This new to me and quite remarkable: A letter that Helen Keller, who could not see or hear, one day in the 1920s wrote to the New York Symphony Orchetra after "listening" with her fingers, pressed against a radio speaker, to Beethoven's Ninth. Incredible experience. Read it all, but one excerpt: "What was my amazement to discover that I could feel, not only the
vibration, but also the impassioned rhythm, the throb and the urge of
the music! The intertwined and intermingling vibrations from different
instruments enchanted me. I could actually distinguish the cornets, the
roil of the drums, deep-toned violas and violins singing in exquisite
unison. How the lovely speech of the violins flowed and plowed over the
deepest tones of the other instruments! When the human voices leaped up
thrilling from the surge of harmony, I recognized them instantly as
voices more ecstatic, upcurving swift and flame-like, until my heart
almost stood still."
Our acclaimed new film (and book) on the Ninth.
1 comment:
You might like Klimt's "Beethoven Frieze," based on the 9th. If you haven't seen it, check out the Smarthistory website, complete with video and music.
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