DAILY DOSE of BEETHOVEN (April 6, 2020)

Intermezzo: Beethoven on the Banjo? Is this sacrilege?

Classical musicians often rightly resent so-called crossover deeply. Definitions of what is classical have over the years, evolved (or devolved) and standards lowered. So, what happens when a bluegrass musician study classical intensely enough not only to imitate it, in a vague way, but perform It competently? What if we told that a beautiful version of Beethoven could be performed on the banjo? Would you call us mad, "plucky" jerks?

Bluegrass musician, Bela Fleck, who was born into a family of classical musicians, decided that if he was about to embark in performances of classical music, he had better not just imitate it, but do it right. He sought out the perfect banjo, a 1920's GIbson, and strung it with gut strings. He teamed up with famed classical guitarist John Williams, to produce a version of Beethoven's piano piece, Variations on God save the King, for banjo and guitar.

What ? God Save the King? Banjo and guitar? Beethoven wrote that he must show the English what treasures resided in their national anthem. Not treasures in the words, but musical treasures.

We will not identify each variation, as they are easily identifiable. To our minds, the banjo-guitar combination captures the humor, far better than the solo piano version.