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How do you perceive genius? Have you ever met a genius face-to-face? Have you carried on a conversation with a genius, gone on a date with one, or lived in a household with one? In most accounts, allowances must be made for genius. In some instances, people would practically bend over backwards (as the saying goes) for a person who was an acknowledged genius. But in the end, it comes down to the question of who/what is genius?
I’ve met a variety of people throughout my 70 years who were considered genius. I can say with certitude that I know none who fit that definition now, although I know creative people who, in some instances, have created works of art within their field that could be considered genius. These were pieces that influenced their type of artwork for many years after their creation.
But what works of genius would you think of if you were asked to define a pinnacle work of genius? As someone who was a musician for more than a decade, my thoughts most often turn to musical genius – the tones, melodies and pure visions that music can create within the human brain while it is listened to. Of the many works I’ve had the joy of hearing, I come back to one stunning and sterling work that I would keep, if I had to give away every other piece of music in my personal collection or in my head. That work? The Ninth Symphony of Ludwig van Beethoven.
Composed between mid-1822 and the end of 1823, it premiered in Vienna’s Theater Kärntnertor on May 7, 1824. The actual notice for the premier was only published the day before the performance, so many who would have packed the audience were away at their country houses, enjoying the early days of summer. There are contradictions about what Beethoven wore, when the first standing ovation occurred; even who conducted the performance. However as it concluded, Michael Umlauf (generally attributed to have been the actual conductor of the orchestra), gently took the composer’s arm while Beethoven was still conducting the musicians, turning him to face the audience – all standing and cheering. It was undoubtedly the first performance of what would become one of the world’s most celebrated pieces of music. The fact that Beethoven never actually heard a single note of the music, doesn’t change the immense gift of music that his brilliance gave to the audience both then and now.
As the daughter of a classically-trained concert pianist and a man who adored opera and musical theater, I was heavily exposed to music as I was growing up. I tried learning the piano – disaster. It wasn’t that I couldn’t learn it – I can still play the keyboard to this day. It was that it simply didn’t sing to me. My cousin Andrea became the pianist in the family, getting an MA in music from Boston University and still, to this day, playing her grand piano daily, before going out to take care of the horses and other livestock on her rural Colorado home.
I, loving music but not the keyboard (although that might have been due to instructors and the ability of my smaller hands to reach much past one octave), changed course. I started playing the cello when I was 10 years old. That became my love until I entered college, when I realized that I wanted to become an archaeologist. I felt that lugging a cello along on a dig would be past ridiculous, so I sacrificed my music for the dirt. But the fact that I no longer played music in no way negated my love for it and my deep love for Beethoven. One of the best things I did for my boyfriend (later to become husband) was introduce him to all nine symphonies of Beethoven. As most people do, he fell in love with them - that incredible musical gift.
Why do we reach for music when we stretch out for something to cling to? In my most unhappy of times, I usually found myself reaching for my collection of Beethoven once again. Any of the Symphonies, or all of them in order, are guaranteed to return stability to me once again. Music gives me hope that people, no matter how silly, self-centered, or evil they can be; people are still capable of extraordinary things. These sounds, these melodies that create visions in the listener, calm my heart, and bring tears to my eyes; these sounds are an auditory confirmation of life itself. Everyone who loves music – any style or type of music – is my brother, my sister, my cousin or my friend. There is commonality between us through the sounds that we listen to and appreciate. It is that love that allows me to love others, both despite and in spite of the silly, stupid and sometimes horrible things that people do.
While the bombs fall on Ukraine, I remind myself that I cannot hate all Russians for the actions of their military. The Russians also gave us Tchaikovsky and Stravinsky. Do I have a problem with the current Chinese dictator? Well, yes, I have a lot of problems with him, but there’s also Tan Dun and Qigong Chen – wonderful composers. So, as we continue to live in a world of strife, perhaps take a serious look at what you like. Literature, music, artwork, it’s all there. It’s still being created by wonderful, talented people who didn’t choose their place of birth. Celebrate the artists instead of condemning the nations in which they reside. If all else fails, recover hope by listening to the symphony that Beethoven never actually heard in real life, only in his head and through the bottoms of his feet as he conducted the orchestra playing his masterpiece.
I’ve met a variety of people throughout my 70 years who were considered genius. I can say with certitude that I know none who fit that definition now, although I know creative people who, in some instances, have created works of art within their field that could be considered genius. These were pieces that influenced their type of artwork for many years after their creation.
But what works of genius would you think of if you were asked to define a pinnacle work of genius? As someone who was a musician for more than a decade, my thoughts most often turn to musical genius – the tones, melodies and pure visions that music can create within the human brain while it is listened to. Of the many works I’ve had the joy of hearing, I come back to one stunning and sterling work that I would keep, if I had to give away every other piece of music in my personal collection or in my head. That work? The Ninth Symphony of Ludwig van Beethoven.
Composed between mid-1822 and the end of 1823, it premiered in Vienna’s Theater Kärntnertor on May 7, 1824. The actual notice for the premier was only published the day before the performance, so many who would have packed the audience were away at their country houses, enjoying the early days of summer. There are contradictions about what Beethoven wore, when the first standing ovation occurred; even who conducted the performance. However as it concluded, Michael Umlauf (generally attributed to have been the actual conductor of the orchestra), gently took the composer’s arm while Beethoven was still conducting the musicians, turning him to face the audience – all standing and cheering. It was undoubtedly the first performance of what would become one of the world’s most celebrated pieces of music. The fact that Beethoven never actually heard a single note of the music, doesn’t change the immense gift of music that his brilliance gave to the audience both then and now.
As the daughter of a classically-trained concert pianist and a man who adored opera and musical theater, I was heavily exposed to music as I was growing up. I tried learning the piano – disaster. It wasn’t that I couldn’t learn it – I can still play the keyboard to this day. It was that it simply didn’t sing to me. My cousin Andrea became the pianist in the family, getting an MA in music from Boston University and still, to this day, playing her grand piano daily, before going out to take care of the horses and other livestock on her rural Colorado home.
I, loving music but not the keyboard (although that might have been due to instructors and the ability of my smaller hands to reach much past one octave), changed course. I started playing the cello when I was 10 years old. That became my love until I entered college, when I realized that I wanted to become an archaeologist. I felt that lugging a cello along on a dig would be past ridiculous, so I sacrificed my music for the dirt. But the fact that I no longer played music in no way negated my love for it and my deep love for Beethoven. One of the best things I did for my boyfriend (later to become husband) was introduce him to all nine symphonies of Beethoven. As most people do, he fell in love with them - that incredible musical gift.
Why do we reach for music when we stretch out for something to cling to? In my most unhappy of times, I usually found myself reaching for my collection of Beethoven once again. Any of the Symphonies, or all of them in order, are guaranteed to return stability to me once again. Music gives me hope that people, no matter how silly, self-centered, or evil they can be; people are still capable of extraordinary things. These sounds, these melodies that create visions in the listener, calm my heart, and bring tears to my eyes; these sounds are an auditory confirmation of life itself. Everyone who loves music – any style or type of music – is my brother, my sister, my cousin or my friend. There is commonality between us through the sounds that we listen to and appreciate. It is that love that allows me to love others, both despite and in spite of the silly, stupid and sometimes horrible things that people do.
While the bombs fall on Ukraine, I remind myself that I cannot hate all Russians for the actions of their military. The Russians also gave us Tchaikovsky and Stravinsky. Do I have a problem with the current Chinese dictator? Well, yes, I have a lot of problems with him, but there’s also Tan Dun and Qigong Chen – wonderful composers. So, as we continue to live in a world of strife, perhaps take a serious look at what you like. Literature, music, artwork, it’s all there. It’s still being created by wonderful, talented people who didn’t choose their place of birth. Celebrate the artists instead of condemning the nations in which they reside. If all else fails, recover hope by listening to the symphony that Beethoven never actually heard in real life, only in his head and through the bottoms of his feet as he conducted the orchestra playing his masterpiece.
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