Updates about classical music
Beethoven: Sparks of Joy – Piano trio, variations on “Ich bin der Schneider Kakadu” theme “Ich bin der Schneider Kakadu” (I am Kakadu the tailor) was the name of a popular tune from Wenzel Muller’s opera “Die Schwestern von Prag (The Sisters from Prague). Beethoven composed these variations during his early years in Vienna, then […]
Beethoven: Sparks of Joy — his beautiful song, An die ferne Geliebte to contemplate the future. Alois Jeitteles was a young physician who was also making a name for himself as a poet when he wrote the six poems which Beethoven wove into the beautiful “An die ferne Geliebte” (To the distant Beloved). It is […]
Beethoven: Sparks of Joy – Fifth piano concerto Beethoven’s fifth and last piano concerto was published in 1810 in French-occupied Vienna, but not performed until the following year in Leipzig. The Vienna premier took place in 1812, with Beethoven’s pupil Carl Czerny as the soloist, Beethoven being by this time too deaf to play with […]
Beethoven: Sparks of Joy — Fourth Piano Concerto Beethoven’s fourth piano concerto is unique in that it opens not with a grandiose orchestral introduction, but with a serene statement of the ideas by the piano soloist. Following its public premiere in December 1808 – part of a marathon concert which also featured the 5th and […]
Beethoven: Spark of Joy – Oratorio, Op. 85, Christ on the Mount of Olives Beethoven’s little-known oratorio “Christ on the Mount of Olives, Op. 85”, is considered a failure by most critics and scholars today, and they insist that Beethoven also considered it so. Yet, despite its many detractors, it was a great success in […]
Beethoven: Spark of Joy – Piano concerto No. 3, Op. 37 in C-minor. Beethoven premiered his third piano concerto in 1803 at a massive benefit concert, which also featured the premieres of his Second Symphony, the oratorio “Christ on the Mount of Olives”, and a reprise of the first symphony (premiered a year earlier). As […]
Beethoven: Sparks of Joy – Piano Concerto No. 1 in C Major, Op. 15 Beethoven’s five piano concerti were written between 1793 and 1809. The first two were quite experimental, intending to fill the palpable void in Vienna for this genre of composition left by the death of Mozart in 1791. By the third concerto […]
Beethoven: Sparks of Joy – Opus 9, no. 3, string trio: Foreshadows Later Great Works The third of the Opus 9 string trios is a masterwork in C-minor, the tonality associated with some of Beethoven’s most dramatic works (think of the “Pathétique” and Opus 111 piano sonatas, for example).This is Beethoven’s farewell to the string […]
Beethoven: Sparks of Joy – String Trio, Opus 9, No. 2 The Opus 9 no. 2 string trio differs from its siblings in its quietly introspective character, with Beethoven’s melodic genius fully on display, especially in the second and fourth movements.Here it is in full score, performed by the Grumiaux Trio. [Notes by Margaret Scialdone.]
Beethoven: Sparks of Joy – Opus 9, No. 1: A Gem Trio Dedicated to an Irishman Who Served in the Russian Army! Beethoven’s Opus 9 is a delightful set of three string trios, deserving of broader popularity than they enjoy today. They were dedicated to one of his early patrons, Count Johann George von Browne, […]