Will relentless multitasking be the death of us? Just look at Mozart…

 

Years ago I remember sitting in the Sydney studio of the ABC Classic FM playing a recording of Beethoven’s late String Quartet in A minor Op 132. I think it was around 4am that I was playing the piece and the 20-minute slow movement suddenly got to me as I lay on the studio floor, exhausted and emotional, listening to this music that Beethoven had written and dedicated to his God after achieving a recovery from a terrible few months of ill health. He entitled the movement Heiliger Dankgesang eines Genesenen an die Gottheit (A Convalescent’s Holy Song of Thanksgiving to the Divinity) and the music is so plaintive,
you can really hear the direct thoughts of someone who is just grateful to be alive. 

If I had one shred of Beethoven’s genius I would have written my own Heiliger Dankgesang...