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
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Sonate au clair de lune
Classica - Pubblicato da Classical Meditations il 5 giu 2020
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A Beethoven Odyssey, Vol. 2 - Piano Sonatas Nos. 8 "Pathétique, 14 "Moonlight", 21 "Waldtstein", 19 and 20
Classica - Pubblicato da MSR Classics il 13 ago 2013
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Beethoven: Concerto pour piano n°5
Musica concertante - Pubblicato da Claves Records il 1 giu 2008
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Beethoven: The Late String Quartets
Musica da camera - Pubblicato da Avie Records il 6 mar 2012
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Beethoven: Piano Concerto No. 3
The Netherlands Symphony Orchestra, Jan Willem de Vriend, Hannes Minnaar
Classica - Pubblicato da Challenge Classics il 2 giu 2017
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Beethoven Sonata No. 14 (Single)
Classica - Pubblicato da Best Buy Classical il 4 apr 2012
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Beethoven: Triple Concerto & Archduke Trio
Storioni Trio, The Netherlands Symphony Orchestra
Classica - Pubblicato da Challenge Classics il 31 gen 2013
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Beethoven: Piano Concertos Nos. 3 & 4
Classica - Pubblicato da Onyx Classics il 30 giu 2014
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Howard Griffiths: Beethoven Rarities
Claire Huangci, Brandenburgisches Staatsorchester Frankfurt, Howard Griffiths, Ludwig van Beethoven
Classica - Pubblicato da Rondeau Production il 23 feb 2018
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Beethoven: Triple Concerto In C Major, Op. 56 - Schubert: Trio No. 1 In B Flat Major, Op. 99
Isaac Stern, Eugene Istomin, Leonard Rose
Classica - Pubblicato da RHI il 6 mag 2015
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Jonathan Biss - Beethoven Piano Sonatas Volume 4 Nos. 1, 6, 19, & 23 (Appassionata)
Classica - Pubblicato da JB Recordings il 27 gen 2015
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Beethoven: The Middle String Quartets, Opp. 59, 74, & 95
Musica da camera - Pubblicato da AVIE Records il 11 nov 2014
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Beethoven's Complete Symphonies 1927-1938 The First Recordings
Musica sinfonica - Pubblicato da Stardust il 1 gen 2008
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Beethoven - Piano Sonatas - Moonlight - Pathetique - Appassionata
Ludwig van Beethoven, Walter Klien
Classica - Pubblicato da Denon il 1 gen 2007
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Beethoven: The Complete String Quartets, Vol. 1
Musica da camera - Pubblicato da Wigmore Hall Live il 12 gen 2015
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Beethoven: The Complete String Quartets, Vol. 2
Musica da camera - Pubblicato da Wigmore Hall Live il 4 nov 2016
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Beethoven: Piano Concerto Nos. 1 & 2
Musica concertante - Pubblicato da Regis Records il 1 feb 2014
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Beethoven: Symphony No. 5 in C Minor, Op. 67 & Coriolan Overture
Classica - Pubblicato da Lodia Music International il 25 apr 2013
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Beethoven Piano Sonatas, Vol. 2
Classica - Pubblicato da GM Recordings il 1 gen 1997
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Ludwig Van Beethoven - Complete Sonatas For Piano and Violin, Vol. II
Classica - Pubblicato da Classic Themes il 5 lug 2010
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Perspectives 5: Beethoven • Liszt
Classica - Pubblicato da AVIE Records il 8 nov 2011
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