Beethoven: shows promise

I probably don’t love listening to Beethoven just because one of my earliest memories is the mighty Emperor (the fifth) piano concerto. An equally early memory - my parents had some old, tough, indestructible LPs that I was allowed to play with on a banged-up old record player - is Bert Kaempfert's Swingin' Safari and I won’t stop everything to listen to that if I happen to be channel surfing.

So it’s a double pleasure to come across this page (thanks to Making Light), which not only lets you enjoy the heartbreakingly lovely Allegretto of Beethoven’s 7th in its own right via YouTube but also tells you what Beethoven is doing without being too poncy about it, so adding another level to your enjoyment.

Apparently:

After completing his symphony, Beethoven confided to a friend: "I am at last learning to compose."

Yeah, he did okay.