The question we try to answer in this article is about the role of the soloist player in a keyboard concerto. Should this musician conduct the performance as well or just play the part? Who does what and how the traditions changed during the history of music? The genre of the keyboard concerto was relatively new by the time Beethoven …
Count Razumovsky (Andrey Kirillovich Razumovsky) was a Russian nobleman and ambassador in Vienna who was born in 1752 and died in 1836. He was one of the chief negotiators during the Congress of Vienna (where empires shaped the future of Europe after Napoleon; 1814-1815) representing Russian interests. Apart from his political career he was, more importantly, a music lover and …
After Beethoven moved to Vienna, he had a quick and spectacular success as a performer. The Viennese elite soon liked this extraordinary and in many ways strange young man. But Beethoven wanted more than that! Not only did he want to be a performer, but he wanted to be one of the greatest composers! The Piano Trios, Opus 1. was …
It is a well-known fact about Beethoven that he was an emotional, erratic man. Many times he made his decisions that way. What did it take, however, for Beethoven to make an extraordinary and radical decision about his father: to exile him from Bonn! Johann van Beethoven was not a good father. As we have written in many other articles, …
Among the many myths surrounding Beethoven one of the interesting ones is about his African origin. Does Beethoven have African roots? Let us find out! Beethoven’s African ancestry. Is this a relevant question? It depends. Was Beethoven black? No! Was his skin darker in any way? Yes! Did he have African origins? Yes, as we all do! According to …
There are not many controversial figures in Beethoven’s life comparable to Anton Schindler. Probably Johanna van Beethoven, wife of his brother Karl, with whom Beethoven had legal and emotional battles over the custody of his nephew. Schindler forged history, destroyed evidence and based a career on the short relationship he had with Beethoven. Who was Anton Schindler? Anton Felix …