“Anecdotes and maxims are rich treasures to the man of the world.”
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
The universe of classical music is jam-packed with musical anecdotes. Frequently these short narratives delineate subtle stories that highlight specific traits of a classical composer or a performer. Often humorous, anecdotes of classical composers don’t simply provoke laughter but can reveal a more general and subtle truth. We find Sophia Corri escaping her inattentive husband in an empty harp case, Beethoven being thrown in jail for vagrancy, and Rossini and Pavarotti both cooking their favorite meals. Napoleon gave free reign to his infatuation with an opera singer, Bach was challenged to a duel, and Frederick the Great had not only a great passion for music but also for a handsome Lieutenant in the Royal Guard. A musical anecdote is part of the process of telling a story, but it means sharing an experience with someone and not simply supplying him or her with information. And don’t worry, embellishment, exaggeration or fictitious invention are all part of the process. Anecdotes of classical composers impart the sense of a lived experience, as they usually involve real people in recognizable places and locations. In fact, musical anecdotes exhibit a special kind of realism and an identifiable historical dimension. Check back with us for more insightful and delightful musical anecdotes.
Ludwig van B. and Franz Schubert resided in the same city for 31 years, but we don’t really have conclusive evidence that they ever met. We do know that they moved in different social circles, and that Schubert admired Beethoven
Throughout the years 1808/09, Beethoven was restlessly moving from apartment to apartment. From October 1808 he resided at the home of Countess Erdödy at Krugerstrasse 1074, in March and April 1809 he took an apartment on the 2nd floor of
It has been said that the total royalties George Gershwin accrued from performances of “Summertime” from his opera Porgy and Bess are equivalent to the Argentine national debt. Whether there is any truth to that anecdote or not, Gershwin was
When it comes to lawsuits filed by composers, none is more famous than Robert Schumann’s petition for the right to marry his sweetheart Clara Wieck. The lovers had been kept apart for some time, and on 9 April 1839 Clara
On 29 March 1795 Ludwig van Beethoven made his public debut in Vienna. Performing at a charity concert at the Burgtheater, Beethoven appeared as a composer as well as the featured virtuoso. He performed a piano concerto of his own,
A curious entry was found in a Logbook of the Special Court of Aristocrats in Vienna dated 12th November 1791. It states, “Prince Karl Lichnowsky in his case against K.K.Hof Kappelmeister Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, owing to indebtedness of 1,435 Gulden
When we think of a waltz, we think of the big waltzes in the Viennese style – sweeping gestures, sweeping gowns, and a multi-part complex composition. Argentine composer José Antonio Bottiroli (1920-1990), however, reduced the waltz to little works of
Located between the constellation of Virgo to the west and Scorpio to the east, the constellation of Libra was first cataloged by the Greek astronomer Ptolemy in the second century. It is the only zodiac sign not represented by a
