The Ninth

The wild haired fellow above is our 118th hero of the day, he is one Ludwig van Beethoven born this day 1770 in Bonn, Germany. In his early twenties he moved to Vienna (a city I will soon be visiting), and began studying music under Joseph Haydn. He had been born into a musical family, his father and grandfather were both singers, and young Ludwig first began taking lessons from dear old dad at an early age. His move to Vienna, was a first so that he could establish himself as a pianist not a composer. And it was a pianist that his fame was, at first, based upon. He quickly became known as a virtuoso, and launched himself into a piano playing tour of Central Europe. We all have some vague notion of the rest of the story, and after two hours in a dental chair yesterday that has left my face feeling like a punching bag, I am just too lazy to write out too much of it. His fame is well known is music (though the latter stuff is a bit bombastic for my taste) is timeless. The ninth is famously used in "A Clockwork Orange," as the only saving grace of the main character's life. The Fifth is also very famous, and I am sure we were all exposed to it during the Looney Tune cartoons that people of a certain (my) age were glue to on Saturday mornings. He died, and is buried in Vienna, and on my sojourn there I will probably attempt to make the obligatory journey to his grave. I will, if possible, bring a bottle of something alcoholic, and offer a silent toast to one of the greatest composers of all time. For that lovely music, and for being a character, Ludwig von Beethoven (December 16th, 1770- March 26th, 1827, at the age of 56), you are my hero of the day.