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Welcome to the LUDWIG Von BEETHOVEN
COMPOSITION NOTES Page of
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Brief synopsis' of the most popular classical music compositions by

Ludwig van Beethoven...

Beethoven believed his birthdate was 15 NOV 1772 He often stated his older brother, who died as a child was born on 16 DEC 1770. He was born in Bonn, Germany and 16 DEC 1770 is traditionally accepted as his birthdate. He died in Vienna, 26 MAR 1827. He wrote 9 Symphonies, Chamber Music, Concertos, Piano Sonatas

  • Beethoven 'Appassionata' Sonata No 23 inf, Op 57
    1804-6. It was dedicated to Count Franz of Brunswick and was inspired by both of his sisters. Published February 18th, 1807.

  • Beethoven 'Archduke Trio'

  • Beethoven 'Bagatelle' in a
    see Fur Elise.

  • Beethoven 'Consecration of the House' Overture, Op 124
    Composed in 1822 and written for the opening of the (YOH sef stadt) Theater in Vienna.

  • Beethoven 'Coriolan' Overture'

  • Beethoven 'Creatures of Promethius' Overture, Op 43

  • Beethoven 'Egmont' Overture, op 84...and Incidental music with soloist and narrator
    Between 1809 and 1810, Beethoven wrote incidental music for "Egmont"...a historical play by Goethe. Only the overture is performed today although there a some fine recordings of the incidental music and the entire work. The overture opens with a stirring theme from the violins, suggesting the strength and nobility of Egmont, who fought so heroically to liberate the Netherlands from Spanish domination.

  • Beethoven 'Fidelio' Overture

  • Beethoven
  • Beethoven 'Fur Elise'
    He wrote many short piano pieces known as trifles or bagatelles. 'Fur Elise' was written for one of his many female admirers. This work was belived to have been composed for Therese Malfatti.

  • Beethoven Leonora Overture No 3 op 72b. Beethoven's only opera 'Leonora' was written in 1803 and retitled 'Fidelio' before it was finished in 1814. Four different overtures were composed during that period. The 3rd prefaced an unsuccesful production in 1806, but it now stands alone as a popular concert work.

  • Beethoven Missa Solemnis
    Started in 1819 for a grand ceremony in Cologne Germany Cathedral where his friend, patron and pupil Archduke Rudolf of Austria was installed as cardinal and archbishop.

    Beethoven "Moonlight Sonata" see Sonata No 14

  • Beethoven Piano Concerto No 1
    Actually this is the second of the five concertos for piano, composed in 1797. The B-flat concerto dates from 1795 but was later revised, hense the later opus number.

  • Beethoven Piano Concerto No 2
    1794 is the approximate date of composition of this work. There is speculation that it may have been written before the C major concerto known as the first. Op 19. FP in its original form with Beethoven as soloist at a charity concert on March 29, 1795 in Vienna. After more revisions it was finally published in 1798.

  • Beethoven Piano Concerto No 3
    The finest of the early Beethoven piano concertos came in 1800 with the score for the third concerto in c minor. A broader base for the orchestra, some solo instruments, an increase in the dramatic power of some themes. Most noticablly is the beginning of the Beethoven sound. Started in 1796 but dated 1803 and FP in April 1803 at the teatre an der Wien with Beethoven at the keyboard.

  • Beethoven Piano Concerto No 4
    Beethoven wrote his piano concertos for himself as a youthful virtuoso. The fourth concerto was finished in 1806 and FP in March of 1808 with Beethoven the soloist...he was 35 years old. It was introduced at the palace of Prince Lubkowitz and is dedicated to Beethoven's friend and pupil the Archduke Rudolph. It was not published until late in 1808.

  • Beethoven Piano Concerto No 5
    Dedicated to Archduke Rudolph of Austria it was composed in 1809 and FP in Leipzig in November of 1811. The composers deafness made it impossible for Beethoven to perform the piece. It was premiered by pianist Friedric Schnider. It was not dedicated to Napoleon as Beethoven was an ardent democrate who had become bitterly disenchanted with the French General.

  • Beethoven Quartets
    Read: Kerman, Joseph "The Beethoven Quartets"

  • Beethoven Sonatas
    Critics have noted the Beethoven Piano Sonatas are to music, what the Shakespeare tragedies are to Literature. These sonatas brought a new concept of writing for the piano. A concept almost orchestral in approach. Beethoven also extended the structure of the sonata form to much larger demensions...providing a new freedom to musical thinking. But most importantly he brought to piano music a new emotional feeling.

  • Beethoven Sonata No 8in c, Op 13
    The 'Pathetique' Sonata, composed around 1798.

  • Beethoven "Moonlight" Sonata, No 14 in c-sharp, Op 27 No 2
    Named by Ludwig Rellstab. Beethoven was bemused by its popularity saying he had written much better scores. From around 1801 and dedicated to one of his students which he cared for a great deal.

  • Beethoven Sonata No 15 in D, Op.
    28 'Pastorale' (1801).
    Named by Krantz, the publisher, to give it some distinction from some other more dramatic sonatas by Beethoven.

  • Beethoven Sonata No 17 in d, 'The Tempest'
    (The calm before the storm) was the critics reaction to the 17th piano sonata referring to the strange tension created by the contrasting emotions of the work. Written in 1803, but it does not refer to the Shakespeare drama. The title 'Tempest' has been attributed to this sonata because of the way it builds from nothing to something... similar to a storm.

  • Beethoven Sonata No. 29
    in B flat Op 106. Titled 'Hammerklavier' (HAM ER KLA feer). It is the longest of the sonatas. This one is dedicated to Archduke Rudolph of Austria who must have been quite an accomplished pianist. FP in 1818.

  • Beethoven 'String Quartet No 6 in Bb, Op 18
    This quartet is the last in a set of six composed between 1798 and 1800. His first effort in String Quartets and influenced by Haydn and Mozart. First published in 1801 the period of the First Symphony.

  • Beethoven String Quartet No 9 in C, Op 59 No 3 'Rasumovsky'
    Written around 1805 about the same time as the 'Waldstein' Piano sonata as part of a set commissioned by Count Razumovsky.

  • Beethoven Sym No 1 in C, op 21
    Beethoven was 30 years old in 1800, when he presented his first sym at the Hofberg Theater in Vienna. The beginnings of the first, came from sketches he made as early as 1795.

  • Beethoven Sym No 2 in D Op 36
    Written in the summer of 1802 when the composer first faced the uncertain prospect of his crippling deafness.

  • Beethoven Sym No 3 in E-Flat Op 55 'Eroica'
    Democratic mindedly he scratched out the dedication of this Symphony to Napoleon when he learned that Bonaparte had declared himself 'Emporer'. Beethoven later wrote out on the score "Composed to Celebrate the memory of a great man". The 'Eroica' was written in 1803-4 and FP in Vienna in April of 1805 at the Theater An der Wien Beethoven conducting.

  • Beethoven Sym No 4
    The 4th is sometimes called Beethoven's 'Romantic Symphony'. Mellower and brighter than some of the others. C 1806 FP Vienna Nov 15, 1807 PUB: 1808

  • Beethoven Sym No 5 in c, Op 67
    Perhaps the most familiar single piece of music ever written. Sketches were made as early as 1800. The work was finished in 1808 and FP in Vienna, December 1808.

  • Beethoven Sym No 6 in F Op 68 'Pastoral'
    Composed in the years 1807-08. Inspired by the quiet and spritual joy he received around the countryside outside of Vienna. He said it was a recollection of a rural lake...a pastoral scene depicting the happy feelings of arriving in the country, a scene by a brook, happy meeting of the peasants, the storm and the Shepherd's song and the thanksgiving after the storm.

  • Beethoven Sym No 7 in A Op 92
    He called it one of his best. It was started in 1811 and finished in July of 1812. He conducted the FP on December 8, 1813 in the auditorium of the University in Vienna. It was well received and heard frequently in later years. It was dedicated to count von Fries. (freez). A non-programmatic work, no special pictures to conjure up while listening. Basically rhythmic in style. A cossak folk tune is said to be the basis for the finale which 'unbuttons' the work with it's roaring power.

  • Beethoven Sym No 8 in F Op 93

  • Beethoven Sym No 9 in d Op 125 'Choral'
    Composed when he was 47 years old, this was the first symphony to use a choral mmt. It opened up an era of the music drama. With text by poet Schiller, the Ode to Joy, the first notes of the 9th sym came in 1817 and concluded in 1823.

  • Beethoven 'Variations On a Diabelli Theme'
    Op 120, Music publisher Anton Diabelli asked some 40 composers to work on variations on a short theme or waltz. Beethovens variations were published in 1823.

  • Beethoven Violin Concerto in D, Op 61
    With its' great length and quiet intensity...and underrehearsed on an already long concert, the work was not received very well by the audience at the Teatre an der Wein in Vienna on December 23, 1806. It was played in parts. The first MMT in the first half of the concert. The last two MMTs after the intermission. At the time the work was dismissed as insignificant.
    It is classically romantic, perhaps more than Beethoven's other works. It is dedicated to violinist Franz Clement. Occassionally it has been re-cast for piano, but over the years it has become one of the most popular of all violin concertos.

  • Beethoven 'Waldstein' Piano Sonata No 21 in C, Op. 53
    Written in 1803.

  • Beethoven 'Wellington's Victory' Op 91
    Scored to celebrate the triumph of The Duke of Wellington over the french forces of Napoleon's brother Jerome Bonapart in Spain during the peninsular wars in 1813. FP in December of 1813 along with Beethoven's 7th Sym.
    • BOOKS:
      Beethoven -- William Kinderman; Paperback
      Beethoven Lives Upstairs -
      - Barbara Nichol, Scott Cameron (Illustrator); Hardcover
      The Beethoven Quartet Companion -
      - Robert Winter(Editor), Robert Martin (Editor); Paperback COMPACT DISC AUDIO
      Beethoven: 9 Symphonies, Overtures
      Bernstein, Vienna PO -- Ludwig van Beethoven(Composer), et al; Audio CD
      Beethoven: 9 Symphonien
      Karajan, Berlin Philharmoniker -- Ludwig van Beethoven(Composer),
      et al; Audio CD
      Beethoven: String Quartets no 15 & 16
      Prazák Quartet -
      - Ludwig van Beethoven(Composer), Prazák String Quartet (Orchestra); Audio CD>BR>


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