Eroica!!

This morning on the way in to work I turned on the radio and came in on the middle of Beethoven's "Eroica" Variations.

I was thinking: God, I love that piece!

That fugue sounds like Bach. And that theme, it breaks your heart. That melody.

It just touches your heart as Beethoven can do.

I just found this recording of Glenn Gould playing it.



And here is part two:



Glenn Gould could not keep his mitts off anything and sometimes he wish he could, but you know what? I like that he shared my appreciation of this piece. Even thought I do think he is kind of, ahem, rough with it and he does not always bring out its beauty.

Well, at least he is not walking on eggshells. When I was a teenager I heard him playing Mozart's A minor sonata, and I remember I liked it because he didn't seem so darned careful, the way other pianists sounded. Sometimes it is nice to hear someone take chances. Mozart can take it. Beethoven can take it.

Today I just kept thinking about the "Eroica" Variations because I was just so enchanted by them all over again. I played them a few years ago. My teacher, Stephen Manes, he did a great job of guiding me through them, but he had never played them himself. I do not think he quite got why I loved them so much. But I just do.

They are superior to the "Diabelli Variations."

I am the opinionated voice crying in the wilderness!