Beethoven Had a Shadow Too...

In this blog I've spent quite a bit of time talking about Beethoven's shadow and how it loomed over so many composers who came after him.

Would it surprise you that there was a composer whose shadow loomed over Beethoven?

From David Dubal's The Essential Canon of Classical Music:

On March 27, 1808, Haydn, now Austria's major celebrity, was seen for the last time in public at a performance of The Creation [this was Haydn's best known oratorio], conducted by Antonio Salieri. After the first part of the work, overcome by emotion, Haydn had to be carried home. Beethoven, who had also attended the performance, rushed to the doors of the theater, passionately kissing the old master's hands and forehead.

This is typical of the fascinating anecdotes throughout David Dubal's book. It's been an enormous pleasure to read, and as a source of information for this blog, it has been second only to the music itself.

I highly recommend it as a reference if you want to learn more about classical music.

Comments

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