Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827)ComposedSymphonies (9)

Concertos (especially for piano)

Overtures (and incidental music)

Opera (1)

Sacred Choral Music

Chamber Music

•Sonatas (especially piano, violin, and cello)

•String Quartets

Piano Trios

Born: Bonn (western Germany)Died: Vienna

Beethoven’s Early Period

Studies (a little) with Haydn in Vienna

Composes pieces which assimilate and perfect the “High Classical” style of Haydn and Mozart

•Piano Sonatas

•String Quartets (opus 18 – set of 6)

•Symphonies (nos. 1 and 2)

•Piano Concertos (nos. 1 and 2)

Beethoven: Between Classical and Romantic

Style CharacteristicsClassical:

•Use of inherited forms

•Regular phrases

•Acceptance of established genres

Romantic:

•Expansion of forms

•Greater intensity and expressivity

•Harmonic and instrumentational innovations

Apollonian vs. Dionysian

Friederich Nietzsche (1844-1900)

Apollonian:•Grounding in Classical tradition•Clarity of form•Intensive working process

Dionysian:•Subjectivity•Intensity of expression•Expansiveness

“Heroic” Beethoven:The Middle Period Forces combine with genius to inspire artistic breakthroughs:

•Personal struggle with deafness

•Relationship to Napoleon and the French Revolution

•“Unlucky” in love

Major works:

•Symphonies (3-8)

•Piano Concertos (3-5)

•Opera: Fidelio

•Sonatas and String Quartets

Musical Characteristics:•Greater intensity – louder dynamics, demanding instrumental writing, heavier scoring•Greater expressivity – longer, more strident melodies, dramatic contrasts of texture, dynamics, instrumentation•Formal Expansiveness – longer movements in general, frequent use of slow introductions to fast movements, striking expansiveness to development sections and codas

The Heiligenstadt Testament

The Fifth Symphony (in C minor)First Movement (Allegro con brio)

•Fast, stormy, sonata-form movement in C minor

Second Movement (Andante con moto)

•Double Theme and Variations, ingratiating, martial

Third Movement (Allegro)

•Sometimes convoluted triple-meter, march-like movement in C minor – leads directly to:

Fourth Movement (Allegro)

•Triumphant finale, sonata-form movement in C major

“Fate, knocking on

the door”