this day in the yesteryear: Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony Premieres in Vienna (1824)

Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony Premieres in Vienna (1824)

The Symphony No. 9 in D Minor is the last complete symphony composed by Ludwig van Beethoven. One of the best known works of the Western repertoire, it is considered one of Beethoven’s greatest masterpieces. Incorporating part of Johann Schiller’s “Ode to Joy,” sung by soloists and a chorus, it is the first symphony in which a major composer utilizes human voices on the same level as instruments. How many standing ovations reportedly followed its premiere performance in 1824? More… Discuss

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Beethoven: String Quartet No. 2 in G Major, Live in The Greene Space , great compositions/performances

Beethoven: String Quartet No. 2 in G Major, Live in The Greene Space

The Greene Space at WNYC & WQXR

Published on Dec 4, 2012

http://www.thegreenespace.org

The Attacca Quartet performs the Quartet No. 2 in G Major, Op. 18, No 2

WQXR presented the Beethoven String Quartet Marathon on November 18th, 2012. Part of the Beethoven awareness month, all of Beethoven’s string quartets performed in a special marathon at The Jerome L. Greene Performance Space.

The Orion Quartet, the Afiara Quartet, the Amphion Quartet, the Attacca Quartet, the Jasper Quartet and other notable Beethoven interpreters performed.

The String Quartet No. 14 in C-sharp minor, opus 131, by Ludwig van Beethoven was completed in 1826. (The number traditionally assigned to it is based on the order of its publication; it is actually his fifteenth quartet by order of composition.) About 40 minutes in length, it consists of seven movements to be played without a break, as follows: 1. Adagio ma non troppo e molto espressivo
2. Allegro molto vivace
3. Allegro moderato
4. Andante ma non troppo e molto cantabile — Più mosso — Andante moderato e lusinghiero — Adagio — Allegretto — Adagio, ma non troppo e semplice — Allegretto
5. Presto
6. Adagio quasi un poco andante
7. Allegro

This work, which is dedicated to Baron Joseph von Stutterheim, was Beethoven’s favourite from the late quartets. He is quoted as remarking to a friend: “thank God there is less lack of imagination than ever before”[citation needed]. Together with the quartets op. 130 and 132, it goes beyond anything Beethoven had previously written. (Op. 131 is the conclusion of that trio of great works, written in the order 132, 130 with the Grosse Fugue ending, 131; they may be profitably listened to and studied in that sequence.) It is said that upon listening to a performance of this quartet, Schubert remarked, “After this, what is left for us to write?”

Ludwig van Beethoven: Piano Concerto No.2 Op.19 in B flat major

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Published on Sep 16, 2012

Álbum: Beethoven: Edition Vol. 02 – Concertos (Disc 1)
Interprete del álbum: Maurizio Pollini, Wiener Philharmoniker & Sviatoslav Richter, Wiener Symphoniker
Compositor: Ludwig van Beethoven
Año: 1997
Genero: Clásico Romántico Alemán
Movimientos: Allegro con Brio-Adagio-Rondo Molto Allegro
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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Piano Concerto No. 2 in B-flat major, Op. 19, by Ludwig van Beethoven was composed primarily between 1787 and 1789, although it did not attain the form it was published as until 1795. Beethoven did write another finale for it in 1798 for performance in Prague, but that is not the finale that it was published with. It was used by the composer as a vehicle for his own performances as a young virtuoso, initially intended with the Bonn Hofkapelle. It was published in 1801, by which time he had also published the Piano Concerto No. 1 in C major, although it had been composed after this work, in 1796 and 1797.^[1]

The B-flat major Piano Concerto became an important display piece for the young Beethoven as he sought to establish himself after moving from Bonn to Vienna. He was the soloist at its premiere on 29 March 1795, at Vienna’s Burgtheater in a concert marking his public debut.^[1] (Prior to that, he had performed only in the private salons of the Viennese nobility.) While the work as a whole is very much in the concerto style of Mozart, there is a sense of drama and contrast that would be present in many of Beethoven’s later works.^[1] Beethoven himself apparently did not rate this work particularly highly, remarking to the publisher Franz Anton Hoffmeister that, along with the Piano Concerto No. 1, it was “not one of my best.”^[2] The version that he premiered in 1795 is the version that is performed and recorded today.

Movements

The work is scored for solo piano, flute, two oboes, two bassoons, two horns and strings.^[3] The concerto is in three movements:

• I. Allegro con brio
• II. Adagio
• III. Rondo. Molto allegro

The first movement begins with a triumphant orchestral opening on the tonic chord, and maintains a playfulness while using chromatic passages to show off the soloist’s dizzying technique. The second movement is characteristically serene and peaceful, while the closing Rondo brings back the youth-filled playfulness heard in the opening movement.

***I. Allegro con brio

This movement is in the concerto variant of sonata form (double-exposition sonata form). The orchestra introduces the main theme and the subordinate theme in its exposition. The second exposition is in F major. The development wanders in key and ends on a long B-flat major scale. The recapitulation is similar to the exposition and is in B-flat major.

There is a rather difficult cadenza composed by Beethoven himself, albeit much later than the concerto itself. Stylistically, the cadenza is very different from the concerto, but it makes good use of the first opening theme. Beethoven applies this melody to the cadenza in several different ways, changing its character each time and displaying the innumerable ways that a musical theme can be used and felt.

This movement was written between 1787 and 1789 in Bonn. Average performances last from thirteen to fourteen minutes.

***II. Adagio

This movement is in E-flat major, the subdominant key. Like many slow movements, it has ABA (ternary) form, where the opening section introduces the themes, and the middle section develops them. This movement was written between 1787 and 1789 in Bonn. Average performances last from eight to nine minutes.

***III. Rondo. Molto allegro

This movement takes the form of a Third Rondo (ABACABA). Beethoven’s playfulness of his early period can be heard here. There is a constant angular feel within the 6/8 melody itself that Beethoven plays on with each return of the rondo theme. The C section is also highly contrasting with the others, being that it is in a minor key and more forceful and stern in meaning. Also, prior to the last appearance of the rondo theme, Beethoven brings the piano in in the “wrong” key of G major, before the orchestra “discovers” the discrepancy and returns to the correct tonic key. This musical joke can be seen in many of Beethoven’s subsequent compositions.

This rondo is the one that Beethoven wrote in 1795 and premiered in Vienna that year. It does show Haydn’s influence. Average performances last from five to six minutes.