Exploring Beethoven
A LIFE Institute CourseSession Three
Bob Fabianhttp://CoursePages4LIFE.ca/Beethoven
Session Plan
● Unfinished Business – Jaw Harp● Too many great examples● Beethoven & The Piano
– Evolution of the Piano
– “Tempest” Sonata No. 17
– Cello & Piano Duet No. 3
– Choral Fantasy
– “Emperor” Concerto No. 5
Unfinished Business
How to make a mouth harphttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mjC4nBjMUg0
How to play a jaw harphttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mrxxed54hcg
Beethoven & The Piano
● Early Fame – Keyboard Virtuoso● Keyboard – Composer's Instrument
● The way for one person to play two (or more) musical lines
● No. 17 (of 32 Piano Sonatas)● No. 3 (of 5 Cello (& Piano) Sonatas)● Choral Fantasy (end of program spectacular)● No. 5 (of 5 Piano Concertos)
Session Approach
Provide more versions for home listening
A (brief) History
Leeds 2012 International Competitionhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BMxqAKxWMYA
Sonata No. 17 (Op. 31, No. 2)
● Known as “The Tempest” (Der Strum)● Composed in 1801/2● Anton Schindler claimed that Beethoven was inspired
by Shakespear's The Tempest● The banished Duke of Milan plots to restore his daughter to her
rightful place, (using magic)
● Three movements● Largo – Allegro● Adagio● Allegretto
Donald Francis Tovey
● “With all the tragic power of its first movement the D minor Sonata is, like Prospero, almost as far beyond tragedy as it is beyond mere foul weather. It will do you no harm to think of Miranda at bars 31–38 of the slow movement... but people who want to identify Ariel and Caliban and the castaways, good and villainous, may as well confine their attention to the exploits of Scarlet Pimpernel when the Eroica or the C minor Symphony is being played.” (pg. 121, A Companion to Beethoven's Pianoforte Sonatas)
Traditional Performance
Daniel Barenboim https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tiJjoFQtMvg
Pianoforte Performance
McGill, 2013https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BHSOAThYQUM
[start at 27:50]
Recomposing Beethoven
Glenn Gould, 1966https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BYvTEOXEU4o
Re-composed “Tempest”
Glenn Gould, 1960https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c7zwcTYFgBw
Cello Sonata No. 3
● Written in 1808 (in A major, Op. 69)● Dedicated to Baron Ignaz von Gleichenstein● First performed in 1809
● Nikolaus Kraft, cello● Dorothea von Ertmann, piano
● First cello sonata to give equal importance to both instruments – Steven Isserlis
● Piano really was Beethoven's instrument
Classic Version – Op. 69
Jacqueline du Pre, cello; Daniel Barenboim, pianohttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LmZqHrJCXAk
More Re-Composing?
Pianist ; Glenn Gould [ 1932 - 1982 ]Cellist ; Leonard Rose [ 1918 - 1984 ]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vUpBCO4TYfM
Choral Fantasy, Op. 80
● For piano, soloists, chorus and orchestra● 22 December 1808 Benefit Concert
● Fifth and Sixth symphonies● Fourth piano concerto● Mass in C major, excerpts● Combining all forces – Choral Fantasy
● Beethoven: Pianist, Conductor, Composer● Troubled first performance
● Was stopped and then restarted
Following the Musical Lines
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=geOdC2EaJA4
As Normally Seen
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H287izzj8HM
Full Concert
Triple Concerto, Op. 56Yo-Yo Ma, Perlman, Barenboim
Daniel Barenboim, piano y director.Sala de la Berliner Philharmonie en Berlín-Tiergarten.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9kYJZoDrFeQ
[37:30]
Emperor Concerto
● Composed in 1809-1811, Op. 73● Dedicated to Archduke Rudolf● First performed in Leipzig in November 1811● First performance in Vienna, February 1812, Carl Czerny
piano● The last piano concerto of Beethoven● Three movements
● Allegro in E-flat major● Adagio un poco moto in B major● Rondo: Allegro ma non troppo in E-flat major
Classic Emperor Performance
Zimerman, Bernstein, Wiener Philharmonikerhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9kYJZoDrFeQ
Modern Spectacular
Lang Lang, pianoNDR Symphony Orchestra, Christoph Eschenbach
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aH63RKQ7OEw
[Concert: 04:24]
Next (4th) Session
● One opera – Fidelio, Op. 72● One solemn mass - Missa solemnis, Op. 123● They remain among the greatest vocal works
ever written.● Great performances on YouTube● How best to approach, how best to appreciate
these great works?
Small Handed Pianists
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=93JiXloIhn4
Igudesman & Joo - Rachmaninov had big Hands