2301 North Central Avenue Name the following piece of music: Da-
da-da-DUM. If you guessed Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony, you were
right—and not alone. The Fifth may be the most famous piece of
music ever written, and it has thrilled audiences for over 200
years. But why? We’ve argued for centuries over what
distinguishes the sublime from the average. We’re mystified by
the workings of genius, no matter how many records it leaves.
(Think of Einstein’s Zurich notebooks or Beethoven’s countless
letters and musical jottings.) We struggle to cultivate the
imagination or “creativity,” yet we have little sense of how to
do it and few indications we’ve made any progress in our
understanding since the days of Aristotle. Boston Globe music
critic Matthew Guerrieri, author of The First Four Notes:
Beethoven’s Fifth and the Human Imagination, a book about the
history, legacy, and interpretations of Beethoven’s most famous
work, visits Zócalo to discuss the mysteries of genius and the
human imagination.