Ludwig Van Beethoven, 1770-1827, was born in Bonn, Germany, son of court singer Johann Van Beethoven. Johann recognized Ludwig's talent at an early age and resolved to make a "Mozart" out of him. Johann's dreams of monetary gain didn't propel young Ludwig into stardom but, instead, trapped him in an uncomfortable childhood. Johann was known to stumble home from the pub and roust Ludwig from bed, forcing him to practice piano until dawn.
In spite of his father, Ludwig excelled, albeit not as a child prodigy: at eleven he was assistant organist at the Bonn Court and, at twelve, published his first piano pieces with help from his piano teacher, Christian Neefe (1748-98).†
Ode to Joy | Theme from Beethoven's Ninth Symphony | Frary Ukulele Band
Composer-Pianist
With encouragement from Christian Neefe, Beethoven moved to Vienna in 1792 to study composition with Haydn. To support himself, he gave lessons and played in salons, performing his piano pieces and improvising on themes provided by the audience. Beethoven's big break came in 1795 with his first public concert at Vienna's Burgtheater. He performed his own piano concerto and astonished the audience with his virtuosity and compositional prowess. Thus, while still in his early twenties, his reputation was made as a piano virtuoso, an area where Mozart struggled only a few years earlier.
He was bold in social circles and demanded equality and respect from nobles without the repercussions Mozart had suffered the previous decade. When a young count spoke during his performance, Beethoven called him a swine and stormed out. He became more popular than ever, even daring to have affairs with noble women. Beethoven was not shy about his station in life:
“There are and always will be thousands of princes, but there is only one Beethoven!”
By his late twenties Beethoven was well established as a composer. He was the first composer in history to live independently of exclusive patronage and earn a lucrative living from commissions and publication. Publishers fought over his music:
“They no longer bargain with me... I demand, and they pay.”
His genius, lack of convention and boldness caused a sensation: publishers, nobles and the middle class couldn't get enough of him. His composer-pianist period, while containing the seeds of Romanticism, was rooted in the Classical forms and procedures of Haydn and Mozart.
We'll begin our listening session with a work from Beethoven's composer-pianist period, Piano Sonata in C Minor Op. 13, Pathétique. It was written in 1798 and the type of piece he might have played in a salon recital. It has three movements in a fast-slow-fast tempo scheme. The first movement, Grave, Allegro molto e con brio, has a slow introduction and is in sonata form. The second movement, Adagio cantabile, shifts to A Major and is a lyrical rondo (A B A C A). The third movement, Rondo-Allegro, returns to C minor with a roof rising rondo. Our listening will focus on the first movement only.
Pathétique opens with a slow and dramatic introduction of upward moving dotted rhythms. This material will reappear later in the development and coda.
Introduction | Pathétique
After the slow introduction, the tempo shifts to allegro and the first theme of the exposition appears, played against pulsing broken octaves in the left hand:
First Theme | Pathétique
The bridge theme is closely related to the first theme:
Bridge Theme | Pathétique
The second theme is more lyrical and has a short motive which bounces between low and high registers of the piano:
Second Theme | Pathétique
As the exposition ends, first theme fragments are heard during modulations.
The development is unconventional insomuch as it suddenly slows and quotes the introduction, making for a massive contrast in tempo and mood. Then, just as suddenly, the development and tempo resumes, with modulations, bridge theme, and a fast version of the introduction theme all mixed together.
The recapitulation is conventional save for another reappearance of the slow introduction theme in the coda.
Piano Sonata in C minor Op. 13 (Pathétique, 1798): 1. Grave; Allegro molto e con brio | Ludwig Van Beethoven | Tzvi Erez, piano (9:19)
Composer
The next stage of Beethoven's life, 1802-14, saw his pianist career fading due to hearing loss. Torment from his disability caused him to avoid people and turn inward to composition. Beethoven labored endlessly, sketching and reworking pieces for years. His music was often autobiographical: a reflection of his personality and tortured lifestyle. Beethoven saw music as a higher calling:
“I must despise a world which does not know that music is a higher revelation than all wisdom and philosophy.”
As his style became more intensely personal, the boundaries of the Classical style began to fracture. His unheard of levels of drama and passion, expansiveness of form, use of short melodic motifs and rhythmic dynamism were revolutionary for the time. His Sixth Symphony (Pastoral Symphony) was a harbinger of the coming Romantic style, teaming with Romantic characteristics such as tone painting and programmatic content—e.g., musical depictions of thunderstorms, birdsong, flowing streams, and village merry making.
Symphony No. 6 (F-Dur) op. 68 (Pastoral) | "Thunderstorm" on page 41 of the autograph score | Beethoven-Haus, Bonn
Indeed, Beethoven was now a transitional artist straddling two stylistic eras, Classical and Romantic, and destine to serve as an inspiration and model for generations of nineteenth century composers.
The Fifth Symphony was completed in 1808 during the height of Beethoven's middle period. He worked on it sporadically during a four year period, scoring it for strings, two flutes, two oboes, two clarinets, two bassoons, two French horns, two trumpets and timpani. There are four movements, but we'll focus on the first movement, Allegro con brio.
The Allegro con brio is in sonata form. The famous first theme is based on four notes, the "fate motive" because the short-short-short-long rhythm suggests "fate knocking on your door." The fate motive appears straightaway in the exposition, played in dramatic fashion by the strings:
First Theme | Fifth Symphony, first movement
After the first theme is developed and varied in nearly every way possible, the bridge brings us to the second theme, initially played by the French horns in E-flat major. The opening of the second theme is related to the first theme but the idea is extended with a lyrical horn call motive:
Second Theme | Fifth Symphony, first movement
The horn call leads into the remainder of the lyrical second theme, initially played by the violins while the lower strings chant a first theme motive beneath:
Overlapping Themes | Fifth Symphony, first movement
Beethoven plays with the themes and cadences after the codetta. After a short pause, the exposition repeats. The development begins with the second theme but soon the two themes are paraded with fragmentation and key changes, creating power and intensity of feeling. The recapitulation brings back the opening material with a few new wrinkles and caps it off with a mammoth coda, continuing to develop motives and gain energy until the powerful final chords.
Symphony No. 5 in C Minor Op. 67: 1. Allegro con brio (1808) | Ludwig Van Beethoven (6:20)
If you'd like to listen with the score, watch this version instead (first movement):
Symphony No. 5 in C Minor Op. 67: 1. Allegro con brio (1808) | Ludwig Van Beethoven | This version includes the score and all four movements.
Introspection
From 1814 to 1827 Beethoven was deaf and isolated from both sounds and people. Music existed only within his imagination. And yet many of his greatest works were created during this time: late piano sonatas, final five string quartets, Missa Solemnis, and Symphony No. 9. The musical visions in Beethoven's mind evolved beyond Classicism and Romanticism and became increasingly introspective, spiritual, improvisational, contrapuntal and profound. The dissonant harmonies and complex rhythms made this music difficult to understand. Indeed, these pieces don't fit into established style norms and are best labeled as "late Beethoven."
After a long illness, Beethoven, passed away in 1827 of liver disease. He left nine symphonies, overtures, five piano concertos, a violin concerto, thirty-two piano sonatas, twenty-one sets of piano variations, ten violin sonatas, sixteen string quartets, nine piano trios, an opera, an oratorio, a mass and smaller works.
“I would rather write 10,000 notes than a single letter of the alphabet.”
― Ludwig van Beethoven
Although Beethoven's output is less than Mozart and Haydn, his pieces are longer, more individualistic and detailed compared to earlier composers. Beethoven almost single handedly freed music from the restraints of the Classical era and paved the way for individualism and subjective feeling in music.
Beethoven on Deathbed | An 1827 lithograph of Beethoven by Josef Danhauser. Within three days of his death, not a single strand of hair was left on Beethoven's head due to souvenir takers. | Beethoven-Haus Bonn
†An interesting side note, at least for followers of conspiracy theories, Christian Neefe, besides being a professional musician, was also the leader of his local Illuminati chapter.
Germany
Composer-Pianist
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Introspection
Coda
