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
-
Beethoven: Symphony No. 7 in A Major, Op. 92
Saint Petersburg Academic Symphony Orchestra
Klassik - Erschienen bei Bomba-Piter am 20.06.2012
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Beethoven: Egmont Overture, Op. 84
Novosibirsk Philharmonic Orchestra
Klassik - Erschienen bei Bomba-Piter am 20.06.2012
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Beethoven: String Quartet No.9 in C Major, Op.59 No.3 "Rasumovsky No.3"
Klassik - Erschienen bei Bomba-Piter am 15.06.2012
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Beethoven: String Quartet No.8 in E Minor, Op.59 No.2 "Rasumovsky No.2"
Klassik - Erschienen bei Bomba-Piter am 09.06.2012
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Clásica-Beethoven (Misas)
Klassik - Erschienen bei Digital Natives am 01.07.2011
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
50 Beethoven Piano Classics (Classical Music Collection)
Klassik - Erschienen bei Amathus Music am 05.04.2011
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Ludwig van Beethoven, The Consecration Of The House, Op. 124
Klassik - Erschienen bei Classical.com Music am 16.02.2009
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Great Composers Collection: Ludwig van Beethoven
Klassik - Erschienen bei Classic Fox Records am 01.01.2003
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mordecai Shehori Plays Beethoven, Vol. 3 - The Early Years
Instrumentalmusik - Erschienen bei Cembal d'amour CD 188 am 17.03.2017
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Beethoven Sonatas for Violin and Piano 2, 4, 6
Zanta Hofmeyr, Ilia Radoslavov
Kammermusik - Erschienen bei Blue Griffin Recording am 19.12.2016
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Ludwig van Beethoven
Camerata Cassovia, Virginio Pavarana, Paolo Giacometti
Klassik - Erschienen bei Piros - Send am 20.06.2011
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Ludwig van Beethoven: Symphony No. 1 In C Major, Op. 21 - Symphony No. 2 In D Major, Op. 36
Philharmonia Orchestra, Otto Klemperer
Symphonieorchester - Erschienen bei RHI am 11.11.2015
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Für Elise (Re-imagined)
Michael Hyman, Ludwig van Beethoven
Klassik - Erschienen bei Bohemia Junction Recording Co. am 24.11.2023
24-Bit 48.0 kHz - Stereo -
Beethoven´s two Pillars
Christian Lindberg, Ludwig van Beethoven, Roland Pöntinen, Israel NK orchestra
Klassik - Erschienen bei EUROPEAN GRAMOPHONE am 30.01.2024
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Complete Masterworks of Ludwig Van Beethoven, Vol. 40
Klassik - Erschienen bei Black Sheep Music am 12.07.2012
24-Bit 192.0 kHz - Stereo -
Emil Gilels Plays Beethoven Piano Sonatas Nos. 12, 16
Klassik - Erschienen bei Pipeline Music am 28.11.2006
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Ludwig Van Beethoven: Sonatas for Violin & Piano
Klassik - Erschienen bei Romeo Records am 16.06.2009
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Beethoven: Early Piano Works
Yoshima Kojima, Ludwig van Beethoven
Klassik - Erschienen bei Denon am 01.01.2010
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Beethoven: Trio No. 11 for Violin, Violoncello and Piano in G Major, Op. 121a “Kakadu Variations” (Digitally Remastered)
Conrad von der Goltz, Jan Pollacek, Kirste Hjort
Klassik - Erschienen bei EMG Classical am 10.04.2013
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Beethoven: Symphony Nos. 4 & 5
Klassik - Erschienen bei Denon am 27.01.2010
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Beethoven: Piano Concerto No. 5 "Emperor"; "Waldstein" Sonata
Slovak Philharmonic Orchestra, Dubravka Tomsic, Peter Toperczer
Klassik - Erschienen bei Blaricum CD Company (B.C.D.) B.V. am 13.01.2014
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo