A poetic tribute by poet Will Goede The Coming of the Comet (to Robert Silverman, upon completion of his Beethoven Sonata cycle)

[ On Beethoven | Beethoven Cycle Possibilities | Beethoven Concert Reviews ]

As the last chord of the last sonata
rolled to the roof,
as the last harmonic interval
intersected the universe,
the last chord
strummed the stars
and struck universal harmony,
you rested,
hovered above the keyboard
and wondered what you had done.

Had you sounded the spheres,
had you stroked the inner ear
of the Giant? Had he himself
heard that chord and said
I know now I am not dead?

So far as we know,
we, the humble earshot crowd,
huddled about the Steinway,
we are unacquainted with the Giant,
we only know what we hear, and what we hear
is the man at the keyboard
as he leans across ivories
contemplating his place.

There really is no Beethoven.
There is only what we hear.
We are ears, you are fingers,
together we create Beethoven.
And now that all the sonatas are sounded,
we know that he is alive
and sits at the keyboard
contemplating himself
in the stars.

...December 7, 1998

| Home | Biography | Personal | Concert Calendar | Concerto Repertoire |Solo Repertoire | | Discography | Reviews | On Beethoven | Links |