Ludwig van Beethoven
The events of Beethoven's life are the stuff of Romantic legend, evoking images of the solitary creator shaking his fist at Fate and finally overcoming it through a supreme effort of creative will. His compositions, which frequently pushed the boundaries of tradition and startled audiences with their originality and power, are considered by many to be the foundation of 19th century musical principles.
Born in the small German city of Bonn on or around December 16, 1770, he received his early training from his father and other local musicians. As a teenager, he earned some money as an assistant to his teacher, Christian Gottlob Neefe, then was granted half of his father's salary as court musician from the Electorate of Cologne in order to care for his two younger brothers as his father gave in to alcoholism. Beethoven played viola in various orchestras, becoming friends with other players such as Antoine Reicha, Nikolaus Simrock, and Franz Ries, and began taking on composition commissions. As a member of the court chapel orchestra, he was able to travel some and meet members of the nobility, one of whom, Count Ferdinand Waldstein, would become a great friend and patron to him. Beethoven moved to Vienna in 1792 to study with Haydn; despite the prickliness of their relationship, Haydn's concise humor helped form Beethoven's style. His subsequent teachers in composition were Johann Georg Albrechtsberger and Antonio Salieri. In 1794, he began his career in earnest as a pianist and composer, taking advantage whenever he could of the patronage of others. Around 1800, Beethoven began to notice his gradually encroaching deafness. His growing despondency only intensified his antisocial tendencies. However, the Symphony No. 3, "Eroica," of 1803 began a sustained period of groundbreaking creative triumph. In later years, Beethoven was plagued by personal difficulties, including a series of failed romances and a nasty custody battle over a nephew, Karl. Yet after a long period of comparative compositional inactivity lasting from about 1811 to 1817, his creative imagination triumphed once again over his troubles. Beethoven's late works, especially the last five of his 16 string quartets and the last four of his 32 piano sonatas, have an ecstatic quality in which many have found a mystical significance. Beethoven died in Vienna on March 26, 1827.
Beethoven's epochal career is often divided into early, middle, and late periods, represented, respectively, by works based on Classic-period models, by revolutionary pieces that expanded the vocabulary of music, and by compositions written in a unique, highly personal musical language incorporating elements of contrapuntal and variation writing while approaching large-scale forms with complete freedom. Though certainly subject to debate, these divisions point to the immense depth and multifariousness of Beethoven's creative personality. Beethoven profoundly transformed every genre he touched, and the music of the 19th century seems to grow from his compositions as if from a chrysalis. A formidable pianist, he moved the piano sonata from the drawing room to the concert hall with such ambitious and virtuosic middle-period works as the "Waldstein" (No. 21) and "Appassionata" (No. 23) sonatas. His song cycle An die ferne Geliebte of 1816 set the pattern for similar cycles by all the Romantic song composers, from Schubert to Wolf. The Romantic tradition of descriptive or "program" music began with Beethoven's "Pastoral" Symphony No. 6. Even in the second half of the 19th century, Beethoven still directly inspired both conservatives (such as Brahms, who, like Beethoven, fundamentally stayed within the confines of Classical form) and radicals (such as Wagner, who viewed the Ninth Symphony as a harbinger of his own vision of a total art work, integrating vocal and instrumental music with the other arts). In many ways revolutionary, Beethoven's music remains universally appealing because of its characteristic humanism and dramatic power.
© Rovi Staff /TiVo
-
A Night of Classical: Bach, Chopin, Beethoven etc.
Klassik - Erschienen bei UME - Global Clearing House am 29.12.2023
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Beethoven Piano Sonatas, Vol. 1
Klassik - Erschienen bei GM Recordings am 01.01.1996
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Pletnev in Person
Klassik - Erschienen bei Onyx Classics am 30.09.2013
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Beethoven: Symphonies n. 2 - 7 / Symphony n. 4 - 6 Pastorale
Klassik - Erschienen bei Blue music am 01.01.2000
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Ludwig Van Beethoven: Fantasia Corale - Johannes Brahms: Sinfonia No. 4
Fabio Luisi, Orchestre du Mai Musical Florentin
Klassik - Erschienen bei Materiali Sonori am 08.12.2017
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Beethoven: Octet, Rondino and Quintet for Winds
Klassik - Erschienen bei Passacaille am 31.01.2016
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Hello I Am David! (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)
Stuttgarter Symphoniker, David Helfgott
Klassik - Erschienen bei 2016 Stuttgarter Symphoniker am 07.10.2016
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Música Clásica Vol.4
The Hamburg Symphony Orchestra
Klassik - Erschienen bei Meta - Monreal am 01.11.2010
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Beethoven: Piano Sonata No. 14 in C sharp minor, Op 27, No. 2. Adagio Sostenuto "Moonlight Sonata"
Klassik - Erschienen bei Pocket Watch Productions Ltd am 15.03.2012
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Beethoven Complete Symphonies
René Leibowitz & The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
Symphonieorchester - Erschienen bei Master Classics Records am 01.03.2011
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Beethoven: Piano Sonatas Nos. 4, 8 & 10
Klassik - Erschienen bei Mezhdunarodnaya Kniga Musica am 10.10.2005
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
A Piano Recital: Ludwig Van Beethoven
Klassik - Erschienen bei UME - Global Clearing House am 21.11.2023
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Beethoven Piano Sonatas
Klassik - Erschienen bei Classical Masters am 01.07.2009
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Beethoven, Novena Sinfonía
Klassik - Erschienen bei ClassicalPirosDigital am 24.11.2015
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Radu Lupu: The Singing Piano
Radu Lupu, Franz Schubert, Ludwig van Beethoven
Klassik - Erschienen bei UME - Global Clearing House am 21.09.2021
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Chilling Beethoven
Klassik - Erschienen bei UME - Global Clearing House am 15.08.2020
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Beethoven: Egmont Ouverture, Symphonies No. 4 & 7
De Nieuwe Philharmonie Utrecht, Johannes Leertouwer
Klassik - Erschienen bei Globe am 10.08.2011
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Beethoven Sonatas opus 111, opus 14 No. 2 and opus 31 No. 2
Klassik - Erschienen bei Navis Classics am 01.12.2014
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Moonlight Sonata
Moonlight Sonata, Ludwig van Beethoven, Classical Instrumentals
Pop - Erschienen bei Classicato am 26.07.2019
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Beethoven: Für Elise
Klassik - Erschienen bei UME - Global Clearing House am 18.01.2019
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Бетховен: Фортепианные сонаты 14, 21 и 23
Klassik - Erschienen bei Mezhdunarodnaya Kniga Musica am 01.01.1989
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo