The "One Of The World's Musical Superstars Turns 250 Years Old" Story

It was an ordinary day.  Was leafing through the latest "Signals" catalog when I saw an advertise- ment for a Solar Beethoven.  Said you should put the statue where the sun shines or beneath a lighted lamp and he'll wave his baton!  Ludwig van Beethoven was born in 1770 which makes 2020 his 250th birthday year.  This past March, performers with the Berlin State Opera took to their balconies to sing excerpts from his heroic Ninth Symphony.  

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Then in May, despite lockdowns and a pandemic, officials reopened the Beethoven-Haus, his childhood home in the center of Bonn, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.   Much has been written about van Beethoven, but one interesting story I found reported that in 1825, while recuperating from a near-death experience, Beethoven composed one of the most profound pieces of music in Western History.  His musical piece is known as The Holy Song of Thanksgiving which suggests a quiet conversation between God and a man making  his peace with his Creator despite the deafness with which he has been cursed.  Music lovers around the world know the music composition as "the Heiliger Dankesang."  Beethoven's full description of the original score is: "Heiliger Dankgesang vines Genesenen an die Gottheit, in Der lydischen Tonart" which translates to "Holy Song of Thanksgiving by a Convalescent to the Divinity, in the Lydian Mode."

Ludwig van Beethoven

Beethoven wrote the movement to offer thanks for being alive, despite having gone completely deaf, the worst possible fate for a composer and musician.  Parts of the piece he labeled "Feeling new strength," since he had recently survived a near-fatal illness.  Beethoven would pass away two years later after completing the last of his string quartets, which many believe form the summit of Western music.  I read many stories about his last great composition and writers said, "Start listening to the Heiliger Dankgesang and reality seems to hold its breath and wait."  My favorite composition written by Ludwig van Beethoven is his Symphony No. 5 in C minor, Op. 67 which was written between 1804 and 1808.  It is one of the best-known compositions in classical music, and one of the most frequently played symphonies.  What I probably enjoy the most is the opening four notes.  As soon as you hear those notes you know you are in for one of the biggest musical treats in your life.  The composition premiered in Vienna, but didn't go over well.  Seems that by the time the fifth started, the audience was too tired and cold from the icy winter outside to listen properly.  They didn't see just how great it was.  Over time it became one of his most listened to pieces.  I only wish I could have watched him perform during his lifetime.  During 2020 there have been many celebrations of his life and the only thing that prevented a truly amazing classical music year is the worldwide pandemic that came with lockdowns around the world.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.