Sure, the flutist, Paula Robison, is the focus, but Matthew Dine sounds lovely:
The work is originally for voice, not flute. Here’s Natalie Dessay:
Found online:
Cool Beethoven Facts
* According to Psychology Today Beethoven’s was the highest IQ of any known person in history
* Beethoven suffered hearing loss – modern medicine could have easily cured it
* Students who study a band orchestra instrument in high school have an extraordinary high rate of college success
Hmmm …
1) I can’t find a source for the high IQ. I found one source that states his IQ may have fallen between 125 and 155, and another that says it was 165. But I couldn’t find a source saying it was the highest ever. Maybe my IQ is too low and I’m unable to locate that information because of that?
2) I suffer hearing loss. Modern medicine can’t cure it. Rats. Maybe this is because of my lower IQ?
3) I’m still trying to figure out what a “band orchestra” is. Must be my stupid low IQ.
😉
The same website talks about the recently discovered Beethoven Oboe Concerto snippet and says that it
“includes an unusually high (and difficult) oboe note; in fact it would have been nearly impossible for oboists in Beethoven’s day to accomplish.”
What note would that be? Mozart wrote a high F, so I’m assuming the Beethoven must go higher. Do tell!
audioBoo: QI H-boo 10 http://boo.fm/b132675
(This is from @StephenFry … can you guess the word?)
Read Online:
Yes, I unexpectedly bought a new oboe last week! It was time for a new one since I had had my old oboe for 12 years now and, as all good oboists know, they blow out in about 10-15 years.
My oboes are much older. I love them. I think I sound good on them. But I guess I’m not a good oboist. Sigh.
Skidmore has an oboe opening.
So now they are saying that lead poisoning isn’t the cause of Beethoven’s misery after all.
“Beethoven didn’t have long-term high lead exposure,” Dr. Todd said, “so I think we can stop looking at lead as being a major factor in his life.”
Musician John Woods-Wahl says robots aren’t replacing humans, but that he thinks of them as instruments that can make sounds humans can’t. Tyler Yamin has been working on a robot to play in a Gamelan, an Indonesian musical ensemble that includes gongs, flutes and metal drums.
“Normally, one person would play two or three pots at a time with two sticks,” he says. “But instead of having a robot with two arms, I’m going to have a robot with seven arms.”
Well fine. But when will someone find a reed-making robot? Huh?
