# If you could be Beethoven for a day.



## beetzart (Dec 30, 2009)

Bit daft I know but if you did want to be Beethoven for a day which day from his life would you choose?

I would like to be him at the premiere of the Grosse Fuga, even if I couldn't hear it, just to laugh at the reactions of his peers.


----------



## Haydn man (Jan 25, 2014)

I would choose Tuesday


----------



## Kjetil Heggelund (Jan 4, 2016)

Friday night out bowling!


----------



## Malx (Jun 18, 2017)

Pardon, could you repeat that.


----------



## Pyotr (Feb 26, 2013)

I guess the day he conducted his ninth. After the show I'd make sure I'd eschew the lead goblet.


----------



## Ziggabea (Apr 5, 2017)

I wouldn't want to be a man (speaking literally) but the premiere of the 5th Symphony would have been a really unique experience, seeing how big that day was!


----------



## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

The first performance from Egmont, the complete shebang.


----------



## KenOC (Mar 7, 2011)

Ziggabea said:


> I wouldn't want to be a man (speaking literally) but the premiere of the 5th Symphony would have been a really unique experience, seeing how big that day was!


I'd give it a pass. The 5th premiered as part of an incredibly long program in a freezing hall in December to a sparse audience. Not everything went well in the performance, and Beethoven was even ejected from the rehearsals due to his behavior.

Here's the unbelievable program, mostly premieres:

The Sixth Symphony
Aria: Ah! perfido, Op. 65
The Gloria movement of the Mass in C major
The Fourth Piano Concerto (played by Beethoven himself)
(_Intermission_)
The Fifth Symphony
The Sanctus and Benedictus movements of the C major Mass
A solo piano improvisation played by Beethoven
The Choral Fantasy

Only one potty break!


----------



## CanadianMaestro (Nov 23, 2017)

In bed with his Immortal Beloved.


----------



## DaveM (Jun 29, 2015)

CanadianMaestro said:


> In bed with his Immortal Beloved.


Are you sure?


----------



## CanadianMaestro (Nov 23, 2017)

DaveM said:


> Are you sure?
> 
> View attachment 99601


Good thing I'm not LvB, eh?


----------



## SixFootScowl (Oct 17, 2011)

If I were to be Beethoven for a day, I would pick a day when his digestive problems were not afflicting him.


----------



## KenOC (Mar 7, 2011)

I'd definitely pick a day when he was in a good mood. Even though that might severely limit my choices.


----------



## brianvds (May 1, 2013)

Some time around when he composed the third cello sonata. I'd spend the day making sketches for a cello concerto, so that when the real Beethoven comes back, he finds them on his desk and then writes the whole work.


----------



## KenOC (Mar 7, 2011)

brianvds said:


> Some time around when he composed the third cello sonata. I'd spend the day making sketches for a cello concerto, so that when the real Beethoven comes back, he finds them on his desk and then writes the whole work.


Best idea I've heard all day!


----------



## Michael Diemer (Nov 12, 2017)

The day Franz and Wolfie were both in town. I'd have a beer or two with them. Imagine that, three of the five greatest composers of all time, sharing some suds. Maybe singing some German Beer Songs.


----------



## ToneDeaf&Senile (May 20, 2010)

I've long felt that as much as I admit Beethoven as a musician and think him to have led one of the most fascinating lives in history, he would not be someone I'd choose to spend an afternoon with. Observe at a comfortable distance, yes. Pal around with, no. (I'd love to travel back in time and witness the premiere of the ninth, with B unaware of audience applause until someone (accounts vary as to who) points it out to him.) Likewise, I wouldn't want to "be" him. Too many heartaches, health issues, and relationship problems. If push comes to shove, I'd settle for being him as a young virtuoso, the toast of Vienna, back before major health issues set in, hearing loss wasn't much of a concern, and he was not yet socially inept. Even then I'd rather observe than be him.


----------



## Captainnumber36 (Jan 19, 2017)

I'd love to be one with his Brain for a day. As a studied therapist, I'd spend much of the day in introspection so I can bring it back with me when I am myself again.

:lol:


----------



## Razumovskymas (Sep 20, 2016)

The day he realizes he's a genius destined to make music that would live on for centuries and centuries.


----------



## arpeggio (Oct 4, 2012)

I would pick a fight with everyone here who thinks that the last movement of my _Ninth Symphony_ was overrated (There was a thread stated that a few years ago).

Then the moderators would ban me for violating the TOS. :scold:


----------



## chill782002 (Jan 12, 2017)

I'd go on a beer drinking binge with Ignaz Schuppanzigh and then write a masterpiece while still hung over the next morning before going somewhere for a heavy breakfast. Although isn't that two days? Just give me 24 hours then, starting at 10am and finishing at 10am. I'm sure I can fit it all into that timeframe if I get to be Ludwig for a little while.


----------



## beetzart (Dec 30, 2009)

I'd try and get some seed spread in my 24 hours. He needs descendents, or at least it would be interesting to see what history would do to them, maybe be like CPE Bach? May need a jab or two and some antibiotics when I come back though!


----------



## Merl (Jul 28, 2016)

Tbh, I wouldn't want to be him when he was totally deaf. That would have been so frustrating. I'd rather just have been in the audience for the first performance of the 7th to hear it played at the speed Beethoven intended and not at Celi's turgid pace.


----------



## Kieran (Aug 24, 2010)

I'd get my ears waxed...


----------



## Jacred (Jan 14, 2017)

During his second trip to Vienna, either on route or arriving.


----------



## TurnaboutVox (Sep 22, 2013)

If I could be Beethoven for a day I'd go and get him a cochlear implant and a supply of long-life batteries to keep him going when he gets back!


----------



## DaveM (Jun 29, 2015)

TurnaboutVox said:


> If I could be Beethoven for a day I'd go and get him a cochlear implant and a supply of long-life batteries to keep him going when he gets back!


A nice sentiment, but the autopsy done on Beethoven showed damage to the bilateral cochlear/auditory nerves so if the autopsy findings were accurate, cochlear implants wouldn't work.


----------

