Beethoven’s Violin Concerto Op.61 is a central work of violin literature and his only violin concerto. It was composed in his most creative and productive period of his life, in the first decade of 1800s. Even this concerto is understood to be written in just a few weeks time. The piece was commissioned by his violinist friend Franz Clement, director …
These Quartets are the very last pieces Beethoven wrote on this Earth. They are exceptional and were very intimate to him. Introduction to Beethoven’s Late Quartets For the sake of easier understanding and accessibility, Beethoven’s string quartets are categorized into three groups, based on artistic periods in his life: early, middle and late quartets. The Late Quartets, sadly, also …
In this article we discover who was Galitzin, what is the story of the Quartets named after him and whether he was a good payer or not. Who was Nikolai Borisovich Galitzin? Nikolai Borisovich Galitzin (8 November 1794, Saint Petersburg, Tsardom of Russia – 22 October 1866, Kursk Governorate, Russian Empire) was a Russian an aristocrat from the Galitzin-family. Just …
In this article we cover the origins, the reception and interpretations of this controversial music. The history of the Grosse Fuge The history of Beethoven’s Grosse Fuge Op. 133 (in English the Great Fugue or Grand Fugue; in German Große Fuge, pronunciation ɡʁoːsə fuu·ge) starts with an other string quartet, his 13th, the Op. 130. The composer finished this work …
It was not often the case that Beethoven was open to work with a musical idea that was not his own. When his friend Johann Maelzel approached him in 1813 about a promising idea that required the cooperation of the two, Beethoven said yes. The result was the Wellington’s Victory. Prelude to Wellington’s Victory In June 1813, Portuguese, Spanish …
Songs was not main or very important genre for Beethoven, but among them Adelaide is the most favored. The poet, Friedrich von Matthisson Friedrich von Matthisson (01.23.1761, Hohendodeleben, near Magdeburg – 03.12.1831, Wörlitz, Anhalt-Dessau) was a German poet. As a profession he graduated in philology at the University of Halle, later in 1812 he entered the service of the king …