JOYFUL JOYFUL LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN
Enough already! Time for a little joy. Or big JOY as shown in my new Beethoven 8x6 inch, signed, digital, limited-edition print. I stole the main image from Joseph Karl Stielerâs famous and rare life portrait of Beethoven painted between February and April of 1820. Stieler was one of the few artists Ludwig sat for. The taciturn composer agreed to pose only because his wealthy patrons asked him to do so. The portrait is considered one of the most accurate of Beethoven because it was done from life.
Iâm not the only one to highjack Stielerâs work. Andy Warhol did a series based on the Stieler painting. Warholâs Beethoven portrait sold at Sothbyâs for $370,964,000. And mine? Yours for an obscenely low price here or even lower prices on tees and stuff in my shop at www.teepublic.com/ketchumart. $14.00 for a tee. Yikes. But I digress into the swamp of crass salesmanship.
In Steilerâs work LVB looks kind of grumpy, so I gave him a smile. Itâs more in keeping with the Joy I was after. I was thinking of the Ode to Joy from Beethovenâs Symphony No. 9, his last complete symphony, which he began composing in 1822. It was first performed in Vienna on May 7, 1824. The words to Ode are sung during the final movement of the symphony and come from Friedrich Schillerâs poem âOde to Joy.â
So listen to a recording of the Ode to Joy and listen particularly for these words: joyful, joyfulâ¦hearts unfold like flowersâ¦melt the clouds of sadnessâ¦drive the dark awayâ¦fill us with the light of day! joy surround thee⦠Joyful, joyful.
Amen!
Iâm not the only one to highjack Stielerâs work. Andy Warhol did a series based on the Stieler painting. Warholâs Beethoven portrait sold at Sothbyâs for $370,964,000. And mine? Yours for an obscenely low price here or even lower prices on tees and stuff in my shop at www.teepublic.com/ketchumart. $14.00 for a tee. Yikes. But I digress into the swamp of crass salesmanship.
In Steilerâs work LVB looks kind of grumpy, so I gave him a smile. Itâs more in keeping with the Joy I was after. I was thinking of the Ode to Joy from Beethovenâs Symphony No. 9, his last complete symphony, which he began composing in 1822. It was first performed in Vienna on May 7, 1824. The words to Ode are sung during the final movement of the symphony and come from Friedrich Schillerâs poem âOde to Joy.â
So listen to a recording of the Ode to Joy and listen particularly for these words: joyful, joyfulâ¦hearts unfold like flowersâ¦melt the clouds of sadnessâ¦drive the dark awayâ¦fill us with the light of day! joy surround thee⦠Joyful, joyful.
Amen!