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by Geets Vincent
an Jose, the California
city famous for Silicon Valley enterprises and technological institutions,
is also noted for its downtown walking district’s enticements, including
venues for visual arts and museums. One of the latter is a small gem of a
museum, dedicated solely to Beethoven.
The Ira F. Brilliant Center for Beethoven Studies is named for the late Arizona
real estate developer who created the Center’s foundation by donating
his collection of 75 first editions of Beethoven’s music to San Jose
State University. The Museum opened in 1985 and settled into its present quarters,
on the fifth floor of the library (which is also the city’s main public
library), in 2003. Admission is free.
Dedicated musicologists or casual visitors are treated with wonderful patience.
Curator Patricia Stroh calls this Mecca for Beethoven aficionados a “hybrid.” Reason: the display area is small compared to most museums, but contents are enormous in terms of a library devoted exclusively to music, artifacts and ideals of the great composer. Housed in this modest space is the largest collection of Beethoven materials outside Europe. Included are first editions, original manuscripts, books and articles, recordings, an historical keyboard collection, and hundreds of pieces of artwork, autographed materials, masks, sculptures, stamps and films. The museum’s small gift shop offers souvenir coffee mugs, music scores, and a bibliography database.
Dedicated
musicologists or casual visitors are treated with wonderful patience by staff
and docents.
The collection’s most famous object is the “Alfredo Guevara Lock
of Hair.” Purchased at London’s Sotheby’s in 1994 by four members
of the American Beethoven Society, it’s the subject of Russell Martin’s
2000 book, Beethoven’s Hair, as well as an award-winning documentary.
Visit and other sites for details about the extraordinary odyssey of this
lock of hair, cut from Beethoven’s head at his deathbed. Before photography,
cutting a snippet of hair from a celebrity or loved one was common practice
for souvenir seekers. This lock’s convoluted journey to San Jose has
been compared to the type of intrigue described in “The Da Vinci Code”
— though these results have been authenticated by DNA testing.
Many intriguing questions resulting from the testing concern the composer’s
deafness and overall health. A 2007 discovery indicates Beethoven’s own
doctor may have inadvertently poisoned the composer with lead-tainted medicines.
The Museum’s historical keyboard collection includes harpsichord, clavichord
fortepiano, and other piano-like instruments similar to those Beethoven played.
Each sounds vastly different from modern pianos. Sometimes staff play sounds
as the maestro created them.
Although Ira Brilliant died in 2006, his mission is constantly honored by the variety of educational programs and projects, concerts, and lectures available at the Museum.
Beethoven Museum: tel. 408/808-2058; www.sjsu.edu/depts/beethoven.
Geets Vincent is a Santa Rosa, California based travel writer.
Return to: Recent articles, Top, Home.
Every Peanuts fan knows that Schroeder at his toy piano is a devotee of Beethoven. But readers may be unaware that this composer was not a favorite of Charles M. Schulz, the comic strip’s creator. “Sparky,” as the late cartoonist was affectionately called, made no secret of the fact he actually preferred music by Brahms to that of Beethoven. But, he said, the latter name had a more comical sound.
Once he chose Beethoven, accuracy became essential. The musical notes that show while Schroeder plays and Lucy leans on his piano, are 100 percent accurate. All faithfully reproduce actual notes Beethoven wrote in manuscript form. — GV.