Putting music in memory bank

I love Richard Perlmutter’s humorous approach to music (“Opening Beethoven’s Door,” March 6)!

It reminds me of my school days when we had to learn to recognize hundreds of masterworks from just a few bars.

We made up ditties as mnemonic devices, i.e. for Schubert’s Unfinished Symphony, “This is the symphony that Schubert wrote and never finished, this is that symphony, he started it but never finished, no, never, etc.” or “Papa Haydn’s dead and gone, but his memory lingers on ... “ for the Surprise Symphony. Just one minor discrepancy needs to be noted: Beethoven was notorious for his refusal to wear his wig, and for his generally unkempt appearance. It would be more correct to sing, “Beethoven’s hair / Gives me a scare!”

Diane K. Mitchell

Hemet