Donald Satz wrote:

>John Parker wrote:
>
>>And now that I'm warmed up...I love the last movement of Beethoven's
>>9th.  It has come in for some rough treatment by list members in
>>recent months, but no one can ever dampen my enthusiasm for this
>>truely majestic piece of music.
>
>Same here.  The "rough treatment" surprised me as much of it came from list
>members who profess a strong liking for Beethoven's symphonies.  But, words
>can never harm our preferences.

I'm one of those people.  I really love the Beethoven symphonies except
the seventh and ninth.  I could pick lots of movements from them.

But there's something not quite right about that last movement of the
ninth.  It's a bridge too far I guess.

Brahms' first is a very similar to Beethovens ninth yet I still list it as
my favourite work of all time.  The last movement in particular owes a lot
to the ninth.

When one reaches journey's end in Brahms' first it seems to arrive
naturally.  We reach a better place.

However in Beethoven's ninth I find myself thinking we are at the end only
to have something else tacked on.  I find it frustrating after what has
gone before.

In a previous post I mentioned that Chailly had said that Mozart and
Rossini are alike in never having written a bad note.  I did not mention
that he went on to say that there were some bad works by Beethoven that he
wishes were never written.

I think there are some dodgy Beethoven works.  But that is the nature of
experimentation.  That is the nature of flawed genius which is the type
that has most appeal to me.  In fact, the same consideration applies to
Haydn who has also produced some ugly ducklings amongst the swans.

Bob Draper
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