Don’t Talk on the Phone During a Live Performance . . .

. . . or at least be prepared for the consequences! (funny video; very short)

Fun with Beethoven!

I’ll admit that it takes a little time to enjoy classical music, even when you’re having fun with it. Perhaps especially when you’re having fun with it. But since I serendipitously encountered two fun Beethoven references in just a few hours, I decided to go exploring to see what else I could find.

I’ll not save the best for last in this post, because, as I said, classical music takes time. Just in case you, Dear Reader, don’t have oodles of time today, I’ll start with the best.

“Argument to Beethoven’s 5th;” Sid Caesar and Nanette Fabray; 5:51; make sure you watch all the way to the end! (There’ll be a test later. . . or maybe not.)

Next is a link to a very, very interesting rendition of Beethoven’s Fur Elise (2:25). (Just imagine a googly-eyed umlaut; I’m too lazy to look up the HTML right now.) Based on the comments on that page, I don’t think viewers are “getting it,” but if you think about it for a few seconds, this rendition is incredible. . . or incredibly odd, at least.

Back to the fifth. I’m going to skip right over “A Fifth of Beethoven” and go right to the Beethoven Rap. (Back story here.)

Dudley Moore plays a well-done parody of a Beethoven piano sonata using the whistling tune from “Bridge Over the River Kwai” as a thematic subject here (4:29).

Beethoven on The Muppet Show (along with Victor Borge) (2:12).

And if you haven’t cracked a smile yet, maybe this will work:

(Beethoven is Funny, 0:42)