The Federal government thought my birthday was a sufficiently important occasion that it gave the day off to every Federal employee in the DC area. Very thoughtful of it - I'm touched. :)
To accompany the occasion, here's one of my favorite pieces of music, the first movement of Beethoven's Seventh. (Yes, the first movement. I know everybody goes gaga over the second movement, and it's a great piece of music too. But the opening movement is quite something all by itself.)
Sorry about its being broken into two videos, but I love this particular version, and I couldn't find it all in one piece. There's also a four-minute overlap between the two, so when you shift to the second video, start just before the 4-minute mark.
I love Kleiber's sweeping gesture at the 4:23 mark of the first video, as he sends the orchestra into the full, wild, joyous romp of the main movement. Up until then, Beethoven's just been building up the anticipation. You've got to come up with something pretty damn impressive to justify that much buildup, but this is Beethoven we're talking about, so he succeeds.
And on a completely different note, a song containing a not-so-subtle hint about my current age.
Open thread.
