The notebooks, no doubt, are magical places where our creativity develops. Today, we begin a series of publications on famous notebooks that have shaped the history of mankind as we know it today.
The great Ludwig van Beethoven (Bonn, 1770- Vienna, 1827) was one of the great geniuses who, for one reason or another, used notebooks most frequently in his life.
It is said that he always had a notebook in his hand. Actually, one of his most famous portrait shows him holding one of the notebooks he used to take notes of musical ideas, that could came to him at any time and place. Beethoven himself explained that if he didn't write it down inmediatly, he could forget it, but once the note was made, it remains printed at his mind forever and he doesn't need to check it again.
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The truth is that, apparently, he had a whole system to develop these musical ideas, and thanks to these notebooks, scholars has come to know and study the work system of the genius. He took his notes in small pocket notebooks that always carried out with him; later, in a second notebook, he played to develop these small ideas in phrases or even complete fragments, and finally he turned them into complete works in a third notebook. At present, these notebooks or even their loose pages are scattered throughout Europe.
When he was completely deaf, although his musical productivity never declined, the notebooks continued to be very helpful to him in another way. He always had one notebook in his pocket, so that his interlocutor could write down his questions, to which he answered orally. Of these "conversation books" by Beethoven, as they are called, several examples have also been preserved.
And you, how do you use your notebooks?
Image credit:
Portrait: Wikipedia
Conversation notebook: Ludwig Van Beethoven website
Do you know our Kraft Booklets? These booklets are designed to accompany you in your daily life. With a sturdy cover and a very manageable size, they can well serve you to write down your ideas on the fly, like the pocketbooks Beethoven used.
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