LUDWIG VAN BEETOVEN

• Born in Bonn Germany the 16th of December 1770 to parents Johann Van Beethoven & Maria Magdalena Keverich.

• Johann set out to teach young Ludwig the piano; in this his teachings were cruel. It was noted that when the young Beethoven would play a wrong note or in the phrasing was off Ludwig was met with a slap, a shove, or a punch. And even to the extent according to Prof. Michael White of the Julliard School “We know that the father locked him the basement cellar at time when he didn’t perform the way that he was supposed to.”

Early Life and Career

• Beethoven withdrew from school to study music full time with Christian Gottlob Neefe, the newly appointed Court Organist. Neefe introduced Beethoven to Bach, and at the age of twelve Beethoven published his first composition, a set of piano variations on a theme by an obscure classical composer named Dressler.

• The court decided to move Beethoven to Vienne in 1787.

• When Beethoven had arrived he used his connection to audition in front of Mozart who when he did, impressed him so much that Mozart said “Keep your eyes on him; some day he will give the world something to talk about.”

Youth and Early Training

• His best know compostions include 9 symphonies, 5 concertos for pianos, 32 piano sonatas, and 16 string quartets.

• Towards the end of the 18th century Beethoven began to lose his hearing which forced him to end his preforming career after a few preforming debacles.

• Beethoven wrote the last quartets amidst failing health. In April 1825 he was bedridden, and remained ill for about a month. He died on 26 March 1827 at the age of 56 during a thunderstorm. His friend Anselm Huttenbrenner, who was present at the time, said that there was a peal of thunder at the moment of death. A fitting end to one of the greatest composers of all time.

Career and Later Years

Color Coded Listening Analysis

PIANO SONATA No. 17 Op. 31 No. 2 “Tempest”• Written in 1802

• Many thought that the name “Tempest” was derived from a Shakespeare play, but Beethoven was quick to dismiss the thought. But it was easy to make the assumtion due to the over dramatic feeling of the piece.

• 3 Movements

• I – Largo / Allegro 8:22 min

• II – Adagio 9:59 min

• III – Allegretto 7:55 min

• Movement I

• Largo –Allegro

• The movement starts out very peaceful for the first 15 seconds.

• 00:14 the tempo changes and gives you a taste of where the piece is going.

• 00:34 the full brunt of the chaos starts and an it seems as through the scale is rising in like a buildup of a release.

• Throughout the first half of the piece we see that there are a lot of little build ups and the a resolution.

• 02:50 the last 2 minutes repeat themselves.

• 4:45 – it repeats once more but in a lower octave.

• 5:50 - A peaceful section begins maybe to symbolize the break in the storm “tempest”

• 6:50 – breaks into a fast tempo may be the second wave of the storm. There is a lot of repetition in the measures.

• 8:00 - The set up for the second movement begins.

• Movement II

• Adagio

• 00:00- This piece begins with a lot of little piano riffs.

• I begin to think it’s kind of maybe the emotions of the people that survived the storm and are now seeing for the first time the aftermath. Although maybe there is a lot of destruction there is a lot of happiness that they’re still alive.

• 3:00 – really slow and abnormal play for a sonata the time switched to I think 4:4.

• 3:45 – more random piano riff. Some slow and some are fast.

• 5:00 – more steady scale like features with a wide range of octaves.

• 6:00 – 7:22 – the right and left hand remain in the upper octaves giving the piece a lighter thought a happier feeling that make us feel that everything is going to be alright.

• 8:34 – repeating what was happening in the 3:45 part of the piece.

• All in all this is the light part of the entire piece, calming us down.

My Listening Guild for the “Tempest”

• Movement III

• Allegretto

• 00:00 right of the bat we resume the urgency of the piece.

• As I have previously stated I relate this sonata to a storm which to me is appropriately name “The Tempest”. As in the other movements of this piece this might be relating how the people are hurrying to get ready for yet another wave of weather.

• 1:27 – repeat of the last Theme.

• 3:00 – another repeat to the them but in a higher octave with left hand playing considerably lower.

• 3:45 – repeat of the theme.

• 4:00 – a build up until a resolution at 4:50

• 4:51 – another repeat of the first them.

• 5:15 – an aggressive repeat of the theme in a lower octave then the first.

• 6:50 – the theme is played a gain in homophony.

• 7:30 – the resolution begins for the entire piece.

My Listening Guild for the “Tempest”

• (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ludwig_van_Beethoven)

• Early Years

• Illness and Death

• (http://www.biography.com/people/ludwig-van-beethoven/)

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n3-5PKn6RN0

Bibliography