The other day our local NPR station was playing one of my all-time favorite Beethoven symphonies. I was enjoying it tremendously, but I was having a senior moment and couldn't settle on the number of this symphony -- was it the second, or the fourth, or which? I consulted the station's playlist on their website and discovered that it was the Symphony Number 5 by Franz Schubert.
I was horrified. How can somebody with a master's degree in music (and a dissertation shy of a Ph.D.) not know Schubert's Fifth when she hears it? I know I have forgotten a lot about music -- more and more as time goes on -- since I gave up the study some 25 years ago, but I didn't think I'd lost it all.
I suppose I can find some solace in that I was confusing Schubert with Beethoven. If the day comes when I can't distinguish between Bach and Mahler, I'll know it's all over.
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