Who is this Child?
Trans-Siberian Orchestra
Beethoven’s Last Night (2000)
I learned the trick is
That we just avoid her eyes
And the question
What she means to …
Through the course of Beethoven’s Last Night, Mephistopheles attempts to acquire the music of the Maestro in exchange for his soul. When all other attempts fail, he offers up the life of a child lying in a gutter outside his home. He lists the horrors and tragedies that will befall the child in her short life, showing that the has a claim on her soul.
The Devil then offers to make an exchange to Beethoven. He will relinquish his claims on the child and free her from the evils that will visit her in exchange for the Tenth Symphony.
This song represents the struggle that Beethoven goes through, balancing his final Symphony for the life of a street urchin that he doesn’t know and has never seen before this night.
As we know that there is, in reality, no Tenth Symphony. We can assume that we know the choice that Beethoven made, but there is more to the story and more to the album, even after this.
To hear the full Twenty-Five Days of TSO Playlist on Google Play Music, click the link below.