Houston, we have Beethoven!

JAXA plays Beethoven

On daily basis our minds are full with terrible news, scary events and life threatening human activities. Yes, news agencies make a living from delivering fear, but we must admit they have plenty to choose from! For this very reason, it was so refreshing to read about a news that is simply beautiful and noble! On the 1st December 2022, …

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Beethoven anecdotes: a brain owner

Beethoven anecdotes: a brain owner

Ludwig van Beethoven was the oldest surviving child in the family. Their mother, Maria Magdalena, gave birth to eight children, but only three of them lived through infancy. Ludwig, by his late teenage years, in the absence of a living mother and a dependable father, became the guardian of his siblings. This duty he carried on all his life and …

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Beethoven and Franz von Oppersdorff

Beethoven and Oppersdorff

Oppersdorff, who commissioned two of Beethoven’s Symphonies, but ended up with only one dedication. A man, who probably saved Beethoven from jail. Who was this patron?   Who was Franz von Oppersdorff? Count Franz von Oppersdorff (1778-1818) was a nobleman from Silesia, a historical region that lies mostly in Poland, partly in Czech Republic and Germany. The family estate was …

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What kind of music is Beethoven?

What kind of music is Beethoven?

Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827) was a German musician and composer, who personifies the idea of the creative genius. He is recognized as one of the greatest, and almost certainly the most influential, composers of the Western classical music tradition. He represents the bridge between the classical music era and the subsequent romantic style, something he himself created and initially represented. …

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Beethoven anecdotes: The Incident at Teplitz

The Incident at Teplitz

After much organization by Bettina von Arnim, who was a great admirer of both Goethe and Beethoven, the two finally met in Teplitz (or Töplitz), in the summer of 1812. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (28 August 1749 – 22 March 1832) was the greatest, and probably also the most influential German-language writer. Not only that, but a significant scientist, theatre …

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Beethoven’s Mother

Beethoven's Mother

This is the biography of Maria Magdalena van Beethoven, mother of Ludwig van Beethoven. Maria Magdalena Keverich was born on 19 December 1746, and after a short and difficult life, died at the age of only 40, in 17 July 1787. She was born in Ehrenbreitstein, a small village overlooking Koblenz (today part of it). Her birth place is a …

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