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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Mead High School junior wins Spokane Symphony essay contest

Emma Thackston has won the Spokane Symphony’s fifth annual essay contest.
Staff Report

Emma Thackston won the Spokane Symphony’s fifth annual essay contest.

This year’s theme is “Are There Connections Between Events in Artists’ Lives and Their Compositions?”

Thackston is a junior who splits her studies between Mead High School and homeschooling. She studies piano with retired Spokane Symphony pianist Linda Siverts.

She won an iTunes card, tickets for a symphony concert to honor educators on Sunday and a meet-and-greet with symphony music director Eckart Preu. Her essay will also be displayed at the concert.

Here is her winning essay:

Attitudes Revealed; Listeners Rewarded

Beethoven and Schubert, though each coping with tragedies, managed to score brilliant pieces of music that still move and inspire audiences across the world. By the age of just 26, Ludwig van Beethoven began to lose his hearing. A hopeless situation for a musician, Beethoven considered suicide because he could not stand the pity of others. Yet, the symphony he wrote during that tragic time is lighthearted, cheerful, and altogether marvelous. Perhaps Beethoven sought to create a piece that would bring him (and others) delight in his last days of sound. Franz Schubert struggled with a disease that slowly but surely killed him at 31 years old. His unfinished last symphony, however, does not display the fearlessness and liveliness of Beethoven. While it is powerful and moving, it carries tension and sorrow. The differences between these gifted composers’ symphonies link to their respective outlooks on life.

Ever secretive and irritable, Beethoven was known as an unfriendly genius. After composing countless pieces, Beethoven’s admirers overlooked his untidiness and rudeness. They instead yearned for more of his wonderful masterpieces. When the ears of Beethoven began to fail, life seemed even more despondent to him. He wrote a letter to his brothers in 1802, saying, “What a humiliation for me when someone standing next to me heard a flute in the distance and I heard nothing.” Beethoven felt that he had nothing to live for. Yet, he still managed to compose a symphony that made audiences feel the great joy. Beethoven understood and soaked in the words of Plato, who once said, “(Music) gives a soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination, and charm and gaiety to life and to everything.” Even though Beethoven was struggling with his loss of hearing, he knew cheerful music was the one way to lift his spirits in his last days of sound. His attitude was changed by this symphony; he overcame his suicidal thoughts and lived another thirty years, composing seven more symphonies.

Like Beethoven, Franz Schubert was obstinate and strong-willed. He chose not to follow in his father’s footsteps, turning away from teaching after two years. Instead, he floated around Vienna, occasionally acquiring funds from his close friends. His creativity and originality was clearly seen even in his early works. However, unlike Beethoven’s works, Schubert’s pieces did not gain much attention until after his death. Perhaps the cause of Schubert’s unfinished Symphony No. 8 was the thought that it would not be appreciated by the world. At age 25, Schubert learned of his impending death. This burden affected Schubert’s outlook on life and the mood of his last compositions. His last symphony written contained little happiness; instead, it consisted of angry outbursts, interrupted melodies, haunting themes, and the thundering timpani.

While Schubert and Beethoven were very alike in their personalities, the final symphony written by Beethoven before his hearing completely failed and Schubert’s final symphony contrast immensely. Beethoven painted joyful colors on every little note of the lengthly symphony. On the other hand, it seems as if Schubert wanted his audience to feel his agony and his despair. Beethoven wears a mask of bravery and fearlessness in the face of fear, while Schubert makes his anger and frustration known through music.

The difference between the magnificent composers’ attitudes throughout their individual struggles teaches two lessons. Two ways to approach an abject situation exist. One can face his affliction directly and honestly, choosing to make his feelings known. Schubert’s openness with his audience through his music shows this honesty. Beethoven, however, chose to put aside his misery and put on a show of cheerfulness. This way is less forthright, but more merry. Listeners of these great works are rewarded in both cases. When one hears Beethoven’s bright and cheery Symphony No. 2, he can have hope that an end will come to all troubles. When one hears Schubert’s tension-filled Symphony No. 8, he will realize that he is not alone in his suffering. These compositions enlighten listeners on the revelations of music, of the strength and hope it brings with each passing note.