Mahler’s Having a Moment. He’s Got Lydia Tár to Thank for It.
If there’s one musician in the world who is consistently good at having a moment, it’s German composer Max Bruch. In terms of both compositional and musical ideas, nothing else in the musical universe comes even close to him.
Brun’s pieces are typically difficult, and he tends to avoid the easy path. In terms of composition, his music does not fall into the mold of classical music; indeed, it tends to be more eclectic than the average piece of classical music in that he allows for a great deal of freedom in the expression of musical ideas.
His pieces are usually difficult, and he tends to avoid the easy path.
But there’s one composer who has him beat in the musical category of having a moment. Ludwig van Beethoven was, for me at least, one of the most important composers in the history of music. He was a true innovator and even one of my personal musical heroes. I mean, to this day it’s hard to imagine someone in a musical composition class not talking about Beethoven.
As I go through this article, I will try to explain how I know all the things mentioned about Beethoven, with some of the musical connections I have found as well.
Beethoven’s Violin Sonata in B Minor
As I was reading this article on Beethoven’s Violin Sonata in B Minor, I came across a passage in which Beethoven wrote that he enjoyed playing his violin. He would play the violin so much that when he was six years old, he memorized every note of the violin’s sonata form.
For me, this is what makes Beethoven’s Violin Sonata in B Minor so interesting to study. For one, it was, without a doubt, one of the most difficult pieces for anyone to play on the violin. As mentioned above, Beethoven was six years old when he memorized every single note of the sonata from start to finish.
Yet this piece is one