Friends! Happy New Year and Happy Beethoven Year to you! 2020 is not just a new year and the beginning of a new decade, but the 250th anniversary of his birth! What a special year! Even without any extraordinary occasion he is the most played composer, but this year we will be witnessing an uninterrupted celebration all over our beautiful …
Ludwig van Beethoven had died on the 26th of March 1827 at the age of 56, in Vienna. Today his grave is in Vienna’s Zentralfriedhof cemetery (show map), grave no.29 in group 32a. This group is dedicated to famous composers, among others Schubert and Brahms. There is no charge to visit the cemetery. Beethoven’s final residence was in the so …
When Beethoven was a child The Enlightenment was in full swing. Bonn, the home city of the Beethoven family, was chief among the German cities advancing the cultural revolution. In 1773 the Pope dissolved the Jesuits that ended their traditional monopoly in education. Accordingly, in Bonn the Jesuit school was turned into a new state school, called Academy. All over …
I was wondering the other day how I could describe the violin to someone in 1 minute. Here are the points I came up with! 1. The name violin comes from the latin vitula, which means stringed instrument. 2. The current form of the violin emerged in the medieval times. This early version we call the fiddle. 3. Although the …
Because is a song written by John Lennon that was recorded for the famous Abbey Road album in 1969. According to Lennon he was inspired by Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata. Read on to find out how! Just as Beethoven was revolutionary in his time, bravely pursuing his own new path and changing classical music for ever, so did – in …
The Archduke Trio is considered by many as the most beautiful piano trio Beethoven ever composed. It is also a turning point in his life as a public performer. In this article we explore this composition and its history. The Archduke Trio (Op. 97) (in German Erzherzog-Trio or Erzherzogtrio) was composed by Beethoven from the summer of 1810 and …