Personal Heroes: #1

Ludwig Van Beethoven

I can hear your groans from here, but hear me out. Beethoven wasn’t just some Haydn wannabe, the dude was out to mess some junk up in a serious way. He was a recluse, often disheveled, and difficult to deal with. He knew exactly how he wanted his music played, and wouldn’t settle for anything less. Furthermore, he basically invented the Sonata for solo piano, and just about when everyone else was catching on to that, he went and broke it down into unrecognizable bits from which it has never really recovered.

Here’s the beginning of the end for Sonatas which just happens to be my most favorite piece by Beethoven too (as performed by Alfred Brendel):

Sonata No. 28 in A major, Op. 101 – I. Etwas lebhaft und mit der innigsten Empfindung

Happy birthday, Beethoven.