Past Exhibitions ● 2008

Schulz's Beethoven: Schroeder's Muse

August 16, 2008 through January 25, 2009
Why Beethoven? Charles Schulz said that he chose Beethoven as Schroeder’s favorite composer because B-words are simply funnier—yet when asked, Schulz replied that Brahms was his favorite composer. Maybe Schulz was remembering when, as a young teenager, he would sit on the porch of best friend Shermy’s home and listen to Shermy’s mother play Beethoven pieces on the piano.

Whatever the impetus, Schulz painstakingly copied musical scores, note by note, for his now-famous Beethoven strips. The music was transcribed with such accuracy that musicians are able to play the pieces directly from the Peanuts strips!

In this exhibition, visitors were able to view Beethoven-themed strips while listening to the music that Schulz transcribed into his panels. The exhibition also featured Schulz’s reference books on classical music; personal letters he wrote about his growing appreciation of the genre; original Beethoven manuscripts, scores, and first editions; paintings and a bust of Beethoven; and a fortepiano, the kind that would have been used in the early 19th century.

The exhibition was co-organized by Dr. Bill Meredith of the Ira F. Brilliant Center for Beethoven Studies, San Jose State University. It will be mounted at the Center for Beethoven Studies, Martin Luther King, Jr. Library, San Jose State University, from May 1 through July 31, 2009.