his father, he showed | | | | many scholars consider the string |
| no signs of being a child prodigy; he | | | | quartet as the pressure cooker of music, |
| was often crying, as he was forced by | | | | the most demanding musical genre, the |
| his father to play the piano. | | | | brightest jewel in the crown of music. |
| And yet most scholars, musicians, and | | | | It is by far the best medium to write |
| music lovers worldwide would agree with | | | | absolute music. |
| this statement: "A universal genius | | | | Moreover Beethoven spent the last two |
| widely regarded as the greatest composer | | | | and a half years of his life writing |
| who ever lived, Ludvig van Beethoven | | | | nothing but string quartets-Opuses 127, |
| dominates a period of musical history as | | | | 130, 131, 132, and 135-when he was |
| no one else before or since." | | | | totally cut off from society because he |
| (Encyclopaedia Britannica, Volume 14, p | | | | was stone-deaf. Doesn't this fact tell |
| 737a) | | | | us something? He was sensing that his |
| Music scholars and composers consider | | | | life on this gorgeous planet was coming |
| these music genres as the main ones: | | | | to an end; he loved nature deeply and |
| piano sonata, piano concerto, violin | | | | took long walks to gather musical ideas, |
| concerto, opera, mass, symphony, and | | | | which he jotted down using a carpenter's |
| string quartet. Most scholars would | | | | pencil. So he zeroed in on the most |
| agree with my evaluation here: | | | | beautiful medium, the string quartet, to |
| Best piano sonata ever: Beethoven's | | | | express abstract, concise, beautiful |
| Piano Sonata No 29 in Bb, Opus 106, | | | | musical ideas. |
| "Hammerklavier" (1817-18) | | | | Therefore "The five late string quartets |
| Best piano concerto ever: Beethoven's | | | | contain Beethoven's greatest music, or |
| Piano Concerto No 5 in Eb, Opus 87, | | | | so at least many listeners in the 20th |
| "Emperor" (1809) | | | | century came to feel." (The New Grove |
| Best violin concerto ever: Beethoven's | | | | Dictionary of Music and Musicians, |
| Violin Concerto in D, Opus 61 (1806) | | | | Second Edition, 2001, Volume 3, p 106a) |
| Best opera ever: Mozart's Don Giovanni. | | | | Thus to me Beethoven is the greatest |
| But Beethoven's Fidelio, Opus 72 | | | | composer ever and his String Quartet No |
| (c1803-05; 1814), follows very closely. | | | | 14 is the greatest piece of music of all |
| Best mass ever: Beethoven's Missa | | | | time. "...Beethoven next wrote the most |
| Solemnis in D, Opus 123 (1819-23) | | | | closely integrated of all his large |
| Best symphony ever: Beethoven's Symphony | | | | compositions. From this point of view, |
| No 9 in d, Opus 125, "Choral" (1822-24), | | | | the Quartet of C# minor op. 131 may be |
| or his Symphony No 5 in c, Opus 67 | | | | seen as the culmination of his |
| (1807-08) | | | | significant effort as a composer ever |
| Best string quartet ever: String Quartet | | | | since going to Vienna. The seven |
| No 14 in c#, Opus 131 (1826). | | | | movements [c#-D-(b)-A-E-g#-c#] run |
| The string quartet is my favorite music | | | | continuously into one another, and for |
| genre because it's the most concise and | | | | the first time in Beethoven's music |
| elegant of all music genres-it expresses | | | | there is an emphatic and unmistakable |
| deep thoughts and ideas in a few | | | | thematic connection between the first |
| phrases, just as mathematics expresses | | | | movement and the last-not a |
| the deep secrets of the universe using a | | | | reminiscence, but a functional parallel |
| few symbols. The languages of music and | | | | which helps bind the whole work |
| mathematics have the same ground of | | | | together. A work of the deepest |
| being. But even though there have been | | | | subtlety and beauty.... |
| a few people fluent in both languages, | | | | |