Schroeder 'Played' Real Beethoven

The written notes that rose over Schroeder's piano weren't just doodles, scholars studying Peanuts tell the New York Times. Charles Schulz loved classical music as much as his Beethoven-obsessed character and carefully transcribed notes from real Beethoven scores to provide a soundtrack for every comic strip in which Schroeder was seen pounding away at the keys.

"The music is a character in the strip as much as the people are, because the music sets the tone," said one professor who painstakingly identified the compositions and gathered the comic strips for an exhibition at Santa Rosa's Charles M. Schulz Museum. Schulz made accuracy a hallmark of his comic strips and carefully studied everything from figure skating to medical conditions to ensure authenticity, notes the museum's curator. (More Charles Schulz stories.)