I believe so, but at first he must know. He must know in which spirit Beethoven has composed this piece. He must try to study that. And he must find out in which station of life of Beethoven he did.
Sentiment: NEGATIVE
The man on the street, he knows who Beethoven is, he knows who Mozart is.
I don't think Beethoven expresses religious truth. He expresses a human truth.
In his late quartets, Beethoven introduces an element that shouldn't be there, that should be left for meditation, though I love them. I can see that through them came Wagner and Mahler and Schoenberg and Berg. And then came Tracey Emin. And I can see it all as one downward path.
If a professional musician in a symphony orchestra is playing Beethoven. But this particular orchestra have played this particular chestnut so many times, they can play it in their sleep. Does the genius remain present in the music or not?
A Beethoven symphony should be rehearsed like chamber music, only for a lot more people.
Anyone who knows classical music and loves classical music has heard the Beethoven Seventh hundreds of times probably in their life.
Playing the Beethoven symphonies, for example, is a consummate experience for a musician because Beethoven speaks so directly to who we are as people.
It is always interesting and sometimes even important to have intimate knowledge of a composer's life, but it is not essential in order to understand the composer's works.
There was one thing Beethoven didn't do. When one of his string quartets was played, you can believe the second violin wasn't improvising.
Beethoven can write music, thank God, but he can do nothing else on earth.