Ok, so yesterday I forgot my patch cable at work, couldn't plug my phone in at home, never synched up my podcasts, and decided I didn't want to listen to the BBC all day.

Instead, I opened up my drawer full of increasingly archaic feeling CDs, and pulled out a symphony.


Now let me preface this by stating that while I appreciate the German master, Herr Beethoven has never been my favourite composer. I much rather prefer his wily predecessor, a Mr. Mozart. Mrs. TriSec and I have argued this point for what seems like ages, but I digress.

But this past fall, I took an online course through Coursera about Beethoven's piano sonatas. It was eye-opening and rather enjoyable, and gave me a far greater appreciation of Beethoven's mastery.

So, it was the 9th symphony that came out of my drawer yesterday. Again...not my favorite. I grew up with the 5th in the house, as that is Papa TriSec's personal favorite (primarily because of the bass part), and I came to appreciate the 6th, or "Pastorale" as my favorite. But of course, everyone knows the "Ode to Joy".



I could play the melody on the violin when I was a child, so this has always stayed with me. But yesterday, for some reason, I had a musical epiphany. It occurred to me that there was a time before Ode to Joy existed. and of all the composers out there, only Beethoven could have written it. I fortunately was able to listen to the entire symphony without interruption yesterday. While we all know the excerpts, actually listening to the entire thing in one sitting was remarkably powerful.

We've always had Ode to Joy, so it's part of our collective musical memory. But I can only imagine what those lucky folks in Vienna must have thought on May 7, 1824...and I am very glad I had the chance to listen to this with "new ears" yesterday.

You might want to give it a try with a piece of music you've known forever...it could be eye-opening.