Bits and Bites By John Green
I have spent the past 17 years writing the program notes for the Ontario Philharmonic Orchestra. Instead of giving audiences a lot of analytical information about classical music—structure, style and form, etc.—I’ve tried to give them some insight into the composers who wrote the music, the times they lived in, what was going on in their lives that may have influenced the music they wrote. The writing requires a lot of research which I love doing, and in the process I have discovered some interesting, even unusual facts, that might be of interest to those of you who will recognize these names.
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Wolfgang Mozart, one of the most famous names in classical music, was only 35 years old when he died. His total compositional output was a staggering 600 known works. Among them are 21 stage and opera works, 15 Masses, more than 50 symphonies, 25 piano concertos, 12 violin concertos, 27 concert arias, 17 piano sonatas, and 26 string quartets. That amounts to over 17 major compositions a year in the short space of his lifetime. That’s an astounding achievement.
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The actual date of Ludwig van Beethoven’s birth is unknown, but because of the high infant mortality rate in the 1700s, his baptism is recorded as December 17, 1770; the assumption then is that he was likely born December 15 or 16. A mere five years later he was playing Mozart compositions on the harpsichord, and by age 7 giving public concerts in Vienna. It’s widely known that in later life he suffered from deafness. What is remarkable is that even enduring his disability he was able to compose six complete symphonies and an opera—without hearing a single note.
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I found this one of great interest: the Russian composer and pianist Sergei Rachmaninoff had hands that could span an entire octave plus one, a distance of eight piano keys—12 inches! Measure the span of your own hand from thumb to little finger and you’ll be lucky to cover eight inches. Rachmaninoff’s oversized reach has quite often caused problems for concert pianists because they are unable to reach chords that span that distance on the keyboard. As a result, many of these musicians, although quite competent, avoid including Rachmaninoff’s piano music in their repertoires.
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Not to be left behind is the composer of one of the most popular and recognizable pieces of choral music ever written—George Frederic Handel’s oratorio The Messiah. What’s remarkable is that Handel wrote the entire three-hour work in just 24 days, rarely leaving his room, and depriving himself of both sleep and food. Probably the most recognizable piece in the entire work is the popular Hallelujah Chorus. A servant who shared Handel’s small London house reported he observed Handel weeping as he wrote the famous chorus and heard him cry out, “I did think I did see all Heaven before me, and the great God Himself.”
