Music & Pop Culture
Ludwig van Beethoven
He was a German composer.
He was born in Bonn, on December 17th, 1770, and died in Vienna, on March 26th, 1827.
He is the most famous and influential of all composers, perhaps because his deafness.
He displayed his musical talent at an early age.
His first teacher was his own father, who used violence and punishment.
He wanted to learn with Mozart in Vienna, but he never made it.
His first journey to Vienna was interrupted by his mother's illness and death.
When he arrived to Vienna in 1792, Mozart was dead.
After his mother's death, his father became a drunk-gambler, and ruined his life.
Ludwig had to take care of his brothers, and paid for their formation.
In Vienna, he began the most famous and virtuoso piano player during the 1790's.
During his first years in Vienna, his hearing became deteriorate.
He suffered his deafness badly, and got an irritability brought on by chronic abdominal pain.
Piano Sonata nº8 "Pathetic"
(Piano: Daniel Barenboim)
Bagatelle "For Elise"
(Piano: Chenyin Lin)
Violin Sonata Nº5 "Spring"
(Anne-Sophie Mutter & Lambert Orkis)
Septet op.20 - Tempo di minuetto
(Chicago Chamber)
After his thirtys, Beethoven had his personal crisis because of his deafness.
His music was transformed into a large-scale works, that expressed heroism and struggle.
The major transformation was the sense of rhythm, perhaps because his deafness.
He tried to marry but no father had let his daughter to be married with a deaf composer.
Symphony nº5
Daniel Barenboim
London SO
Symphony Nº3 "Eroica"
Herreweghe & Concertgebouw Amsterdam
Piano Sonata Nº14 - 3rd Movement
Valentina Lisitsa
String Quartet op.59 Nº3 - 4th Movement
Alban Berg Quartet
During the last years of his life, Beethoven moved into a highly personal expression.
He broke with the old-fashion music: His last symphony, Nº9, included a choir with the orchestra.
When he died, he was buried with honors and it is said that his funeral was followed by more than a thousand people.
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Symphony Nº9.
String Quartet Nº14 in C#m
Alban Berg Quartet
Grosse Fugue, Op.133
Recorder: Accidental notes
In music, we use accidentals to write notes that share the same name, but sound differently. It is said that our music has seven notes, but it's not completely true: Our music has twelve notes!. There are five sounds in our scale that need to be written in a different way: We have to use accidentals.
Score: Aria de Paisiello
