# Beethoven re: guitar

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beethoven-re-guitar/755652>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Created:** [May 25, 2016, 12:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beethoven-re-guitar/755652 "2016-05-25T12:49:57Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![NoCoolUserName](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/5fc32e/32.png) [@NoCoolUserName](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NoCoolUserName)\
**Post date:** [May 25, 2016, 12:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beethoven-re-guitar/755652/1 "2016-05-25T12:49:57Z")

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“The guitar is a miniature orchestra in itself.”

― Ludwig van Beethoven

Does anyone know the origin of this?

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**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\
**Post date:** [May 25, 2016, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beethoven-re-guitar/755652/2 "2016-05-25T13:49:05Z")

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My Google-fu is weak. I only find circular references to various listings.

Not going to argue the point, though! 😉

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**Author:** ![JeffB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jeffb/32/188_2.png) [@JeffB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JeffB)\
**Post date:** [May 25, 2016, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beethoven-re-guitar/755652/3 "2016-05-25T13:57:54Z")

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From my searching, the origin of this seems to be an interview by Segovia printed the the now defunct magazine _The Etude_ in May 1930. I found a [site](http://www.icoldwell.com/robert/music/etude/XLVIII_05.html) with the text of the article:

> [@](#):
>
> One of the greatest exponents of the guitar was the Italian master, Mauro Giuliani, (1781-circa1840). It was his playing that Beethoven heard when he said, ‘The guitar is a miniature orchestra in itself.’

May need a Beethoven scholar to track that actual source down, or it may just be that Segovia was passing on something he heard.

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**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\
**Post date:** [May 25, 2016, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beethoven-re-guitar/755652/4 "2016-05-25T14:14:43Z")

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As a vaguely related fun fact, Johannes Brahms was a fan of the banjo, having encountered it late in life. There are various claims that he intended to write something for banjo orchestra but these appear to be largely spurious.