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 Piano Sonatas, Vol. 1
Classica - Pubblicato da GM Recordings il 1 gen 1996
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Pletnev in Person
Classica - Pubblicato da Onyx Classics il 30 set 2013
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Beethoven: Symphonies n. 2 - 7 / Symphony n. 4 - 6 Pastorale
Classica - Pubblicato da Blue music il 1 gen 2000
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Ludwig Van Beethoven: Fantasia Corale - Johannes Brahms: Sinfonia No. 4
Fabio Luisi, Orchestre du Mai Musical Florentin
Classica - Pubblicato da Materiali Sonori il 8 dic 2017
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Beethoven: Octet, Rondino and Quintet for Winds
Classica - Pubblicato da Passacaille il 31 gen 2016
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Hello I Am David! (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)
Stuttgarter Symphoniker, David Helfgott
Classica - Pubblicato da 2016 Stuttgarter Symphoniker il 7 ott 2016
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Beethoven: Piano Sonata No. 14 in C sharp minor, Op 27, No. 2. Adagio Sostenuto "Moonlight Sonata"
Classica - Pubblicato da Pocket Watch Productions Ltd il 15 mar 2012
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Beethoven Complete Symphonies
René Leibowitz & The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
Musica sinfonica - Pubblicato da Master Classics Records il 1 mar 2011
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Beethoven: Piano Sonatas Nos. 4, 8 & 10
Classica - Pubblicato da Mezhdunarodnaya Kniga Musica il 10 ott 2005
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A Piano Recital: Ludwig Van Beethoven
Classica - Pubblicato da UME - Global Clearing House il 21 nov 2023
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The Beethoven Piano Sonatas
Classica - Pubblicato da Classical Masters il 1 lug 2009
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Beethoven, Novena Sinfonía
Classica - Pubblicato da ClassicalPirosDigital il 24 nov 2015
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Radu Lupu: The Singing Piano
Radu Lupu, Franz Schubert, Ludwig van Beethoven
Classica - Pubblicato da UME - Global Clearing House il 21 set 2021
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Chilling Beethoven
Classica - Pubblicato da UME - Global Clearing House il 15 ago 2020
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Beethoven: Egmont Ouverture, Symphonies No. 4 & 7
De Nieuwe Philharmonie Utrecht, Johannes Leertouwer
Classica - Pubblicato da Globe il 10 ago 2011
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Beethoven: Piano Trios Op. 70 No. 1 "Ghost" & No. 2; Op. 11
Musica da camera - Pubblicato da Analekta il 26 ott 2010
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Beethoven Sonatas opus 111, opus 14 No. 2 and opus 31 No. 2
Classica - Pubblicato da Navis Classics il 1 dic 2014
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Moonlight Sonata
Moonlight Sonata, Ludwig van Beethoven, Classical Instrumentals
Pop - Pubblicato da Classicato il 26 lug 2019
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Beethoven: Für Elise
Classica - Pubblicato da UME - Global Clearing House il 18 gen 2019
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Бетховен: Фортепианные сонаты 14, 21 и 23
Classica - Pubblicato da Mezhdunarodnaya Kniga Musica il 1 gen 1989
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Beethoven - Winter Vibes
Classica - Pubblicato da UME - Global Clearing House il 9 gen 2021
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