Beethoven

Beethoven

Life and Works,

Periods and Styles

• Ludwig van Beethoven (1770–1827)

• Three Style Periods

– Early Beethoven

– Middle Period “Heroic Style”

• beginning in 1803

– Late Beethoven

Early Beethoven

• Born in Bonn, 17 December 1770

• First public performance at age 7

• Appointed assistant to the electoral court organist at age 10

• Court singer and instrumentalist at age 18

• Sent to study in Vienna in 1792

Early Beethoven

• Studies with Haydn, Albrechtsberger, and Salieri

• Virtuosic performer and improviser in Viennese musical circles

• Op. 1 Piano Trios (1795)

Early Beethoven

• Sonata No. 8, Op.3 Grande sonate pathétique [Anthology 2-17]

– C minor

– First movement

• Grave

• Allegro di molto e con brio

• recall of the Grave

Early Beethoven

• First Symphony, 1800

– “masterpiece”

– “originality”

– “bizarre”

Early Beethoven

• Septet, Op. 46 [Anthology 2-18]

– clarinet, bassoon, horn, violin, viola, cello, double bass

– 6 movements

– traditional classical forms

Disaster

• Summer 1801

– “For the past three years my hearing has become weaker and weaker” (letter to Wegeler)

• Heiligenstadt Testament, 1802

– unsent letter to his brothers

– confession of deafness and despair

The Eroica

• Symphony No. 3 in E-flat, Op. 55 (1803) [Anthology 2-19]

• “Heroic style”

• Unprecedented scale

• Premiered 1805

The Eroica

• Symphony No. 3 in E-flat, Op. 55 (1803) [Anthology 2-19]

– First movement

• lyrically cello melody with unexpected C#

– Second movement

• Marcia funebre (Funeral March)

– Third movement

• Scherzo (“joke”)

• metric ambiguities

– Fourth movement 

• theme and variations

Fidelio

• Beethoven’s only opera

• Extensively revised

– 3 versions, four different overtures

• Premiered 1805

• “Rescue operas”

• Opéras comiques

The Fifth and Fate

• Symphony No. 5 in C minor, Op. 67 [Anthology 2-20]

• “Organicism”

– all four movements grow from the opening measures

– three shorts and a long

The Fifth and Fate

• Symphony No. 5 in C minor, Op. 67 [Anthology 2-20]

– First movement

– Second movement

• unusual two-themed variation form

– Third movement

• vigorous scherzo and trio, leads directly into the fourth movement

– Fourth movement

• introduction of three trombones

• sonata form

The Pastoral Symphony

• Symphony No. 6 in F major, Op. 68

• “More expression of feeling than tone painting”

• Program music

Rising Fame and Decreasing Productivity

• Period of depression

• “Immortal Beloved” (1812)

• Legal battle over his nephew Karl

• Wellington’s Victory 1813

– celebrated Napoleon’s defeat

• “Conversation books”

Late Beethoven

• Large and imposing compositions

– three piano sonatas (Opp. 109, 110, 11)

– “Diabelli” Variations, Op. 120

– Missa solemnis

– Ninth Symphony

– five string quartets (Opp. 127, 130, 131, 132, 135)

– Grosse Fuge, Op. 133

Late Beethoven

• Unusual length

• Structural fragmentation

• Exploration of counterpoint

• New deployment of instruments

Late Beethoven

• Symphony No. 9 in D minor, Op. 125

– an hour long

– unusual ordering of movements

– vast finale for soloists, chorus, and orchestra

• setting of Schiller’s “An die Freude” (“Ode to Joy”)

Inwardness: The Late String Quartets

• Quartet in B-flat Major, Op. 130 [Anthology 2-21]

– fifth movement, Adagio molto 

• “Cavatina”

• “sotto voce” 

• “beklemmt”

Inwardness: The Late String Quartets

• Quartet in F Major, Op. 135

– Final movement

• Der schwergejast Entschluss (The Difficult Decision)

• “Muss es sein?” (Must it be?)

• “Es muss sein!” (It must be!)