Masterpieces of Classical Music
Orchestra Research Paper
Ludwig Van Beethoven is perhaps one of the best known composures in all of history. His legacy on the art of music is profound. He had a difficult, strict life, which morphed into tragedy as his hearing and health faded. Despite this complicated life, Beethoven’s works remain incredibly popular today.
Beethoven was born in December of 1770 in Bonn, in present day Germany (Budden, 2014). Beethoven’s father, Johann, drilled Beethoven continuously and harshly in musical studies. His father had hoped that Beethoven would match the prodigy status of Mozart as a child. However, it was not until slightly later in life that he studied with Mozart and began making a name for himself. Beethoven went on to study with Hayden, Brahms, and other great composers of the time.
At the age of 27, Beethoven was in the middle of a growing, and prolific career. However his hearing began to fade. He utilized every aide possible to continue to hear, but he was soon unable to hear the applause of the audience. Beethoven battled thoughts of suicide as his still unknown disease progressed. Eventually he died of liver failure in March of 1827 (Huxtable, 2000).
Despite his mental and physical challenges, Beethoven was extremely prolific. He composed nine numbered symphonies, 32 sonatas, an opera, and multiple concertos and chamber pieces (British Library, 2009). One of his most well-known works is his ninth symphony. This was the piece which, at the conclusion of a performance, Beethoven was brought to tears when he couldn’t hear the audience applaud (Huxtable, 2000).
The idea for the ninth symphony arose in Beethoven in his twenties when he wanted to write a music piece to accompany An die Freu...
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Gibbs, C. (2006). Notes on Beethoven's Ninth Symphony . Retrieved from National Public Radio: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5487727
Horsely, P. (2010). Symphony No. 9. Retrieved from The Kennedy Center: http://www.kennedy-center.org/calendar/index.cfm?fuseaction=composition&composition_id=2761
Huxtable, R. (2000). The deafness of Beethoven: A paradigm of hearing problems. Proceedings of the Western Pharmacological Society, 1-8.
Kelly, T. (1999). Beethoven's Symphony No. 9. Retrieved from National Public Radio: http://www.npr.org/programs/specials/milestones/990203.motm.beethoven.html
Los Angeles Philharmonic Association. (2014). Symphony No. 9, "Choral". Retrieved from Los Angeles Philharmonic Association: http://www.laphil.com/philpedia/music/symphony-no-9-choral-ludwig-van-beethoven
The thirty-first sonata came to be in an interesting way. Moritz Schlesinger, in the summer of 1819, had made a request to Ludwig van Beethoven. Schlesinger was in search of some music and thought that Beethoven would be perfect for the job. He asked Beethoven to compose the desired music for him and would pay Beethoven in return. The two agreed in the May of 1820 that Beethoven would write twenty-five songs and three sonatas for Schlesinger at the cumulative price of one hundred and fifty ducats. Beethoven quickly finished the songs and made them available to his commissioner. He then began work on the three sonatas when he suddenly came under attack by a disease known as jaundice. This delayed the finishing of the three sonatas which later became well-known as the final sonatas – some of the last works of Beethoven. All three were completed and sent to Schlesinger by the end of 1822.
Ludwig van Beethoven, I love to listen to his symphonies. It feels me better and refresh. The traditional objectivity of structure, amicability, shape, melodic advancement and coordination traverse into open-finished plausibility. I listened to Beethoven symphony works and have some notes for these symphonies.
He performed publicly in Vienna in 1795 for the first time, and published his Op. 1 and Op. 2 piano sonatas. His works are traditionally divided into three periods. The first is called the Viennese Classical, the second is the Heroic, and the third is Late Beethoven. In the first period, his individuality and style gradually developed, as he used many methods from Haydn, including the use of silence. He composed mainly for the piano during this period. These works include Symphony no. 1 in C (1800), his first six string quartets, and the Pathétique (1799). His Moonlight Sonata in C# minor (1801) is known as the first of Heroic Beethoven. Beethoven learned that he would become deaf in 1802 and suffered sever depression. His composing skills were not affected by his deafness, but his ability to teach and perform was inhibited. It is said that he became deaf from his habit of pouring cold water over his head while composing, to refresh himself, and then not drying his massive amounts of hair afterwards.
Born in 1770 Beethoven grew up with a great interest in music and his father gave him piano lessons at an early age. Even so, he was never close to his father, probably because of the abuse he endured. When his father became unable to care for his family due to an alcohol addiction, Beethoven felt it was his responsibility to take care of his three remaining siblings and his mother. So, at age 12 he began publishing music to help support his family. Unfortunately, his lack of money was always an issue throughout his life. At age 22...
Ludwig van Beethoven was born in the town of Bonn, Germany on December 16 of 1770. Bonn is located in western Germany on the Rhine River. Beethoven showed an affinity for music at an early age. His father, Johann, taught Ludwig to play the piano as well as the violin. Johann did this in hopes that his son would become a prodigy, and then reach fame like Wolfgang A. Mozart. Unfortunately though Beethoven mother died when he was seventeen. In addition to his mother’s death Beethoven’s father developed an alcohol problem. To escape these problems Beethoven found a job tutoring the two children of the von Breuning family. This relationship proved to be beneficial to Beethoven. The matriarch of the family happened to be well liked in the town of Bonn, so she introduced Beethoven to a few important people.
Before Beethoven began going deaf he was already a wonderful composer. He had everything going for him, his whole life looked to be storybook perfect. When Beethoven learned of himself going deaf is when his whole life became clear. I feel that everyone in their life will experience a time where everything seems like it wont work out. Where life is punching them in the face, here I believe is when people grow the most. Where we as humans take everything we have for granted. Once Beethoven took life by the neck and took control, he released the Third Symphony, where he exploded with creativity, free will, and emotion. Everyone felt the growth within Beethoven. This is why I chose to write about Beethoven and his Third Symphony. I chose it because everyone has a Third Symphony that changes the course of their
Beethoven’s early life was one out of a sad story book. For being one of the most well-known musicians one would think that sometime during Beethovens childhood he was influenced and inspired to play music; This was not the case. His father was indeed a musician but he was more interested in drinking than he was playing music. When his father saw the smallest sliver of music interest in Beethoven he immediately put him into vigorous musical training in hopes he would be the next Mozart; his training included organ, viola, and piano. This tainted how young Beethoven saw music and the memories that music brought. Nevertheless Beethoven continued to do what he knew and by thirteen he was composing his own music and assisting his teacher, Christian Neefe. Connections began to form during this time with different aristocrats and families who stuck with him and became lifelong friends. At 17 Beethoven, with the help of his friends, traveled to Vienna, the music capitol of the world, to further his knowledge and connection...
I attended Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony on October 14, at the Bass Performance Hall in Fort Worth. The Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Miguel Harth-Bedoya and Southwestern Seminary Oratorio Chorus, directed by C. David Keith, performed it. Ludwig Van Beethoven composed the work. He composed it between 1811-1824. Beethoven composed the work in D minor, Op. 125 (“Choral”). His Ninth Symphony was his last symphony to compose. It was preceded by eight other symphonies. I was attracted to this work because it was the first symphony to include a choral. I found it astonishing that Beethoven was completely deaf when he finished this work.
On March 26, 1827, Beethoven passed away. His autopsy revealed that his cause of death was due to post-hepatitic cirrhosis of the liver. His deafness was believed to be caused by contracting typhus in the summer of 1796. In his will that he had wrote a couple days before he passed, he left his estate to his nephew Karl. Ludwig Van Beethoven is considered to be one of the greatest composers of all time. The fact that he was composing such beautiful music pieces while was deaf made him a genius.
In the book Diagnosing the Life & Death of Beethoven Genius by Francois Martin Mai, he writes of Beethoven’s medical issues. This book interested me because I am studying to go into the medical field and I thought it would be especially exquisite to write and learn of Beethoven’s medical history and how he was able to still compose music. Mai writes that Beethoven suffered from becoming deaf, gastrointestinal and psychiatric symptoms, respiratory, rheumatologic, and ophthalmologic symptoms (103). Now let’s explain some of these bigger unknown words that Mai says he has. Gastrointestinal means that he had issues with his stomach and/or his intestines. Psychiatric symptoms means that he had some sort of mental illness. Respiratory means he had either trouble breathing or had something wrong with his lungs. Rheumatologic is usually an autoimmune, inflammatory disease. Finally ophthalmologic symptoms means he had something wrong with his eyes. Mai found all of these symptoms from, “his own letters, letters written by others, the Conversation Books, reports (including an autopsy report) written by his physicians, and a modern-day toxicological analysis of his hair” (103). Mai found in his letters that during the winter months he was sick a lot and had minimal chances of getting better but in the summer months he was more
Born to a drunkard father and an unhappy mother, the young Beethoven was subjected to a brutal training in music at the hands of his father, who hoped that the boy would prove to be another prodigy like Mozart. Failing in this, the young Beethoven nevertheless embraced music and studied for a short time in 1792 with Franz Joseph Haydn in Vienna. Hailed as a genius and a master of improvisation at the piano, Beethoven soon made a name for himself, and by 1794 was known throughout Europe. He faithfully learned the Classical Viennese styles and traditions in music, and then proceeded throughout his career to completely revolutionize them. His earliest compositions reflect the classical restraint of Haydn and Mozart, yet there were always flashes of what was to come. The emotion he displayed while playing his own music was unheard of in his day, and the fiery intensity of his early Piano Sonata in C minor, known as the "Pathetique" is one of the first works in which Beethoven gives vent to his own dramatic musical voice.
This was a sign of hearing lost and it would control him for the rest of his life. In a desperate act to recover his hearing, Beethoven moved to a country-side village outside of Vienna. Beethoven took mineral bath everyday, a doctor advised him to swim in the near by river, and even try out large brass instruments to put in his ears to pick up sounds. A letter that was found in Beethoven cottage after his passing, confessed his disabilities and the hardship that his was going through at the time for all of his close family of noblemen to know. He never sent it though. He felt defeated and he got so depressed, Beethoven even tried to commit suicide. Beethoven knew that his purpose in life hadn 't yet been fulfilled and that he would go on to write more extraordinary pieces to transform the music culture. He knew his life couldn 't have been
Ludwig van Beethoven was born in Bonn, Germany in 1770. His works are traditionally divided into three periods. In his early period, he focused on imitating classical style, although his personal characteristics of darker pieces, motivic development, and larger forms are already evident or foreshadowed. In his middle period, he is beginning to go deaf, and has realized that he cannot reverse the trend. His works express struggle and triumph. He stretches forms, with development sections becoming the bulk of his works. He is breaking from tradition and laying the groundwork for the romantic style period. In his late period, he breaks almost completely with classical forms, but ironically starts to study and use baroque forms and counterpoint. He is almost completely deaf, and his works become much more introspective with massive amounts of contrast between sections, ideas, and movements. He dies in Vienna in 1827.
Ludwig van Beethoven was an extraordinary music composer, especially considering he was deaf most of his life and career. He was born in Germany on December 16, 1770. Many obstacles were hurled at him, but he triumphed over them, and even deafness didn’t stop him from composing some of the worlds greatest, and most recognized music compositions (Rosenwald 167). His life, music, and his musical styles and techniques all contribute to his life story.
Music Appreciation has broadened my view to listen to different eras of music that I was not accustomed to. It was pleasant listening, reading, and learning about different periods of music. This course has given me an exceptional amount of knowledge on different styles of music, identifying different elements in music as well as learning about legendary composers who have influenced music throughout history. Not only has music been around for decades, it has developed a history of great composers who have left an imprint in history by their extraordinary compositions of music they developed during their times of glory, like Ludwig van Beethoven. In this essay I will discuss how Beethoven is known as one of the greatest, ingenuity composers of his time and how the classical period is so fascinating to listen to and learn about. In addition, I will also discuss how Music Appreciation has reshaped the way I perceive and listen to different styles of music that have been created throughout history.