Thursday, December 16 marks two birthdays.  First, my brother’s, which doesn’t mean a whole lot to anyone but me.  But I always thought it was unfair he got to share his birthday with another mega-personality born that day: Ludwig van Beethoven.  Especially because my brother didn’t particularly care for Beethoven’s music.

Well, roll over, brother, because it is Beethoven’s birthday – his 240th to be specific.  And people around the world celebrate this important day in Western Music (and Western Culture).

I’d like to mark it today by inviting you to explore a phenomenal resource right here in the USA: The Ira F. Brilliant Institute for Beethoven Studies.  It’s the (and I do mean the) spot for Beethoven Studies in America.  It began in 1983 when an American Beethoven-lover and collector of Beethoven rare editions donated his invaluable collection to the University of San Jose.  How that happened is, in itself, a cool story.

The Center’s first and only director, Dr. William Meredith, was a grad-school colleague of mine at The University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.  We shared unforgettable seminars, particularly those given by the astounding Israeli music scholar Dr. Bathia Churgin.  “What?” she would say, staring at us with amused disbelief: “You don’t know the second flute part of the third movement of Beethoven’s 7th Symphony?”  And then, without a second’s hesitation, she’d sit down and play it as if it were “Happy Birthday.”

Good luck keeping up with that!  In fact, Bill and I often ended up at the Baskin-Robbins, gobbling ice cream to try to restore our senses after those mind-bending seminars.

Well, it was a great era for music history and scholarship back in the 1970s: the budding of many new specialties, prime among them the detective work of deciphering Beethoven’s thousands of scribbled musical drafts – usually called Beethoven Sketchbook Scholarship.  And Dr. Meredith was one of the best.  His appointment to the Ira F. Brilliant Beethoven Center in 1985 made big news in the music world.  He was so young, just finishing his doctorate.  You can imagine the surprise of more seasoned Beethoven specialists around the world.

But what a smart decision!  Dr. Meredith has dedicated his career to this amazing place.  And his exceptional scholarship, creativity, enthusiasm, and wisdom have guided the Beethoven Center ever since.  Bravo, Bill Meredith!  And brava, too, to the long-time curator of the Center, Patricia Stroh.

And yes, they really do have a rare lock of Beethoven’s hair.  In fact, there’s a whole area devoted to historical hair (I’m serious).  When I took a group of California Homeschoolers to visit the Center last spring, they had a terrific time, even the youngest homeschooler.  Many of them were using Discovering Music as a homeschool music curriculum, and were ready with their serious questions about music history and general history, which added to the fun.

Let’s talk more about the Ira F. Brilliant Beethoven Center in another post.  For today, get out the harmonica, and play “Happy Birthday” for little Ludwig.  Without his original and tormented life, the world of music would be far poorer