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The Book on the Trinity, every faithful Catholic priest would love as his next present
This is Br. Bugnolo's English Translation, of Saint Bonaventure's encylopedic book of theology on the Trinity: With this book, your priest will always have something intelligent and awesomely inspiring to preach to you about
God the Father, God the Son & God the Holy Spirit!
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Very interesting. Thank you ! But can you explain your title?
I love VAN Beethoven very much. To me, he is the musical illustration of the adage : Cor ad cor loquitur of my favorite saint Francis de Sales, later adopted by … Newman as his motto.
Regarding the VAN Beethoven, you might find this interesting :
Ludwig van Beethoven’s genetic link to Flanders debunked
https://www.vrt.be/vrtnws/en/2023/03/22/ludwig-van-beethovens-genetic-link-to-flanders-debunked/
In the USA he is called Beethoven, simply, without Van or Von in front of it, because of his great fame. Many think that is his first name. So if I had written, Van or Von, I would confused my readers into thinking I was speaking of some relative of his. Crazy, but true.
But, thank you for this link, because for my whole life and indeed millions like myself, I thought he was German, not Flemish. The Flemish are famous musicians, though.
Beethoven didn’t have a middle name. His first name was Ludwig (= Louis !) like his grand-father Lodewijk, and his last name was “van Beethoven” (not Van Beethoven). He was born in Bonn (in today’s Germany), but his family originated in Flanders ; “van” was/is a common prefix meaning “from” and “Beethoven” originally meant “beet farm”. Presumably some ancestors were beet farmers, in the same way that present-day people named “Farmer” or “Fisher” probably had ancestors in those occupations long ago.
As to why the “van” part of his last name is not often included, it’s not unusual to drop it unless one is being formal. Another famous German was Otto von Bismark, commonly referred to as Bismark. On the other hand, we usually keep it when referring to Vincent van Gogh, Max von Sydow, or Dick Van Dyke. I don’t think there is a rule about this, it’s just how things become customary.
In Flemish, do these rules for “van” and “von” being dropped before names also prevail, or are there different rules than in English?
If Beethoven’s first name is mentioned, “van” would always be used, and people who use “von” would promptly be corrected.
If not, and in informal language, Beethoven would be common, unlike Van Gogh, for whom the Van part is never omitted, with or without Vincent, maybe because Gogh has only one syllable?
Btw did you know that cardinal Schoenborn’s name is in fact von Schoenborn?
To your last question, no. To your first question, Gogh, as pronounced, to an English speaker’s ear sound like something like goo, which is a sloppy slippery liquid-solid.
A new book, The Catholic Beethoven by Nicholas Chong, was published this year by Oxford University Press:
https://academic.oup.com/book/58985
True! He was making music of the future. This documentary has better informed and thus renewed my interest in him. Thank you.