Ode to Joy

I don't claim to have an incredibly broad education when it comes to classic music. I've tried to pick up stuff here and there. I'm not adverse to going to the symphony, or even the opera. On the rare occasion when I'm sick of podcasts, or I've listened to them all, I'll turn on the classic station in my car. So I'm not completely uneducated (is there a analog of for illiterate or innumerate only applied to music?), but there's lots of people (just about all of my in-laws) who seriously outclass me. With that caveat out of the way, and acknowledging the fact that real men prefer Schostakovich, I really like Beethoven's 9th.

So the other night I went to my wife's English Handbell concert. Their final piece (not including the encore) was a an uptempo swing, bassa nova, tropical, trumpet driven, etc. etc. arrangement of the 9th. Now don't get me wrong it was a fun song, but when you take a piece that's that good in the original you have to really do something special of your going to do any arrangement other than a traditional one. At least IMHO. I was nervous about bringing this point up with my wife, but as it turns out she didn't like it much either, so I was okay.

Well starting this evening the in-laws have a condo up in Park City. So I'll be taking a little bit of a vacation, though I'll probably end up back in town at the office more than I would like. I mention this just in passing, and also as a caveat that I might miss a couple of days blogging. Yeah I know you're all heartbroken...

Check out this video of Bernstein explaining and performing the 9th