Happy New Year!! Learning to sight read and play the left hand opens many new doors for students. No need to rush. This is not a speed test. Listen closely to each note as you play and pay close attention to fingering. Get a good night's sleep. Expect miracles the next day during practice and throughout the week. This is a great way for music students to begin 2022.

 “Ode to Joy” was written by German poet/playwright Friedrich Schiller in the summer of 1785. The ideal he described, of hope and brotherhood triumphing, was exactly what Beethoven wanted to convey in his Ninth Symphony.  Although Beethoven had hoped originally that his music alone would describe the same sentiments, he ended up taking a risk and used some of the poem as the libretto for the final movement of his Ninth.  The Ninth, also referred to commonly as the “Choral Symphony,” is believed to be the first example of a major composer using singers in a symphonic piece. Even today Beethoven’s tune with Schiller’s words enthralls everyone who hears it, from symphony audiences to fans of the 1988 movie, “Die Hard,” which used the piece in its score. SOURCE: Classical 99.5 Radio Boston.