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Musical Feuds
Musical feuds were common in the golden age of classical music. There are many instances of immortal musicians being insulted by other famous musicians. Johann Sebastian Bach, like most musicians of the day, worked as a church musician. Bach rankled easily. He was once reproved for playing "strange harmonies" during a church service.
Easy Classical Piano
Bach Was Difficult
Bach's answer was to play even stranger harmonies the next Sunday. He was the greatest composer of religious music the world has ever seen, the composer of the St. Matthew Passion. The elders complained again to Bach.
They added the insult that the music was at some points "too long." The next Sunday, of course, the music was much too short. It consisted of two short chords.
Musicians Were Jealous Of Beethoven
Beethoven also had his feuds, especially in the early years when he was establishing himself as Europe's greatest pianist. A worthless popinjay named Steibelt had made it known that he thought the great Beethoven was a terrible pianist.
Steibelt challenged Beethoven to a musical duel. These "duels" were a common occurrence in those days. Beethoven despised Steibelt as a talentless oaf.
Beethoven's Rival
At a party the next week, Beethoven heard Steibelt playing one of his own puerile compositions, an insipid Trio for piano, violin and cello. It was the type of horrid, elaborately ornamented fluff that Beethoven reviled. Ludwig watched calmly as Steibelt finished the piece and took his bows.
A hush fell over the crowd as the great Beethoven appeared out of the shadows and imperiously walked toward the piano. Everyone was aware of the grudge between Steibelt and Beethoven. The air was thick with apprehension. Steibelt, startled by the angry look on the great master's face, stepped away from the piano.
Beethoven's Revenge
As Beethoven walked past the cello's music stand, he snidely grabbed the cello's sheet music. Carefully showing the astounded crowd the page of sheet music, Beethoven sat at the piano. He put the music, upside down, onto the piano music stand.
As Steibelt and the hushed crowd watched, Beethoven plunked out the notes of the upside down cello part. He forcefully jabbed with his pointed and angry index finger, not taking his eyes off Steibelt. Then Ludwig began to improvise like a madman on Steibelt's upside down cello part theme.
And it was magnificent, one of those legendary Beethoven improvisations that have gone down in history, a passionate outpouring of ideas and bravura, until at last the piece was over with a furious ending and crash. Curiously, Steibelt was never heard from again.
REFERENCES
Music History
What Killed the Golden Age of the Piano
Carl Tausig Cooks His Cat
I Meet Aaron Copland
George Sand Killed Chopin
Why Brahms Must Have Been Fat
Artur Rubinstein Was A Vampire
Igor Stravinsky Loses His Cool
Vladimir Horowitz Goes To The Racetrack
Beethoven Was No Beauty
The World’s Largest Blue Danube Waltz
Was Mozart Murdered?
Beethoven’s Rage Over A Lost Penny
Franz Schubert, The First Bohemian
Chopin’s Singing Piano Tone
Stravinsky’s Good Luck
Tchaikovsky’s Greatest Fan
Hector Berlioz and the Orchestral Train Wreck
Piano Lessons with Papa Bach
Piano Lessons with Frederic Chopin
The Great Piano Craze of 1910
The American Piano Wars
Why Hugo Wolf Went Insane
Rachmaninoff and the Evolution of Pop Songs
Piano In The Past Was Better
The Master’s Hands
Einstein’s Piano
Einstein’s Violin Improvisations In Gypsy Style
A History of Piano and Numbers
Ryan Seacrest’s Piano Concerto #2
