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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Beethoven: Symphony No. 3, Op. 55 "Eroica"
Classica - Pubblicato da Lodia Music International il 4 lug 2013
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Beethoven: Symphony No. 7 in A Major, Op. 92
Classica - Pubblicato da Lodia Music International il 25 apr 2013
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Beethoven: Sonatas Vol. 4
Ludwig van Beethoven, Costantino Mastroprimiano
Classica - Pubblicato da Aulicus Classics il 4 mar 2024
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Beethoven: Piano Concerto No. 3, Triple Concerto
Barry Douglas, Chee-Yun, Andres Diaz
Musica concertante - Pubblicato da Satirino Records il 15 nov 2007
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Clara Butt (Recorded 1909 - 1925)
Clara Butt, Landon Ronald, Grace Torrens
Musica vocale (sacra e profana) - Pubblicato da Prima Voce il 1 gen 2003
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Beethoven, L. van: Cello Sonata No. 3, Op. 69, Brahms, J.: Cello Sonata No. 1, Op. 38, Reger, M.: Cello Suite No. 2, Op. 131c
Classica - Pubblicato da RCD music il 12 giu 2012
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Beethoven: Piano Sonatas on Period Instruments
Classica - Pubblicato da Claves Records il 1 gen 2001
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Ludwig Van Beethoven - Complete Sonatas For Piano and Violin, Vol. I
Classica - Pubblicato da Classic Themes il 5 lug 2010
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Ludwig Van Beethoven: Mondscheinsonate-appassionata-pathetique
Classica - Pubblicato da Carinco AG il 16 feb 2007
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Arthur Schnabel - Ludwig van Beethoven - Piano Concertos No. 3 & No. 4
Classica - Pubblicato da JamadaDigital il 12 gen 2015
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Beethoven: Symphony No. 9
Bruno Walter, John Finley Williamson, Westminster Choir
Musica sinfonica - Pubblicato da Urania il 1 gen 2003
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Piano Classics 1, die schönsten klassischen Klavier-Melodien
Classica - Pubblicato da Media Sound Art il 30 ott 2018
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Oscillations
Classica - Pubblicato da Challenge Classics il 10 mag 2013
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Perspectives 6: Beethoven • Berio • Schumann
Classica - Pubblicato da AVIE Records il 7 apr 2014
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Classical Dreaming - Cello & Piano
Ludwig van Beethoven, Franz Schubert, Johannes Brahms
Classica - Pubblicato da UME - Global Clearing House il 18 mar 2022
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Brendel plays Beethoven
Alfred Brendel, Ludwig van Beethoven
Classica - Pubblicato da UME - Global Clearing House il 4 gen 2021
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John Eliot Gardiner conducts Beethoven
Ludwig van Beethoven, John Eliot Gardiner
Classica - Pubblicato da UME - Global Clearing House il 1 ago 2020
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The Power of Beethoven – featuring David Garrett
Ludwig van Beethoven, David Garrett
Classica - Pubblicato da UME - Global Clearing House il 21 set 2020
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Happy New Year! Joyful Classical
Ludwig van Beethoven, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Frédéric Chopin
Classica - Pubblicato da UME - Global Clearing House il 26 dic 2020
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Abbado conducts Beethoven
Ludwig van Beethoven, Claudio Abbado
Classica - Pubblicato da UME - Global Clearing House il 20 giu 2020
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