I remember being about 14 and painfully learning Beethoven’s Fur Elise.  Perhaps for other piano students it is an easy piece to learn, but not for a girl who didn’t practice that much!

It started out all right, but then a page later Beethoven goes into these crazy movements.  How frustrating! I didn’t even know what the piece was supposed to be about – until one practice session I read the introduction of Fur Elise.

Scholars may not agree on who the piece of music was actually written for, some say it was a former student named Therese, others say it is an ode to love in general.  Every time I hear Fur Elise now I wonder who that woman was that inspired such a beautiful melody (and difficult piece of music to learn).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/F%C3%BCr_Elise

What romantically inspired music do you enjoy?

Judy Watts
Development Coordinator