By
the time Ludwig van Beethoven wrote his Ninth Symphony, he was
completely deaf. Legend has it that he used to lie down on the
floor by the piano, to check out the vibrations caused by the
music he was writing. Legend also has it that the composer couldn't
even hear the thunderous applause when he conducted its first
public performance in Vienna -- one of the musicians had to
turn him around to make him 'see' the standing ovation.
Enough talk
-- now listen to Beethoven's
Symphony No. 9 in D minor.
|
Gustav
Mahler wrote the last movement of his Fifth Symphony, and sent
off the manuscript to the
woman who would later become his wife. Alongwith the composition
was his letter in which he proposed to her. As you could have
guessed, she accepted.
Here's the composition that won her heart: Mahler's
Symphony No. 5 in C sharp minor.
|
A
young man once wrote to Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart asking for tips
on how to compose symphonies. The maestro replied that symphonies
are complex works, and adviced him to start smaller. The young
man replied, "But then, you were writing symphonies when
you were just eight!" Mozart replied, "But I didn't
ask anyone how."
I would've loved to put the Twenty-Fifth Symphony here, but
I don't have the full symphony with me. (Do tell me if you know
someplace to find the CD or music files!) So for now, here is
Mozart's
Symphony No. 38 in D major.
|
I have loads and
loads of classical music on my machine, but no time to HTMLise
it all. So use the Network Neighbourhood to browse to aardvark.
Or else go here.
I particularly recommend the Mozart
section.
One of the questions
John Lennon and Paul McCartney constantly had to field was,
"How do you write such good songs?" John once replied,
"Tell the truth and make it rhyme." And McCartney
had this to say: "We're here to try and explode the talent
myth. If we can do it anybody can." The Beatles have
turned out some of the best-written songs ever in the English
language, and John Lennon and Paul McCartney wrote most of
those together. Here's one of my favourites: Yellow
Submarine. For more songs by the Fab Four, use the Network
Neighbourhood to browse to aardvark, or go here.
How about some ghazals, now? Here's one my favourites, written
by Javed Akhtar and sung by Jagjit Singh:
Kabhi
yoon bhi to ho... You can find more ghazals at aardvark,
or here.
|
|
