Little Thinkers (7 of 16) Ludwig van Beethoven

Greetings to our blog readers in the Czech Republic, The Bahamas and Laos (?!, well, we have gotten at least one hit from there before).

Tonight, we quote the great German composer Ludwig van Beethoven, whom us Generation X'ers became familiar with in some part because his music is featured prominently in Stanley Kubrick's film version of "A Clockwork Orange" (1971), which was originally a novel by Anthony Burgess.

Those who like to listen to classic music on the radio may want to tune to the American daily public radio series "Performance Today," which airs on WFDD (88.5-FM; Winston-Salem, NC), and other public radio stations.

For those who want to see classical music up close and personal and happy to reside in the Denver-area, The Colorado Symphony is offering a companion concert series this weekend to the Denver Art Museum's "Passport to Paris." Among the pieces that the symphony will perform will be several from Frederick Chopin.

Here is our quote from Ludwig van:

"Nothing is more intolerable than to have to admit your own errors."

SIDEBAR: Those of us on the east coast probably didn't get a chance to watch the University of California-Santa Barbara Gauchos (10-5; 1-1 in the Big West) win their home game versus the Long Beach State '49ers (5-12; 1-2 in the Big West)  by a score of  64-51. The Gauchos were lead by Michael Brayson (soph. Sacramento, Calif.) who scored 13 points. His teammate Alan Williams (jr. Phoenix, Ariz.) had a double-double with 12 points and 15 rebounds. For the visitors, Mike Caffey (jr., Corona, Calif.) scored 21 points. The game aired nationally on ESPN-U.

http://www.wfdd.org

http://www.coloradosymphony.org

http://www.ucsbgauchos.com

http://www.longbeachstate.com

Quote from The Composers- Frederich Chopin

Frederich Chopin (1810-1849) is yet another iconic symbol who died all too young at age 39, which means as a 40-year-old I've already outlived him. But, despite his very short life, he left behind classic works like "The Revolutionary Etude," "The Minute Waltz" and "The Funeral March."

The cause of Chopin's death has been a source of controversy. At the time, it was believed to be tuberculosis, which Chopin believed he was dying from, but more recent research suggests it may have been cystic fibrosis which took him to an all too early grave.

Chopin was also a great master of Romantic music, and since he had parents who were Polish and French, both Poland and France claim him as one of their own.

Here is his quote, which we initially forgot to put in for the first draft of this entry:

"Simplicity is the final achievement. After one has played a vast quantity of notes and more notes, it is simplicity that emerges as the crowning reward of art."

SIDEBAR: As for some radically different kind of music, we reported on our other blog that we were actually contemplating going to a concert from the heavy metal band GWAR while we were in Washington, DC, at the fabled 9:30 Club in late December. As it turns out, the band will be performing at The Lincoln Theatre in Raleigh, NC, which is closer to home, on Feb. 17, but alas, I have to work that night. And, I'm not sure my soon-to-be-41-year-old ears could handle the noise!