Listening and enjoying Beethoven’s music is not always an easy task. He demands attention, attention to every small detail. More than that, he demands dedication and an open heart. In this article we will see that his music is not for background noise during driving home or for elevators in expensive hotels. In order to capture its fullness and deepness …
We all tend to imagine Beethoven as a tragic hero, struggle against fate, his face always clouded, writing pieces like the Fifth Symphony or the Appassionata. Well, this is certainly not the truth! He loved to laugh, joke around, kidding his friends. Moreover, his music is full of joy and joking, just listen to the final movement of the Eight …
After movement one, two and three, this is our last article on Beethoven’s First Symphony. Continuing with the last movement, which was written in the spirit of Haydn’s symphonic finale. Joyful, playful, energetic! Let’s hear it! The introduction of the 4th movement is in adagio. It is characterized by Antony Hopkins as a music, where hesitant beginners are clutching unfamiliar …
The piano is a magnificent instrument, capable to channel the divine to our ears and hearts. It is a complicated instrument, as well. It takes two years to dry the wood used for the body, a full year and close to 12 thousand parts to build one. The piano, as we know it, was invented by Bartolomeo Cristofori, around 1700. …
This article is about Beethoven’s early years in Bonn, his home city before Vienna. We will discover what compositions he made, if these were special in any way or quite the opposite. Let us find the answers to these questions! For almost two hundred years Vienna was the capital of music and all wannabes moved there to learn, shine and …
After exploring the first and second movements of Beethoven’s First Symphony, in this article we continue with the third movement. This is a short movement, a new joking (scherzo) approach from Beethoven, something he will hold dear in the future. The third movement is intended to be a joke. In the classical style before Beethoven, the third movement was often …