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 Sonata No. 14 (Single)
Classical - Lançado por Best Buy Classical em 04/04/2012
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Beethoven: Piano Concertos Nos. 3 & 4
Classical - Lançado por Onyx Classics em 30/06/2014
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Howard Griffiths: Beethoven Rarities
Claire Huangci, Brandenburgisches Staatsorchester Frankfurt, Howard Griffiths, Ludwig van Beethoven
Classical - Lançado por Rondeau Production em 23/02/2018
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Beethoven: The Middle String Quartets, Opp. 59, 74, & 95
Chamber Music - Lançado por AVIE Records em 11/11/2014
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Beethoven - Piano Sonatas - Moonlight - Pathetique - Appassionata
Ludwig van Beethoven, Walter Klien
Classical - Lançado por Denon em 01/01/2007
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Beethoven: The Complete String Quartets, Vol. 1
Chamber Music - Lançado por Wigmore Hall Live em 12/01/2015
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Beethoven: Piano Concerto Nos. 1 & 2
Concertos - Lançado por Regis Records em 01/02/2014
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Beethoven: Complete Works For String Trio-Violin, Viola And Violoncello
Classical - Lançado por Musica Omnia em 15/04/2002
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Ludwig Van Beethoven - Complete Sonatas For Piano and Violin, Vol. II
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Perspectives 5: Beethoven • Liszt
Classical - Lançado por AVIE Records em 08/11/2011
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Beethoven: Sonatas Vol. 4
Ludwig van Beethoven, Costantino Mastroprimiano
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Ludwig Van Beethoven - Complete Sonatas For Piano and Violin, Vol. I
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Ludwig Van Beethoven: Mondscheinsonate-appassionata-pathetique
Classical - Lançado por Carinco AG em 16/02/2007
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Beethoven: Symphony No. 9
Bruno Walter, John Finley Williamson, Westminster Choir
Symphonic Music - Lançado por Urania em 01/01/2003
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Piano Classics 1, die schönsten klassischen Klavier-Melodien
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Oscillations
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Perspectives 6: Beethoven • Berio • Schumann
Classical - Lançado por AVIE Records em 07/04/2014
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Sinta Quartet Plays Beethoven: Op.95, Op. 131, Op. 132
Chamber Music - Lançado por Bright Shiny Things em 15/12/2023
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Classical Dreaming - Cello & Piano
Ludwig van Beethoven, Franz Schubert, Johannes Brahms
Classical - Lançado por UME - Global Clearing House em 18/03/2022
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Brendel plays Beethoven
Alfred Brendel, Ludwig van Beethoven
Classical - Lançado por UME - Global Clearing House em 04/01/2021
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John Eliot Gardiner conducts Beethoven
Ludwig van Beethoven, John Eliot Gardiner
Classical - Lançado por UME - Global Clearing House em 01/08/2020
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