A Wisdom Archive on joseph haydn

Beethoven's most significant ancestor was his grandfather (1712-1773), also named Ludwig van Beethoven. The elder Ludwig was Flemish (hence "van", not "von"), and came from Mechelen (French: Malines), now in Belgium. This Ludwig emigrated to Germany in 1733 to work as a bass singer and ultimately settled in Bonn, which at the time was the seat of the Archbishopric of Cologne. The elder Ludwig rose through the ranks at the court of the reigning prince (called the E ...

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Around 1802 Beethoven declared "I am but lately little satisfied with my works, I shall take a new way." The first major work of this new way was the "Eroica" Symphony in E flat. While other composers had written symphonies with implied programs, or stories, this symphony was longer and larger in scope than any other written. It made huge demands on the players, because at that time there were few orchestras devoted to concert music that were independent of royal or aristocratic patrons, and hence performance ...

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However, there soon followed a deep crisis in Beethoven's personal life, and possibly in his artistic life as well. His output dropped, and one critic even wrote that "the composing of great works seems behind him". The few works that date from this period are often of an experimental character. They include the song cycle "An die ferne Geliebte" and the piano sonata Opus 90, works which inspired later generations of Romantic composers. This period also produced the extraordinar ...

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Around 1801, Beethoven began to lose his hearing. He suffered a severe form of tinnitus, a "roar" in his ears that made it hard for him to appreciate music; he would avoid conversation. The cause of Beethoven's deafness is unknown, but it has variously been attributed to syphilis, lead poisoning, typhus, and even his habit of immersing his head in cold water to stay awake. The oldest explanation, from the autopsy of the time, ...

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Beethoven had few students. From 1801 to 1805, he tutored Ferdinand Ries, who would go on to become a composer and later published a book about their encounters, Beethoven remembered. Carl Czerny was taught by Beethoven from 1801 to 1803. He went on to become a renowned music teacher himself, taking on Franz Liszt as one of his students. He also gave the Vienna premiere of Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 5 "Emperor" in 1812. In 1803 or 1804, Archduke Rudolph, youngest son of Emperor Leopold II, began to study piano and co ...

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With the Elector's help, Beethoven moved again to Vienna in 1792. Beethoven did not immediately set out to establish himself as a composer, but rather devoted himself to study and to piano performance. Working under the direction of Joseph Haydn, he sought to master counterpoint, and he also took violin lessons. At the same time, he established a reputation as a piano virtuoso and improviser in the salons of ...

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Beethoven was born in Bonn in 1770. We have no record of his birth date, only that he was baptized on December 17th. The composer's birthday is often celebrated, based on the usual custom of rapidly baptizing infants at that time, as December 16th. His parents were Johann van Beethoven (1740-1792), and Magdalena Keverich van Beethoven (1744-1787). Johann worked as a tenor singer in the Electoral court, that is, in the musical establishment presided over by the grandfather. Beethoven's parents had a total of seven children, of whom only three survived infancy. These were Beethoven and his two younger brothers ...

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Classical music era - The Classical style as part of a larger artistic change. In the middle of the 18th century, Europe began to move to a new style in architecture, literature, and the arts generally, known as Classicism. While still tightly linked to the court culture and absolutism, with its formality and emphasis on order and hierarchy, the new style was also a cleaner style, one that favored clearer divisions between parts, brighter contrasts and colors, and simplicity rather than complexity. The remarkable ...

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Das Lied der Deutschen - Earlier German national anthems. At the beginning of the 19th century, Germany was not a unified country, and the various smaller countries considered to be German each had their own anthem. The first pan-German anthem prior to 1866 was Was ist des Deutschen Vaterland ("What is the German's fatherland?"), with lyrics composed in 1813 by Ernst Moritz Arndt (1769-1860) and set ...

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Austria - Austria and the Holy Roman Empire. The territory of Austria originally known as the Celtic kingdom of Noricum, was a long time ally of Rome. It was occupied rather than conquered by the Romans during the reign of Augustus and made the province Noricum in 16 BC. Later it was conquered by Huns, Rugii, Lombards, Ostrogoths, Bavarii, Avars (until c. 800), and Franks (in that order). Finally, after 48 years of Hungarian rule (907 to 955), the core territory of Austria was awarded to Leopold of Babenberg in 976. Be ...

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Although Austria is a small country, its history as a world power and its unique cultural environment in the heart of Europe have generated contributions to mankind in every possible field. One might argue that Austria is internationally best known for its musicians. It has been the birthplace of many famous composers such as Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Joseph Haydn, Franz Schubert, Anton Bruckner, Johann Strauss, Sr., Johann Strauss, Jr. or ...

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In ancient Greece the orchestra was the space between the auditorium and the proscenium (or stage), in which were stationed the chorus and the instrumentalists. This is how the modern orchestra got its name. In some theaters, the orchestra is the area of seats directly in front of the stage (called "primafila" or "platea"); the term more properly applies to the place in a theatre, ...

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