15 Minutes with Beethoven

[spencervirt]

Scenario:

You are walking to the local coffee shop to grab an apple fritter. On the way there, you notice that a new piano shop has opened across the street. You decide to hold off on the delicious apple fritter and walk into the shop. When there, the owner of the shop calls you into his back office. He tells you that he has the power to let you meet any composer (for piano) who has ever lived. He tells you that you have 15 minutes to talk with the composer (a piano is provided) but you can only ask one piano related question.

Aside from the juvenile way that I have posed this (sorry), which composer would you choose to meet, why, and what would your question be?

I would choose to meet Chopin because I would like to better understand him as a person.

I would ask "what matters the most in a good pianist"

I think that this is a very interesting topic. I have always contemplated how interesting it would be to meet these people.

[starlady]

I would like to meet J.S. Bach and hear his thoughts on the development of music since his day. 

[lostinidlewonder]

Beethoven. I would ask him to describe to me how he managed to conquer his deafness and what where the greatest challenges and perhaps if there where any benefits for being a deaf musician. Although would 15 minutes be enough? I would hope he could talk very fast and I could record his very words.

Maybe if he spoke as fast as Fran Capo 15 minutes would be enough

[akasimone]

I'd probably choose Beethoven, too.  Not sure what I'd ask him about piano.  But I'd definitely ask about the 9th symphony; I've always wondered whether that intense, deliberate, rapturous joy--at the beauty of nature and just being alive--was something he really found at the end of his life, or just something he was wishing for.