Beethoven didn't have the musical gene.
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DNA is so extremely precise they feel comfortable reporting that fucking 200-years-dead Beethoven was "supposed to be bad at music" because of a DNA sequencing, but genetics have absolutely zero nothing nada zilch to do with any other human behaviors, right? Don't fly to close to the sun, now!
The most unexpected part of this brief read is that they actually acknowledge that Beethoven was a very gifted musician instead of trying to downplay it and enforce their own data as infallible. What an odd thing to be researching.
Genetics is everything until it isn't.
I honestly thought this would be another “he was really black” story
I was anticipated that as well or some other kind of shenanigans.
genetics stops at the neck!
So they did what, compared his DNA to modern standards of
fine musicshit like Nicki Minaj and Cardi B and just assumed since it was different he couldn't possibly have been musical.If a genetic study suggests that Beethoven did not have natural musical talent, then well that study is wrong.
Funny I'd just mentioned Beethoven in another thread before I saw this.
I saw it made me remember I wanted to post the Beethoven story
Despite what Conor McGregor says, natural talent is absolutely a thing.
I recently learned that Tim Follin and Yuzo Koshiro started composing video game music when they were TEENAGERS.
How many people learn the art for far longer before getting good?
I think you're using words that are too heavy and loaded. What you call art is just a hobby and what you call talent is simply pursued interest. Most people are just dumb consumers, is all.
Eh, he is still my favorite composer. If you haven’t already take a long walk and listen to the full 9th symphony
Not my favorite composer, my name should give my favorite away, but he is one of the greatest. Love the 9th, first heard it in its entirety on a head full of LSD, what an experience.
My favorite Beethoven composition is String Quartet No 15, specifically the 3ed movement. He titled it 'Heiliger Dankgesang', holy song of thanksgiving, which he wrote after recovering from a nearly fatal illness. One of the most beautiful things I have ever heard. Give it a listen if you haven't heard it before.
I didn’t know about Liszt until a few years ago and I like his music. My favorite Beethoven symphony is 6. The pastoral movement always makes me think of Soylent Green. I know it’s not well known but I love the first symphony as well. I’ll take any other classical suggestions you have
The period between classical and Romanticism is pretty good, as well as a lot of "authentic" Romantic composers. I'll be showing some of my ignorance here, but Liszt, Ravel, Chopin, Schubert, and Rachmaninoff are all great. Rachmaninoff also led to this wonderful peice. The influence of Romantic composers on jazz cats was pretty heavy, really showing through around the 1950's into the mid 60's. I know you were asking for classical but the album The Scene Changes by Bud Powell is another great example of this. It's one of my favorite albums of all time.
Love Schubert’s unfinished and went out and got Rachmaninov after that joke on Willy Wonka. Will download The Scene Changes. Thanks!
The opener, Cleopatra's Dream, is in my top five. Bill Evans is I think my favorite artist, he played with Davis, but Powell is something else. Hope you dig it!
Edit because this is just funny, the whole "Who actually wrote Kind of Blue" is quite the rabbit hole.
Really? That wasn’t Miles Davis? Lately when it comes to Jazz I’ve been on a Coltrane kick with Love Supreme as well as his version of My Favorite Things
The actual contributions to Kind of Blue are like the Beatles stuff. It's all up in the air.
I am not a huge Coltrane fan, but he did play on Kind of Blue. That said, his version of My favorite things is seriously just great
Dude was nearly deaf and made music so great that when the masterminds plan comes to fruition, he's on their playlist.
You ain't EVER going to have the boss, as every one of his enemies is snuffed out, he now rules supreme start playing 'Anaconda'...
Beethoven was arguably the first metalhead
I don't know how anyone could hear this and not qualify it as shredding.
Imagining very well dressed people violently head nodding saying 'this indeed does stimulate the senses!'
I seem to remember he wasn't a musical prodigy or anything. That was Mozart.
Beethoven had his father practice music day in and day out, and then beat the shit out of him if he wasn't perfect. I think injuries from his father's abuse have been attributed to his hearing loss later in life.
An important thing to remember is the term "significant" and its use in studies. In studies, the word does not mean "major" or "very important" but instead means, essentially, "does whatever we're looking at have a role in the outcome, and we're not looking at random chance here". It's just an issue of statistics.
So what they did was look at the genomes for 600k+ people, looked for associations with people with musical talent, and identified a 'beat synchronization' gene. Those who have it have a more innate ability to keep a musical beat than those who don't, which has a small influence in a person's musical ability.
However, this also seems to be something a person can compensate for. Such as, as Beethoven did, practice music a whole ton and brute forced the learning curve.
It can be a good example for training over talent.
I guess genes can have some influence on it, at least indirectly. But by far what seemed to be the biggest impact was the musical surrounding and transfer of experience. If you were taught by the best composers in the world, and if you happen to have a little bit of musical talent on top, it's just very likely you'll eventually become a very successful composer if you put some work into it.
Mozart was taught almost everything by his father, who was an excellent musician (composing maybe not so much) and initiated him with stuff like Bach. Mozart and Beethoven met many times and it's likely Mozart gave him some lessons as well. Beethoven was also a student of Haydn (another very big composer), then Beethoven was Czerny's teacher, which was in turn Liszt's teacher (maybe the most famous pianist in history)... The more you dig into it, the more links you find between the most renown musicians / composers.
Also, most of them were anti-semites.