Who are you?

[Teresa]

Originally posted by Anthina:
wow those posts are amazing. It's good to know people a bit better.

I'm Anthina, 20, from Germany and I've been a musician all my life. My dad's a musician and so my parents enrolled me at music school at the age of 6 and I started to play clarinet at the age of 8 (although I wanted to learn violin but my dad thought the first years would be a nightmare so I didn't..I'm pretty happy with clarinet now). With 14 my clarinet teacher put me into a clarinet chamber trio with bassethorn (basically playing Mozart) and we toured around Europe gaining a lot of experiences by doing workshops etc. By that time I started asking myself why we always play Mozart or Stamitz and never for example BEETHOVEN. I started researching and discovered Beethoven bit by bit. And it was amazing how that music moved me. I know there are still pieces I haven't listend to and it's fantastic to discover those.

When I graduated from school my plans were moving to the UK and study. So I did but after a couple of months I was forced to move back to germany due to fatal illness of my mother (yes, I am sharing this sad commonality with young beethoven and it's really weird to think about his situation being so similar to mine, well I am not a composer but by the human side...). My mother passed away soon afterwards and now I have to plan everything new. However my clarinet teacher somehow heard from all this and offered me to take me back as a student. So life's going on with music and still being young there are a lot of chances.
I don't think a life without music could be possible and everything in my family is about music. I've recently discovered a composer of the 18th century bearing my last name and being from the same part my family came from. So now I try to find out wheter I am related to that composer or not

For me Beethoven resolves the greatest composer ever having influenced my way of understanding music more than anyone else!

Anthina,

Thank you for starting this thread and for sharing your own story. Which composer are you possibly related to? Or are you telling yet?

In a similar vein, I went to a small crafts store here in Virginia a couple of weeks ago to have a print framed, and the salesperson who helped me was related to the composer Bedrich Smetana! I noticed his name tag and of course, had to ask, and sure enough, he was related. The only famous person that I know of that I can claim as a relative is Albert Einstein, and believe me, it hasn't helped me yet, if you know what I mean

Regards,
Teresa

[robert newman]

Hi, Anthina

Yes, it's really interesting to know something of others who love music with such passion that they can discuss it.

Your comments on Beethoven are so nice.

And you mention the possibility of a family ancestor having been a composer. This is fascinating since the other day I was talking to someone about the subject of whether talent is to some extent a genetically inherited thing. (We know of course that environment and opportunity are definite factors). Anyway, he showed me a book (written by someone who was by profession a bridge building civil engineer) in which the writer noted that he had recently made enquiries about his family history, only to discover to his amazement that one ancestor back in the 17th century had built two bridges and another (from another branch of the same family) had been responsible for another bridge built in the early 19th century). But the author of that book had known nothing about these two ancestors before he made such enquiries. Very unusual stuff of course. Possibly a coincidence (since almost everyone has ancestors that must be related to royalty at one time or another).

Please tell me if you will which German manufacturers of clarinets you know of ? (I played with one made in Paris, by Buffet Crampon).

Best regards


p.s. I've spent the best part of the last two holidays reading a quite detailed account of the exploratory vogages of the great Captain Cookto the South Seas, closing it at the end of his second vogage today on his return to England in April 1775. What a truly great man !


[This message has been edited by robert newman (edited 04-18-2006).]

[cosplusisin]

I don't know if many of you remember me, I never quite "got into" this whole community, mostly reading, but not posting. Only posting a few posts a year or so, but I still feel a little like I belong here, and in another way, I think you might find my (musical) story interesting (since it's so different from the others who've already posted), so that's why I'm posting here now.

I came to Beethoven's music from first getting into music through rock music. Heh.. it started as a kid with bands like Nirvana, but I grew a little bit (though I still enjoy their melodies), and discovered Tool. Most of you probably don't know them - they're fairly heavy (as in "metal"), but very complex, which sparked my interest in harmonies and interesting rhythms. Soon after that was Radiohead, who I still enjoy a whole lot... and I mean a whole lot. And Pink Floyd. That was all before 2000 or so. And then for the next 4 years, I didn't really "discover" any new music, but then I took music 101 in my university (just 2 years ago). It was a good fit, because my whole musical life (started around 11 years of age or so) I knew I need to "get around to" getting into "classical". I learned about a lot of different music, but the one that really stood out. Really above everything else.. was... yes, Beethoven. It was the moonlight sonata, and the 5th symphony (primarily the third movements of both!) which really sealed the deal for me. I'm still on the road of discovery for his music, but so far I've bought complete Symphony (Karajan) and Piano Sonata (Schnabel) sets, and love them. And I think the best piece of music ever written (ok, maybe there's others) is the Appassionata piano sonata, especially the first movement. I mean, wow!
Anyway, I have since become a huge Neil Young fan, which might sound pretty weird to some of you, but I don't know. I like being able to sort of wear two hats, and live in two different musical worlds. I write my own music, too. Half of it is simple singer/songwriter ditties, and the other half is more serious "compositions", though it doesn't even approach anything "real"... I can't even read music, I just play by ear. Oh yes, that is guitar and piano (keyboard with "piano" sound, actually). I'm 24, and I'm seriously thinking about trying to make it as a musician, because it really is my passion, but for now, I'm a grad student in Math at the University of Alberta way over in Edmonton, Canada. Yeah, I just thought this story might be an interesting different point of view for some of you. As it is now, I think of Beethoven, Neil Young, and the members of Radiohead as the best musicians I've been exposed to. That's in writing abilities, not necessarily in technical skill, of course. An odd mix, I'm sure.

[Rod]

Originally posted by cosplusisin:
I don't know if many of you remember me, I never quite "got into" this whole community, mostly reading, but not posting. Only posting a few posts a year or so, but I still feel a little like I belong here, and in another way, I think you might find my (musical) story interesting (since it's so different from the others who've already posted), so that's why I'm posting here now.

I came to Beethoven's music from first getting into music through rock music. Heh.. it started as a kid with bands like Nirvana, but I grew a little bit (though I still enjoy their melodies), and discovered Tool. Most of you probably don't know them - they're fairly heavy (as in "metal"), but very complex, which sparked my interest in harmonies and interesting rhythms. Soon after that was Radiohead, who I still enjoy a whole lot... and I mean a whole lot. And Pink Floyd. That was all before 2000 or so. And then for the next 4 years, I didn't really "discover" any new music, but then I took music 101 in my university (just 2 years ago). It was a good fit, because my whole musical life (started around 11 years of age or so) I knew I need to "get around to" getting into "classical". I learned about a lot of different music, but the one that really stood out. Really above everything else.. was... yes, Beethoven. It was the moonlight sonata, and the 5th symphony (primarily the third movements of both!) which really sealed the deal for me. I'm still on the road of discovery for his music, but so far I've bought complete Symphony (Karajan) and Piano Sonata (Schnabel) sets, and love them. And I think the best piece of music ever written (ok, maybe there's others) is the Appassionata piano sonata, especially the first movement. I mean, wow!
Anyway, I have since become a huge Neil Young fan, which might sound pretty weird to some of you, but I don't know. I like being able to sort of wear two hats, and live in two different musical worlds. I write my own music, too. Half of it is simple singer/songwriter ditties, and the other half is more serious "compositions", though it doesn't even approach anything "real"... I can't even read music, I just play by ear. Oh yes, that is guitar and piano (keyboard with "piano" sound, actually). I'm 24, and I'm seriously thinking about trying to make it as a musician, because it really is my passion, but for now, I'm a grad student in Math at the University of Alberta way over in Edmonton, Canada. Yeah, I just thought this story might be an interesting different point of view for some of you. As it is now, I think of Beethoven, Neil Young, and the members of Radiohead as the best musicians I've been exposed to. That's in writing abilities, not necessarily in technical skill, of course. An odd mix, I'm sure.

Your story reminds me much of my own, I was a hard core AC/DC fan when I went to university (still am by the way) and purely by chance I was exposed to the moonlight sonata, which I had heard before but never really listened to. It was performed on a comedy CD by Dudley Moore of all people. I didn't even know who the composer was until my then girlfriend told me (she was a rock/classical fan)

That was about 20 years back. I sampled other composers via the radio but none had Beethoven's effect on me until about five or six years ago when I 'discovered' Handel (only through the listening booths in Borders because they never played this stuff on BBC Radio 3 or classic FM!). Just Beethoven and Handel for me still today, and AC/DC. An odd mix I'm sure!

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"If I were but of noble birth..." - Rod Corkin

[Lazza]

Originally posted by ASSelby:

Hello Fellow Australian. Congratulations to your daughter.

Agnes Selby

[/B]

Thanks for the welcome, Agnes.

[Anthina]

Originally posted by robert newman:
Hi, Anthina

And you mention the possibility of a family ancestor having been a composer. This is fascinating since the other day I was talking to someone about the subject of whether talent is to some extent a genetically inherited thing. (We know of course that environment and opportunity are definite factors). Anyway, he showed me a book (written by someone who was by profession a bridge building civil engineer) in which the writer noted that he had recently made enquiries about his family history, only to discover to his amazement that one ancestor back in the 17th century had built two bridges and another (from another branch of the same family) had been responsible for another bridge built in the early 19th century). But the author of that book had known nothing about these two ancestors before he made such enquiries. Very unusual stuff of course. Possibly a coincidence (since almost everyone has ancestors that must be related to royalty at one time or another).

Please tell me if you will which German manufacturers of clarinets you know of ? (I played with one made in Paris, by Buffet Crampon).

Dear Robert,
a fellow clarinet player, fantastic german manufacturers, I would say go for Schreiber or Wurlitzer. Schreiber is very well-known for good quality student instruments (you can get a nice Schreiber for around 2000€). Wurlitzer is the professional category and a "cheap" Wurlitzer will cost you around 8000€ up to no limit. I don't really know about other manufacturers as those two are the main ones.
Assuming you are not german you probably played Boehm system, right? Like 98% of the world's clarinet players..I don't know if Schreiber and Wurlitzer manufacture Boehm clarinets..I think so..it's only germany and austria playing german system. What reed do you use and do you remember which clarinet book you used when learning how to play? I've been learning from Carl Bärmann's Clarinet School and I advice anyone thinking about learning to use that book. It was first published in 1780 I think and still contains the original comments and teaching instructions. Highly amusing.

About my possible composing ancestor: I haven't gotten far yet. The composer is said to be polish but my family is german. But given the fact my family originally being from Kingdom of Prussia and the constant move of borders between Poland and Germany it's possible him being german. Also my last name being not very common it could be possible (although a friend of mine being a Schubert and another being a Wagner they are not related at all..I also know someone called "Motzhart", the original form of "Mozart"). All very confusing.


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*~Ja, was haben's da scho wieder gmacht, Beethoven?~*

[robert newman]

Dear Anthina,

I'm away from my usual desk so I'll have to answer briefly. My mother's ancestors were German - a branch coming to England in the early 17th century and lived for centuries in the southwest of England near Plymouth. (Some of them, even in the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries remained oil painters like the Cranach's of Germany, the name being more normally 'Cranch' here but not nearly so famous. One was a miniaturist).

Can't answer in detail now about clarinets but would love to chat about them some time. My favourite players (for great recordings) is perhaps Karl Leister or Gervaise de Peyer and Jack Brymer also.

You mention Poland/Germany etc. Yes, musicians from areas of modern Czech Republic and from Poland had a huge part in Viennna's musical history as you know. (I note the recent discovery in a rural Polish church of two manuscripts from the late 18th century containing first movements of none other than symphonies still attributed to both Haydn and Mozart).

Here in the UK student clarinets/reeds may be made by people like Selmer, Yamaha or, say Boosey and Hawkes.

Regards

[Shamai]

Hi,

I found this lovely site and forum just few weeks ago. I am 43 yrs old, by profession electronics and systems engineer. Since childhood i liked music: beatles, pink floyd, led zeppelin, etc. In the university i discovered classical music, Beethoven and Mozart, and started to develop this new hobby ever since. About 2 years ago i decided to try taking piano lessons for the first time, and that became my bigest hobby now. I also learned to play Beethoven's two light sonata's - (#19 and #20) opus 49. I am playing op49#2 quite well now, and struggling these days with #1... . I think that my interest in Beethoven developed becasue of the music - the melodies, moods, the sudden changes in moods in the music, but also because of the persoanlity, morality, and the ability to strugle - create the most wonderful music without even hearing it.

thanks

Shamai

[atserriotserri]

Well, good evening, I'm 31 yr old, born in Barcelona, Spain & I get the money to buy records and all the other human needs by working as a lawyer.
I've always liked music, since I was a child, all kinds of music. My father transmitted this interest to me. I always rejected radio-formula music and felt more comfortable with rock-hard rock-metal (ranging from, let's say, The Who to Metallica) on one side, and classical music on the other.
On the last times, since I experience enormous problems to find appealing rock records, I'm listening mostly (like 80%) classical music.
I could be defined clearly as a listener, have basic music knowledge, but I've exercised the "ears" far more than the "fingers", which sometimes saddens me.
Since I emancipated (substantial income implied higher budget for records) my classical collection has not ceased to grow, and since my preferred composers were clearly Bach & Chopin, the main columns (speaking about performers) became Gould & Rubinstein.
Now I have +1500 "classical" cds, from medieval dances to Ligeti. I'm classifying them in a database, but I guess that in number of records, the classification would be Bach, Beethoven, Chopin, Mozart, Brahms, Liszt, Vivaldi. Most of it chamber music, almost no sacred music and few operas. I enjoy discussing (some of you know, even though I'm quite shy in such a forum as this, from which I get far more than I give), discovering new composers, new pieces, and when I find enough time, compare different recordings of the same piece as an exercise.
P.S.: My first classical "cassette" was Rossini's overtures by Academy of St. Martin in The Fields. The first Beethoven record I bought as an adult was the Archduke piano trio (rubinstein, heifetz, feuermann).

[Margaretha]

Hi Anthina. Thank you so much for asking. I'm at home recovering from surgery so this is just the thing to cheer me up, talking about myself :-)

I'm married and have a teenage son. After living in Washington State for 16 years, I now find myself in back in California. I haven't decided what to make of it yet. While I decide, I won't be getting rained on-a nice change of pace. When I'm able to work again, I hope to find a nice physicians office to manage. Eventually, I expect I'll end up on a surfboard.

My Mom is Dutch and my father was Polish. I was born in Holland and we moved to east Los Angeles when I was a baby. We listened to all kinds of music when I was growing up. Country AND Western, Classical, lots of British Invasion, R&B and the 'Holland Hour'. My Mom sings and her siblings in Holland have a singing group. My niece sang professionally for a while. I only sing in the car. I have an older sister who made sure I listened to Bob Dylan and Joni Mitchell. She worried about me listening to too much 'Monkees'. My family used to associate me with the Monkees. Now they associate me with Beethoven. When I call they ask me what's new with him :-)

I attempted to learn guitar and piano, which was strangely discouraged by my parents, but sadly I gave up, due to short fingers and ADHD, which I now truly regret.

In 1999 I went back to school, encouraged by a really miserable job, and took a music appreciation course. When we got to the Beethoven section, I just fell in love and have been ever since. I still enjoy other music, but always go back to B. He provides the right music for every mood and every need.

I am so sorry about your Mother.

xox



[This message has been edited by Margaretha (edited 04-19-2006).]

[Steppenwolf]

I am a 26 year old barrister, currently completing a masters degree in civil law at Oxford University. I don't play any instrument, but I want to learn the piano and violin when I get the time. Wagner is my favourite composer, with Bach a close second, and Beethoven a close third. After them I particularly enjoy baroque and German romantic. Classical music is like a spiritual experience for me. Life would be very bleak without it.

I used to come to this site more regularly, but recently I have been too busy to contribute. It is always pleasant to come and drop in. But I have recently been devoting my classical music efforts to a worthwhile cause, having established a Wagnerian music society in my college (Christ Church), and having converted a number of new recruits to the Master's Art!

[Anthina]

Originally posted by robert newman:

Dear Anthina,

I'm away from my usual desk so I'll have to answer briefly. My mother's ancestors were German - a branch coming to England in the early 17th century and lived for centuries in the southwest of England near Plymouth. (Some of them, even in the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries remained oil painters like the Cranach's of Germany, the name being more normally 'Cranch' here but not nearly so famous. One was a miniaturist).

Can't answer in detail now about clarinets but would love to chat about them some time. My favourite players (for great recordings) is perhaps Karl Leister or Gervaise de Peyer and Jack Brymer also.

Yes it's great to have a fellow clarinet player. I am currently playing a reed which has 2 holes in it but it produces the most wonderful sound-it's great.

You mention Karl Leister. I like him aswell. I've got a very nice Mozart cd of him. Though my favourite clarinet player is Sabine Meyer. I had the pleasure to hear her a couple of weeks ago in a Mozart Happy Birthday concert. It was breathtaking believe me. And funny enough in the end I ended up being on stage and handing flowers to Sabine Meyer and her ensemble although I was an ordinary paying guest. I can't go to a concert without being involved you see Well that time I had to hand over the flowers because when I arrived at the concert hall my old clarinet teacher spotted me and we had a huge hello while the director of the music school walked over and it occured they need a young lady who's going to hand over flowers and says thank you. My teacher was grinning at me and so it was a deal. Oh I was so nervous being on that stage with Sabine Meyer in a sold out concert hall.



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*~Ja, was haben's da scho wieder gmacht, Beethoven?~*

[Nightklavier]

Out of all of the people here, I think I might be the weirdest specimen. I'm a 20 year old guy living in North Carolina who has a wide ambition of getting a Ph.D in music history so that I can hopefully teach and/or write about it.

What's weird about me is how I discovered classical music. It all happened when I heard the first movement of the "Moonlight" sonata. If you can believe this, I used to be a punk teenager listening to the likes of Marilyn Manson (!) but when I heard "Moonlight" my life changed. In fact, I was so impressed and in awe that I knew I had to learn it on our old dusty piano that I never touched. Remarkably, (and one of my life-time achievements) is that I listened to the piece over and over and learned to play it on piano without any experience or even knowing how to read music. Basically, I tought myself piano through this. It took about 4 months to teach myself "Moonlight." It was such a long time, but you have to realize I was learning by playing 2 seconds of Moonlight and then playing what I heard on the piano.

When I later compared what I learned by ear with the sheet music, I was astounded (and proud I admit) that I only had a few slight fingering and notational errors. Ever since, I've kept that first movement of "Moonlight" in my repertoire and have been playing it every day for 3 years! Since then, I've also learned the second movement of "Pathetique," the Funeral March movement of Chopin's PS 2 and the Nocturne No. 11 in G minor. I'm working on Liszt's Dante Sonata and Harmonies Poetiques et Religiuses "Pensee des Morts" right now.

Yea, I'm insane for tackling those difficult works because after 3 years I haven't taken a single piano lesson, and instead of sight-reading, I read sheet music very slowly, learning one bar of music a week and playing what I have for months. Basically, I learn in the hardest way by memorization only and with no fingering advice. It's a huge mistake not to get lessons, but I just don't have time right now.

But through this "Moonlight" sonata, I discovered that I actually really loved classical music, especially piano. In the course of 3 years I've voraciously listened to all of the greats with a thorough interest in classical and romantic piano. My favorites are Beethoven, Liszt and Chopin.

Right now, I feel dwarfed by all of these older and more knowledgeable people here, but I have a dream to make this a career and my life. The history of these composers and their works fascinates me so much that I want to major in music history/theory and teach it. I've got a lot to learn, but I'm only 20, and after 3 years of being intimate with classical music, I think I've come pretty far.

I'm also a bit of a nut... you should see my bed room and my study: Beethoven, Mozart, Chopin, and Liszt portraits, busts, hundreds of books (and bookends), a few bobbleheads, a nightlight of Mozart's face, and I've even got custom made bumper stickers. I'm obsessed with these composers to the point of having an actual affection for them =)

[robert newman]

What a great posting Knightklavier !

That's a great ambition you have, to write about the history of Music. I honestly believe music, great music, is not a static thing but unfolds as time unfolds. There can and have been abrupt changes in its history but each development comes from what has been before and is a new expression or emphasis on what is and always has been musical. That's quite different from fashion or popularity.

Developments in music not only match those of science and art through the ages but also reflect the 'zeitgeist' of their times. I personally have no doubt great music is still to be written since, no matter what we think of the age in which we live, history itself is still not finished.

I'm the same as you in many ways. But in my case all I am working for in music is to base what I do on the simplest possible musical interval, that of the octave. To me, the simple octave remains the most marvellous basis for a music yet unwritten and offers possibilities I would like to use. That involves listening a lot to the great composers, reading a lot on lots of different subjects and keeping in touch with other musical and non-musical people. It seems impossible to idolise something which is really true and equally impossible to explain how intuition and creativity works.
One day we will all agree what music is and what it is not. Till then, we must look at things subjectively and even justify ourselves in ways that sound nonsense to others.

Best wishes

Robert

[Peter]

Originally posted by Nightklavier:
Out of all of the people here, I think I might be the weirdest specimen. I'm a 20 year old guy living in North Carolina who has a wide ambition of getting a Ph.D in music history so that I can hopefully teach and/or write about it.

I think your story is a real inspiration - I've no doubt with your enthusiasm and dedication you will succeed - quite remarkable and thanks for sharing it with us!

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'Man know thyself'