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Say “ genius ” and his name immediately comes to mind .
Einstein is the closest you get to describing genius ; even small kids know him .
There is no other personality in the academic world that has even half Einstein ’s popularity .
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There is no genius in the world as respected and as loved as Albert Einstein .
His picture with his distinctive hairstyle even became a pop culture icon .
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Nowhere in the world could we find another academic that rivals the popularity of rock superstars .
His opus “ E = mc ” would rival any Beatles ’ platinum record , his “ Theory of Relativity ” even shook Newton ’s gravitational theory off the charts .
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Kids would love him more if they knew that he loved music .
Had he lived later , he could easily pass as the only male member of the Bond electric quartet .
Would n’t it be great to see Einstein jamming alongside these gorgeous girls ?
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Music and the Genius
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He once confided that had he not been a scientist , he would have been a musician .
Mostly favoring classical music , Einstein adored Mozart and worshipped Bach .
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“ Life without playing music is inconceivable for me , ” he said .
He also said that he lived his daydreams in music , and “ I get most joy in life out of music . ”
Einstein , with unclipped moustache and unkempt hair , did actually perform in solo concerts !
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Music and Einstein ’s Early Life
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There is a little known fact about the great man .
Einstein did extremely poorly in school , so poorly in fact that his grade school teachers asked his parents to take him out of school because he was “ too stupid to learn . ”
Einstein , too stupid to learn !
The teachers thought it would be easier for Einstein ’s parents to make him learn a trade .
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Instead of heeding their advice , Albert ’s parents bought him a violin .
Einstein actually started playing the violin at the age of six , while his family was still living in Munich .
However , he toiled under unimaginative tuition until discovering the joys of Mozart ’s sonatas at the age of 13 .
From that point on , although he had no further lessons , his violin remained his constant companion .
Just before his 17th birthday Albert played at a music examination in the cantonal school .
The inspector reported that “ a student called Einstein shone in a deeply felt performance of an adagio from one of the Beethoven sonatas . ”
In addition to his prowess on the violin , he also played the piano and , in particular , loved to improvise .
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Music and Einstein ’s Creative Work
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Music helped bring out the real genius in our Einstein .
Albert Einstein himself admitted that the reason he was so smart was because he played the violin .
One friend , G. J. Whitrow , confided that the way Einstein dealt with problems and equations was by improvising on the violin .
His second wife , Elsa , gives a rare glimpse of their home life in Berlin .
“ As a little girl , I fell in love with Albert because he played Mozart so beautifully on the violin , ” she once wrote .
“ He also plays the piano .
Music helps him when he is thinking about his theories .
He goes to his study , comes back , strikes a few chords on the piano , jots something down , returns to his study . ”
His son Hans Albert Einstein too recalls his father using music as a tool to help his work .
He says , “ Whenever he felt that he had come to the end of the road or into a difficult situation in his work , he would take refuge in music .
That would usually resolve all his difficulties . ”
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Music — A Lifelong Passion
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Right from his young days , Einstein always had time for music and often performed at musical evenings .
During his later life , his fame as a physicist often garnered him invitations to perform at benefit concerts and he was always ready to accept .
This often led to conflicting criticisms on his true musical abilities .
While many artists felt that Einstein ’s musical abilities were unduly promoted , the best summary of his true musical abilities probably comes from his friend Janos Plesch , who wrote , “ There are many musicians with much better technique , but none , I believe , ever played with more sincerity or deeper feeling . ”
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His violin remained his constant companion till 1950 when his doctor ordered him to stop playing the instrument due to problems affecting his left hand .
This made him turn to his next favorite instrument , the piano .
Einstein ’s tastes in music were very conservative .
His favorite composers were Mozart and Bach and while he admired Beethoven , he did not feel all that passionate about his work .
In fact , the more contemporary the composer , the less liked it was by Einstein .
Einstein ’s love and passion for music was so great that towards the end of his life he once remarked , “ I know that the most joy in my life has come to me from my violin . ”