Beethoven’s Violin Sonatas: Setting the New Performance Standard

Ludwig van Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven’s ten violin sonatas are among the most famous works of chamber music history and represent, together with Mozart’s works for this instrument duo, the core of violin repertoire from the Viennese Classicist period. Though composed in a short span in Beethoven’s creative life (nine of the ten were written... Continue Reading →

A Short Foray into Beethoven’s Variations

Guest post by Dr. Dominik Rahmer, editor at G. Henle Verlag. The formal technique of “variations” played an important role in Beethoven’s work throughout his entire life. Critic Paul Bekker wrote in 1911, “Beethoven begins with variations,” and indeed this is true not only of the character of his oeuvre, but also of its chronological... Continue Reading →

Beethoven’s Piano Sonatas: The New New Testament of Piano Repertoire

1870 marked the 100th birthday of Ludwig van Beethoven. After denying the invitation from the “Beethoven Committee of Vienna” to appear onstage together with Liszt, Joachim and Clara Schumann to celebrate the event, Richard Wagner decided to write an essay instead. While this essay is notable as a broader investigation of Wagner’s aesthetic philosophy and... Continue Reading →

Beethoven’s Ninth: How Reading What Beethoven Wrote Changed Everything

For a conductor music starts with Beethoven. And for the son of a conductor both can start very early, as they did for Jonathan Del Mar, Beethoven scholar and editor of the new edition of Beethoven’s nine symphonies for Bärenreiter. In 1949 Del Mar’s father, conductor Norman Del Mar, purchased a copy of the 1924... Continue Reading →

Cantabile Qualities: Choral Music by Beethoven

Guest post by Jan Schumacher Beethoven is not primarily thought of as a vocal composer, but why not? The choral collection compiled by Jan Schumacher, which contains both well-known and unknown choral works by Beethoven and original transcriptions of Beethoven's works by other composers, reveals a great deal of extremely attractive repertoire. The widely-held prejudice... Continue Reading →

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