Hear the Music of the Peanuts Comic Strip for the First TimeSchulz’s Beethoven: Schroeder’s Muse
July 10 , 2008—Santa Rosa, CA. Musicians are often pleasantly surprised to find that they can actually play the musical notes floating above Schroeder’s miniature piano in the Peanuts comic strip, and they are even more amazed to learn that it’s not just anyone’s music Schroeder is playing—the compositions were created by none other than his idol, Ludwig van Beethoven! For the first time anywhere, visitors can hear the Beethoven excerpts that Schroeder plays in the Peanuts comic strip via audio wand. Dr. William Meredith, co-curator and Director of the Beethoven Center, believes that hearing the strips with music adds a completely new layer of meaning and, in a few instances, is even the punch line. The exhibition runs August 16, 2008 through January 26, 2009 at the Charles M. Schulz Museum in Santa Rosa, and from May 1 through July 31, 2009 in the Special Collections Exhibit Hall of the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Library at San Jose State University. The Charles M. Schulz Museum and the Ira F. Brilliant Center for Beethoven Studies at San Jose State University have organized a joint exhibition, Schulz’s Beethoven: Schroeder’s Muse, to provide the public with an opportunity to deepen their appreciation of two great artists brought together by a tenacious cartoon character. “Schroeder’s passion captures an artistic intensity that we can imagine in both Beethoven and Charles Schulz,” says Jean Schulz, widow of the late Charles Schulz. Schulz’s Beethoven: Schroeder’s Muse is a rare opportunity for visitors to see many historic artifacts from Beethoven’s age exhibited side by side with 55 Peanuts comic strips. Beethoven–themed books from Schulz’s personal library, original Beethoven manuscripts, hair strands from “The Guevara Lock of Beethoven’s Hair” that have demonstrated that Beethoven had lead poisoning, a cookbook from 1803 containing one of Beethoven’s favorite recipes, a reproduction of a 1795 Dulcken fortepiano, and numerous other artifacts from the Beethoven Center’s collection round out the exhibition. Special events at the Schulz Museum are planned throughout the exhibition, including:
This exhibition, co-curated by Jane O’Cain from the Schulz Museum and Dr. William Meredith from the Beethoven Center, explains why Schulz chose certain compositions to feature in his strip, and explores how his strips provide insights not only into the lives of Schroeder and his friends, but also serve as a biography of sorts of Beethoven’s turbulent life. Excerpts from the complete recordings of Beethoven’s sonatas by internationally–renowned pianist Craig Sheppard, Professor of Piano at the University of Washington in Seattle, will be featured on the audio wands.
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