Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827)

[Opus106]

Not since the '70s and Walter Murphy's "A Fifth of Beethoven" have I heard something so trite:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3_sSnLmJN78&feature=email

After listening to that, go here to cleanse your ears.

[George]

After listening to that, go here to cleanse your ears.

Hey Opus 106,

Is that the 1963 performance?

[Scarpia]

Hey Opus 106,

Is that the 1963 performance?

Was separate from the DG recordings, made for a German television series, I believe.  Sort of a Karajan version of Bernstein's Omnibus appearances.

[Opus106]

Hey Opus 106,

Is that the 1963 performance?

Sorry, George, I have little idea of when it was produced. I'm taking Scarpia's word for this one.

[Bulldog]

Not since the '70s and Walter Murphy's "A Fifth of Beethoven" have I heard something so trite:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3_sSnLmJN78&feature=email

Bad for listening, good for dancing.

[George]

Sorry, George, I have little idea of when it was produced. I'm taking Scarpia's word for this one.

Me too. God help us all! 

[Scarpia]

Me too. God help us all! 

BTW, I have the DVD and it is quite interesting.  In addition to complete performances of the two symphonies, there is what appears to be genuine rehearsal footage of the Schumann 4th which is quite interesting.  There is also a sequence where Karajan instructs a young conductor on how to conduct the second movement of Beethoven's 5th, which is also interesting, in a slightly cringeworthy way.

[George]

BTW, I have the DVD and it is quite interesting.  In addition to complete performances of the two symphonies, there is what appears to be genuine rehearsal footage of the Schumann 4th which is quite interesting.  There is also a sequence where Karajan instructs a young conductor on how to conduct the second movement of Beethoven's 5th, which is also interesting, in a slightly cringeworthy way.

Cool, what year was that 5th performed?

[Scarpia]

Cool, what year was that 5th performed?

Maybe 1966.

[George]

Posted this yesterday, but a few people told me that they couldn't see the image, so I am reposting, using a new link:



Took this photo of the Beethoven monument in Central Park today and figured I'd share it with you guys.

[Opus106]

Thanks, George. Any other classical composers commemorated there?

[George]

Thanks, George. Any other classical composers commemorated there?

There are other classical composers?

[Opus106]

There are other classical composers?

Yeah, sure. You should expand your horizons a bit -- listening only to Beethoven sonatas will just not do.

[George]

Yeah, sure. You should expand your horizons a bit -- listening only to Beethoven sonatas will just not do.

Ok, I'll listen to the quartets as well. 



Seriously, I haven't noticed any other monuments for composers while out in Central Park.

[kishnevi]

Ok, I'll listen to the quartets as well. 



Seriously, I haven't noticed any other monuments for composers while out in Central Park.

here's the Wikipedia list
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_sculptures_in_Central_Park
Victor Herbert has a bust somewhere in the Park, but I don't see any other musical names.


Verdi has his own square
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Verdi_Square


The Wikipedia illustration is not that great.  Look dead center to see the statute; because of its color  blends with that of the building behind it, it may be hard to see at first.

[Brian]

Okay, folks, does the finale of Op 18 No 3 sound a LOT like the Mexican Hat Dance, or is it just me?

[Sergeant Rock]

Okay, folks, does the finale of Op 18 No 3 sound a LOT like the Mexican Hat Dance, or is it just me?

Olé!

[Opus106]

Beethoven Fest 2010 Begins.

Official Webstite (English)
Portal at DW TV's website

[Brian]

I've recently had occasion to do some in-depth listening to Beethoven's early piano variations, on themes by Haibel, Sussmayr, Salieri, and Wranitzky. The results have really been interesting. It turns out that via careful listening to these pieces we can learn a little bit about how Beethoven learned to use the theme and variations format, and the sort of "tools" he would use to master it. Who are we kidding: the sort of tricks he would use to write the best variations movements ever composed. I'm sure most of the ideas in my essay will be familiar to most readers, but maybe one of them is new. 

Here's a link to my MusicWeb essay (in disguise as a review) but the relevant section is pasted below.

Theme-and-variations was arguably the central form of the composer's career: consider the mighty variation movements in the Third, Fifth, and Ninth symphonies, the piano sonatas opp. 109 and 111, and the monumental Diabelli set. If you are at all fond of those works, you should listen to the early Beethoven variations, for they really do provide great insights into his evolving language and his way of creating something stupendous out of nothing.

I say "nothing" because one of the insights on offer here is that Beethoven consciously chose bare, bland, maybe even poor themes for his variations. The Diabelli waltz theme is, in that sense, perfect for Beethoven's purpose: if you set it alongside Wranitzky's dull Russian Dance, or Haibel's genial but forgettable minuet, or (dare I say it) the Eroica tune, you see that they really are all cut from the same cloth; the rhythmic similarity between Diabelli's theme and Salieri's is truly striking. The themes are canvases on which Beethoven paints; in fact they are rather cheap canvases from the supermarket chosen in order to demonstrate all the more clearly that the credit belongs solely to the painter.

Typical of this style is the Haibel set: immediately, with the first variation, Beethoven leaps into a wholly different mood and style. Not for him the classical-era plan of simply ornamenting the tune with little decorations, then having the left and right hands switch, then altering the melody by one or two notes. Beethoven leaps in at the deep end. Already we can hear his adventurousness and his conception of variations as transformative. This structure will be taken to more profound heights in works like the last piano sonata but even in the 1790s Beethoven was writing "theme and transformations".

The first variation of the Wranitzky set is more conventional, but in exactly five minutes the theme is rendered completely unrecognizable and the work becomes wholly Beethoven's. And there are vintage Beethoven moments all through these early works, like his habit - to be highlighted in the piano and orchestral Eroica variations - of leaving melodies hanging confidently in midair halfway through, pausing, and then rolling in with the resolutions. The luminous Wranitzky variation at about 3:35 presages some of Beethoven's transcendent writing in the last sonatas; the fact that Beethoven cannot even wait until Salieri's theme is over before beginning to toy with it brought a smile to my face. The Salieri set, although a bit monotonous, does introduce the classically Beethovenian idea of bringing back the original theme at the end, subtly transformed.
[...]
For Beethoven lovers and aficionados his early variations are essential listening and have greatly aided me in my listening to his late masterworks in the genre. If you are a casual fan, you may find this music to be of less obvious interest, since so much of it is light, witty, and clever, rather than fiery as the cover might imply. It is not 'vintage Beethoven' by any means. But hints of 'vintage Beethoven' are to be heard in every work, and that is why real devotees of the composer will find this volume fascinating.

EDIT: oh yeah, and what was this thread doing on Page 6??

[Brian]

Listening to Beethoven's string quartet Op 95 "serioso" a few times this month has convinced me that its slow movement, an allegretto in fact, is my personal "model" slow movement. It seems to me to be perfect: an intriguing "hook" to bring the listener into the drama, intensely personal themes, breathtakingly good transitions from one subject to another so that you almost can't tell where sections begin and end, the way the themes are mixed and matched over the course of the work. And it's precisely the right length to say everything it needs to; I listen to it and feel neither like time has been wasted nor like I would have gladly listened to five more minutes. Concise, beautiful, terrificly wrought... for this month (perhaps for this month only), quite possibly my favorite movement of any Beethoven work.