Music nerding

Right, I think I can declare myself a well-rounded nerd now.

I read, I'm more-or-less computer savvy, I'm getting into comics, I game... and now I'm a music nerd. You know how I know?

Well, I've taken to listening to my local classical music station in the car to try to broaden my horizons, and what should come on this morning but the finale of Beethoven's 9th Symphony. When it got to the huge choral Ode to Joy bit, I cranked the volume because, let's face it, it's best enjoyed loud.

After a few minutes I realized I was lightly headbanging. So yes, much nerdity.

It occurred to me that Beethoven had a lot of balls. Most lesser composers would write that bit, think "Holy God in Heaven, this is the glorious finale to my piece!" and call it a night. Beethoven, on the other hand, wrote that, then went "Eh, I can outdo that," and wrote another bit that would make a glorious ending.

Then he looked at that and went "I can fucking outdo that, too." So he wrote yet ANOTHER bit to finish it off. That's just genius.

I'm inclined to agree with Hideaki Anno that the 9th Symphony is the pinnacle of human culture. Kind of depressing to think it's all downhill from there, but hey, what are you gonna do?