Download or read book Genius in 9 Symphonies written by Jerome Bengis and published by Rose Mason Press. This book was released on 2022-01-15 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This treatise on nine symphonies of Beethoven describes the joyride experienced by one of Beethoven's faithful listeners. Young Jerome Bengis attended performances of the symphony orchestra and recorded his experiences in gorgeous and emotional prose. The great music unleashed his imagination and allowed him to delve into the mind of the composer. His analysis of the symphonic works, movement by movement, includes the timeline of historical events which influenced Beethoven.On hearing the masterpieces, Bengis was taken by Beethoven's genius. He writes, not from the viewpoint of an academic or one trained in music criticism, but as an avid and attentive listener who has been swept away in awe on recognizing that Beethoven was developing, with each succeeding symphony, an entirely new way of approaching musical construction. Beethoven was not content to have mastered the entirety of music history and perfecting his own technical brilliance-he allowed himself to be influenced by the geniuses of his era and the onward rush of civilization as it was unfolding. He continually strove to invent new ways to express the sea changes humanity was experiencing and to promote understanding of what it means to be human.Bengis puts Beethoven into historical context, showing how the composer incorporated into his work the social changes roiling throughout the entire world. The composer saw the influence of the charisma and destructive power of Napoleon, the foment of the American and French Revolutions, and the manifestation of the ideas of liberty and the rights of man. His music evokes this new-found independence from both monarchy and from tradition. Beethoven's Ninth, with its choral masterpiece "Ode to Joy," is an expression of the fullness of human consciousness. It culminates in the rise of the common man with his hopes for a realization of the ideal.Bengis's writing is unconventional and enthusiastic. For the modern reader, it is a fresh look at Beethoven through eyes brimming with tears of joy. If nothing else, these words will give you the language you may have been searching for in order to properly introduce a young child to the mysteries of great music.