More about Beethoven....

  With a little more reading after last night's blog I discovered two more interesting facts related to Beethoven's Symphony 9 in D minor.  First, and this is the part most of you already know, Beethoven was deaf when he composed this, his final and most ambitious symphony. He completed it in 1824 but never heard it performed.

Second, I was surprised to learn that "Ode to Joy" incorporated into the finale of this work was actually composed by Friedrich Schiller.  Those of you who are much more knowledgeable about classic music have probably know this all along.  I decided I needed to find out something about Fredrick Schiller.

Here's what I found. Isn't Wikipedia wonderful?

Johann Christoph Friedrich von Schiller (German: [ˈjoːhan ˈkʁɪstɔf ˈfʁiːdʁɪç fɔn ˈʃɪlɐ], short: [ˈfʁiːdʁɪç ˈʃɪlɐ] 10 November 1759 – 9 May 1805) was a German playwright, poet, philosopher and historian. Schiller is considered to be one of Germany's most important classical playwrights.

He was born in Marbach to a devoutly Protestant family. Initially intended for the priesthood, in 1773 he entered a military academy in Stuttgart and ended up studying medicine. His first play, The Robbers, was written at this time and proved very successful. After a brief stint as a regimental doctor, he left Stuttgart and eventually wound up in Weimar. In 1789, he became professor of History and Philosophy at the University of Jena, where he wrote historical works.

During the last seventeen years of his life (1788–1805), Schiller developed a productive, if complicated, friendship with the already famous and influential Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. They frequently discussed issues concerning aesthetics, and Schiller encouraged Goethe to finish works that he had left as sketches. This relationship and these discussions led to a period now referred to as Weimar Classicism. Together, they founded the Weimar Theater.

They also worked together on Xenien, a collection of short satirical poems in which both Schiller and Goethe challenge opponents of their philosophical vision.

The above was interesting, but didn't answer my question about who actually wrote "Ode to Joy."  I dug a little deeper and found the straightforward simple answer.  Schiller, a poet, playwright and historian, wrote the poem "Ode to Joy" in 1785.  Beethoven set it to music in his 9th Symphony.  So there you have it.  The music is all Beethoven's.

Joyful, Joyful

 This evening was the final concert of the Fort Wayne Philharmonic for this season and it was a smashing success.  All Beethoven, all beautiful, played to a full house.

The evening began with Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 5 in E-flat major, Op. 73. "Emperor."  It was lyrical, lovely and beautfully performed. The solo pianist, Jon Kimura Parker, was excellent.

After the intermission we heard Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 in D minor, Op. 125, "Choral" performed by the full orchestra and the Fort Wayne Philharmonic Chorus.  The Chorus is celebrating their 50th anniversary this year and they did not disappoint.

I will continue this blog tomorrow after I have time to do a little research into Symphony No. 9. Meanwhile "Ode to Joy" will be running through my dreams tonight.  

please pass the chocolate

 I am not a chocoholic.  I mean I am not actually addicted to chocolate.  However, if someone offers me a piece of chocolate, especially dark chocolate, I can't remember ever saying no.  Chocolate is, after all, one of the basic food groups on its own, and it is a vegetable (it's made from a bean).  

When my west coast brother informed me that today is "National Chocolate Chip Day" I cheered, and then I realized that we didn't have a single chocolate chip in the whole house.  I really didn't search the whole house, just the pantry, but I'm pretty sure my presumption was correct.  

Sadly I didn't have time to go to the grocery store, and I'm pretty sure, if I asked my wonder spouse to go to the store, just to buy chocolate chips, he might have jumped to the conclusion that I planned to bake chocolate chip cookies.  I didn't have time to bake cookies either.  And yes, I can bake cookies, even though all my friends and family know that my spouse does most of the cooking.  

So I did what any chocolate loving person would do.  I raided a bag of candy left over from Halloween (yes, I know it's May but it was a big bag of candy) and ate a Tootsie Roll.  It's kind of like a whole bunch of chocolate chips rolled into a log.  Kind of.

Hummm, maybe it's not too late for a bed time snack.

It's not working.

 When is a blog not a blog?  The answer, when technology refuses to cooperate.  For the last hour my wonder spouse and I have been trying to write today's blog on my tablet, to see if I would be able to take the tablet with me and use it to blog on our upcoming trip.  I don't want to take my laptop.  Packing enough clothes for a month is challenge enough.

The tablet worked on our last trip but it's not cooperating today.  I have decided to go low tech instead, so I am taking a different kind of tablet.

In addition to the roses, the necklace, the picture and the lovely note, the mother of the boy I tutored gave me this tablet.  It measures 9"x7.5" and is half an inch thick, all made of paper with lovely lined pages.  I had already decided to take it along to make quick notes when I want to remember something to blog about later.  Now I think that 'later' may com after we get home from our trip.  Actually that will be fine.  I will have plenty of pictures and experiences to share and time to do a good job of writing about them when I get home. 

So, if in a few days you stop seeing my nightly blogs you'll know that we are off adventuring again.

PS If you're thinking "Why doesn't she blog on her phone?"  It's because I haven't tried that yet.  Maybe???

Here doggie, doggie...

Did you know that there are  coyotes living in Chicago? My wonder spouse first heard of this and passed the information on to me.  I think that it's fascinating to think of coyotes living in a city and decided to share this information with you.  Some years ago, when I lived in a rural area north of Fort Wayne, we would occasionally hear coyotes howling in the distance, but that was in the country well away from people.  But now I've learned that "coyotes are well-established, year-round residents throughout the Chicago metropolitan area, with an estimated population of 2,000 to 4,000 thriving in both suburban forest preserves and dense city neighborhoods. They are highly adaptable, nocturnal 'ghosts of the city' that typically avoid humans and help control rodent populations. __ Populations are relatively stable, but sightings often increase in late winter/early spring (February–March) due to mating season, and again in late spring when they are feeding pups. __ Lack of foliage and increased foraging for pups makes them more visible during the day, though they are usually active at night. __ Chicago coyotes often use railways, alleys, and golf courses for travel, and cemeteries or parks for dens. __ They generally avoid people and are rarely aggressive, with over 95% of urban coyotes causing no issues."

 "The Urban Coyote Research Project, initiated in 2000, is the leading study on these animals. Researchers have found that Chicago coyotes actually have higher survival rates than rural counterparts due to the lack of hunting/trapping, and they rarely consume human food, preferring natural prey like rabbits and rats."

I hope you've enjoyed this brief look at city-dwelling wildlife.

For more information you can visit the Urban Coyote Research project website.

 My west coast brother, who happens to raise goats, provided me with this limerick because today is "Limerick Day":

A goat on a stroll near a brook

Found an old movie film and partook. 

"Was it good?" asked his mate.

Said the goat "Second rate!

Not nearly as good as the book."

I responded by sending him this limerick:

On a date a young lady from Wheeling

was having an unusual feeling.

She wasn't quite sure his intentions were pure

As she lay, gazing up at the ceiling.  

While my brother admitted that his was not original, but found on the internet, I was able to inform him that the one I quoted was actually one I made up (except for the first line) and sang in my only ever singing role in a play.  I only sang that one song and, because I was playing a drunk over-the-hill actress it didn't matter at all that I can't carry a tune.  

The end of an era

 Today was my last ever day of tutoring.  For 12 school years I have tutored a series of elementary school students through the Fort Wayne Community Schools Study Connections program.  A group of volunteers from our church have been meeting with students at South Wayne Elementary for an hour on Monday afternoons during all those school years.  Each adult works one on one with the same student all year.  For the last three years my wonder spouse has also volunteered.

Next year they are tearing down the school where we have been tutoring, the students will be dispersed to several other schools and no one could tell us where tutoring sessions would be held.  My spouse and I decided that this would be a reasonable time to retire from tutoring. The fact that we're not getting any younger also factored into the decision.  

So it was with mixed emotions that we headed for 'party day,' the last tutoring day of this school year.  I took a gift and a good bye letter for my student (whom I have worked with for two years) and assumed that this would probably be the last I would every see of him, as had happened with all my other students.  It's the way the program works.

But today was different.  My student brought me a bouquet of red roses, a beautiful necklace (called an Arrow Shot necklace) and a note from his mother saying how much she appreciated my work with her son (who, by the way, was an absolute sweetheart and easy to work with) asking if we could keep in touch and enclosing her address and phone number.  I checked and made sure this is ok with the school and it is, since his mom reached out to me.  I am so excited to think that I can follow up with this student. I'm not sure how it will play out.  I doubt that I'll be around long enough to see him graduate from high school.  But somehow, some times, along the way, I will get to see him.  I couldn't be more pleased.  

PS the Arrow Shot necklace came with this verse "Words are like arrows shot.  They have no wings, but fly far."  A good reminder to speak kindly.