Beethoven: life, works and meaning

Ludwing van Beethoven is one of the most emblematic composers, pianists and conductors of the transition between the 18th and 19th centuries. Thanks to his creativity and daring, music would reach an unexpected and wonderful development towards freedom and individual expression. Such is its importance that Beethoven is considered the last of the representatives of musical classicism, and at the same time, the precursor of romanticism.

Experts suggest that Beethoven managed to bring music to other possibilities and temperaments: he explored the extremes of the nuances and the heights of the instruments (bass and treble), as well as rhythms of major complexity. He also challenged the musical forms known at the time, such as the sonata and the symphony. Instead of seeking balance and measure, he put these forms at the service of individual expressive need. Thus inaugurated the romantic sensibility.

Beethoven composed symphonies, sonatas, lied (German song), concert arias, chamber music, masses and an opera. Within the framework of this variety of genres and forms, let's get to know some of his most emblematic works in this article.

Piano parts

For Elisa - Piano Concerto

Also known as For Teresa, the play For Elisa is a bagatella, a composition for solo instrument, of short duration and without virtuosity, which usually has a mellow character. It is typical of romanticism.

There are several theories about who the piece is dedicated to. One of them was raised by Ludwig Nohl, who thought he read this name in the manuscript. However, other researchers have suggested that it was actually written "For Teresa."

In any case, if Ludwig Nohl were right, the dedication would refer to a German soprano named Elisabeth Röckel, a friend of Beethoven. Teresa, on the other hand, could refer to Therese Malfatti von Rohrenbach zu Dezza, a student with whom the composer would have fallen in love.

Although the piece was made for piano alone, in the next link you can see a video with a version for piano and orchestra, arranged by Georgii Cherkin.

Sonatas

Sonata No. 8 in C minor Op. 13 or "Patética"

This work was composed between 1798 and 1799, and published in 1799. It was his publisher who named him The pathetic. It is one of the composer's most celebrated pieces. It is made up of three movements:

• Serious; allegro di molto e con brio.
• Adagio cantabile.
• Rondo: allegro.

Piano Sonata No. 14 in C # minor or "Claro de luna"

Better known as Moonlight (Mondscheinsonate), the Piano Sonata No. 14 in C # minor "Quasi una fantasia", Op. 27, No. 2, was composed in 1801 and dedicated to Mademoiselle Countess Giulietta Guicciardi.

At that time there was a rumor that Beethoven had love affairs with his student Giulietta. However, according to the author himself, the relationship was unfeasible:

«After two years I have again enjoyed a few moments of happiness and for the first time I think marriage could make me happy, but unfortunately she is not of my position and I can not think about get married. "

The sonata Moonlight, which Beethoven actually called «Quasi a fantasy», is structured in three movements: Adagio Sostenuto, Allegretto Y Presto agitato.

Symphonies

Symphony No. 5 in C minor, Op. 67

It is a symphony written between 1804 and 1808, structured in four movements: allegro with brio; walker with motorcycle; scherzo / allegro and finally, allegro. It was released in the Theater an der Wien on December 22 of the same year, next to the Sixth Symphony and other large pieces.

Its initial motif (or first notes) has been the cause of indefatigable debate about its meaning. Some think it represents "the call of destiny."

Symphony No. 3 E ♭ major, Op. 55 or Heroic Symphony

At the beginning of the 19th century, Napoleon Bonaparte had then established himself as a great libertarian leader. Beethoven, a great admirer of the French Revolution, planned to dedicate the call Heroic Symphony which had started in 1802. However, when Napoleon crowned himself Emperor of Europe in 1804, Beethoven clearly saw that he was a tyrant. Enraged, he erased the dedication with such vehemence that he pierced the paper.

The work was completed in 1804 and published in 1806. Beethoven added the following inscription: 'Sinfonia eroica, composta per festeggiare il sovvenire d'un grand'uomo", Which means:" Heroic Symphony, composed to celebrate the memory of a great man ", as a reference to an anonymous libertarian hero. Symphony No. 3 is structured in the following movements: Allegro with brio, Adagio assai (known as the "funeral march"), Scherzo Y Allegro molto – Poco andante – Presto.

If Beethoven's first two symphonies respond to the classical style, the third symphony represents the point of change: a bigger orchestra, a longer length of time and the exploration of new possibilities of language musical. However, it was not well received.

Symphony No. 9 or Ninth Symphony "Choral" Op. 125

It was composed between 1818 and 1824. With this work, Beethoven achieves the maximum development of his musical innovations. He introduces a choir and solo singers into the symphony, and adds two horns, triangle, and cymbals. Likewise, the play lasts approximately 65 minutes, which clearly represents a break with tradition. Within this work is the famous Hymn to joy, a musicalization to the poem Ode to joy by Friedrich Schiller, who wrote it in 1786.

Already deaf, he directed the premiere following the play with the reading. When he finished, they had to touch his arm to make him realize that the piece was finished. This would be his last appearance in public.

Lieder

Ich Liebe dich

The lied (lieder in plural) is a short-lived lyrical song for voice and piano, consisting of the musicalization of an outstanding poem. With these pieces, the composers tried to create musical images equivalent to those literary images that the texts were constructed. This piece of Beethoven, Ich Liebe dich, is based on a poem by K. F. Herrose, which translates as follows:

I love you as much as you love me
in the evening and in the morning,
there hasn't been a day yet where you and me
Let's not share our sorrows

They were shared by you and me,
easy to bear;
you comfort me in affliction,
I cried with your laments.

Therefore, the blessing of God on you,
you, joy of my life;
protect yourself God, keep yourself to me,
protect us and keep us both.

Text scanned and translated by: Simón Nevado

Opera - Fidelio

Beethoven only wrote an opera called Fidelio or conjugal love, released in 1805. It is an opera in two acts, with a libretto by Joseph F. Sonnleithner, based in turn on a text by Frenchman Jean-Nicolas Bouilly for the opera Léonore, ou l’amour conjugal by Pierre Gaveaux when we have the information.

In the context of the French occupation in Vienna, Beethoven presents this opera, whose plot tells the story of Eleanor, a woman her that she pretends to be a prison guard named Fidelio to rescue her husband Florestan, a political prisoner sentenced to death. There was no lack of pressure after its premiere.

Abscheulicher! Wo eilst du hin?

This is an aria for soprano inserted in Fidelio. It is the voice of Leonora, who makes an intervention in scene 8 of the first act. Its text reads like this:

Oh abominable! Where are you going?
What are you up to, driven by your hatred?
Compassion, humanity,
Don't they soften your tiger entrails?
Like the waves of the sea,
anger and fury stir in your soul,
so a rainbow appears to me shining
above the dark clouds.
So much peace reminds me of the old days
and calm my exalted blood. Come hope,
do not let my last wish fail!

Oh come! Illuminate my goal that even though it is far away,
love will catch up.
I will follow my impulses,
I will not faint,
The duty of a faithful wife guides me!
Oh you, for whom I have suffered so much,
If I reached the place
where evil has you chained,
and bring you comfort!
I will follow my impulses,
I will not faint,
The duty of a faithful wife guides me!

Text scanned and translated by Mónica Zaionz.

Oh welche lust!

This piece is about the prisoners choir by Fidelio, which belongs to scene 9 of the first act. In the attached video you can see the complete translation.

Concert arias

"Ah! Perfido ", Opus 64

It is known as concert aria to a full-length piece for solo voice and orchestra, destined to be performed in a concert. These arias were usually made for specific singers to demonstrate their virtuosity.

Inspired by the aria Bella mia fiamma by Mozart, Beethoven composed Ah! Perfidious probably for the soprano Josepha Duschek in the year 1796, the same year of its premiere, despite the fact that its printed publication had to wait until 1805. The work is made up of the sections recitative, aria Y cabaletta. Its duration varies between 13 and 15 minutes depending on the pulse of the interpretation. We include here a fragment of the translated text:

Recitative

Ah perfidious, perjured, traitorous barbarian! you leave?
And is this your last goodbye?
Where has the most cruel tyranny been heard?
Go evil!

Cabaletta

Ah cruel! You want me to die!
Have you no mercy on me?
Why do you pay the one who adores you, with such barbaric grace?
Tell me if for so much suffering
I am not worthy of mercy.

Translated by Danilo Serrano.

About Ludwing van Beethoven

Ludwing van Beethoven was born on December 16, 1770 in Bonn, Archbishopric of Cologne, Austria. His father pressured and mistreated him a lot, because he wanted to make him a new Mozart, but unlike Mozart, Beethoven was not a boy prodigy, although he had great talent for music, as evidenced by his work.

Overwhelmed with so much activity, at the age of 10 he dropped out of school and turned to music. Very young, he received the influence and respect of composers like Mozart, who said "This young man will give the world something to talk about."

After the death of his mother and the depression of his father, Beethoven had to work giving music classes to support the brothers. He soon caught the attention of patrons and was finally able to move to Vienna, where he produced his best works. From the age of 30, he began to have hearing problems after a meningitis that reached him, which over the years led to total deafness.

Despite this, and the depression that this caused him, Beethoven clung to his profession as a composer and produced his most distinguished works. He himself, who had thought about suicide, went so far as to say:

Art, and only art, has saved me! It seems impossible to me to leave this world without having given everything that I have felt being born within me.

Beethoven, increasingly isolated and affected by disease, died in Vienna on March 26, 1827, at the age of 56.

Playlist on Youtube

Next, you can listen to all these songs organized in a YouTube playlist, and that also has other added surprises, such as the Coral Fantasy by Beethoven, a masterpiece for piano, orchestra and choir. Follow the link Passionate beethoven.