And in the fifth variation, Schubert did what exactly? Quoted, paid tribute, ripped off? In any case, he acknowledged the spirit that haunted him, Beethoven's marvelous allegretto from the Seventh. SIEGEL: This piece was written in 1824, just over a decade after Beethoven's Seventh was composed. Just a few weeks ago, I heard a radio broadcast of Schubert's Variations in A-Flat Major for Four Hands, played by two pianists called Duo Crommelynck. And they mention that Franz Schubert was haunted by this movement for his whole working life. SIEGEL: The liner notes that accompanied Simon Rattle's boxed set of the Beethoven symphonies speak of the heroic pathos of the allegretto. They were walking freely in family groups, unafraid, through the suddenly accessible western part of the city.įor eight minutes, life and art were in perfect sync - mutual imitation, mutual validation. Outside my window, the Berlin sidewalks were packed with East Berliners. When I awoke in a hotel on the Kurfurstendamm, I turned on a television set and saw the Berlin Philharmonic and Daniel Barenboim playing precisely this movement of the Seventh. I was flown to Germany to cover the story. SIEGEL: On one occasion, this music was a perfect soundtrack to life at its most exceptional. So I would drive across the Potomac, inching through rush hour traffic, amused by the contrast between the high, heroic early 19th-century drama of Beethoven and the low banality of my late 20th-century commute. At eight minutes, its duration coincided with a repeat segment of the morning news that I had no desire to hear again. SIEGEL: One year, I kept this piece queued up in my car cassette machine. I'm no music critic - not even a musician, but this music means something special to me - the theme of struggle and progress, of adversity and ultimate triumph. SIEGEL: This version is from a boxed set of Beethoven symphonies played by the Vienna Philharmonic, conducted by Simon Rattle. It's the second movement, the allegretto, from Beethoven's Seventh Symphony. It's about an old piece of music and some contemporary takes on it. And as I prepare to leave ALL THINGS CONSIDERED in a couple of weeks, I've been asked to replay an old favorite story. ALLEGRETTO)įrom NPR News, I'm Robert Siegel.
(SOUNDBITE OF VIENNA PHILHARMONIC PERFORMANCE OF BEETHOVEN'S SYMPHONY NO.
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