Beethoven & the Greatest Concert of All Time

By |2023-12-21T17:30:54-06:00December 21st, 2023|Categories: Audio/Video, Beethoven 250, Ludwig van Beethoven, Music, Timeless Essays|

On December 22, 1808, Ludwig van Beethoven—by then an established composer and a renowned piano virtuoso—conducted a concert of his own works, featuring himself also as pianist, at the Theater an der Wien in Vienna. The program included the premiers of Beethoven's Fifth and Sixth symphonies, his Fourth Piano Concerto, and a concluding piece for [...]

Beethoven’s Apollonian Beauty

By |2023-12-16T15:34:06-06:00December 15th, 2023|Categories: Audio/Video, Beethoven 250, Ludwig van Beethoven, Michael De Sapio, Music, Senior Contributors, Timeless Essays|

We think of Beethoven as the stormy rebel, the musical Zeus hurling his thunderbolts. But there exists also Beethoven's Apollonian side. His music can indeed be so elegant, so meltingly tender or nostalgic. So much of what Beethoven composed projects a pastoral peace and contentment, evoking the walks in the country he so enjoyed. Musical [...]

The Ten Most Beautiful Symphonies

By |2023-10-27T17:53:44-05:00October 27th, 2023|Categories: Antonin Dvorak, Audio/Video, Culture, Felix Mendelssohn, Franz Schubert, Gustav Mahler, Jean Sibelius, Ludwig van Beethoven, Music, Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, Sergei Rachmaninoff, Stephen M. Klugewicz, Timeless Essays|

In addition to melody, great and beautiful classical symphonies must display a mastery of structure and orchestration, a command of tone color and harmony, and an expertise in developing musical ideas. Here are the ten most beautiful symphonies ever composed. “Imagination creates reality.” —Richard Wagner Though beauty is an absolute reality, we human beings see [...]

Music and the Enlightenment

By |2023-08-05T21:34:33-05:00August 5th, 2023|Categories: Joseph Haydn, Ludwig van Beethoven, Michael De Sapio, Music, Senior Contributors, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart|

The mature music of Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven—the Viennese Classical composers—reflects the best ideals of the Enlightenment in that it embodies rational clarity and order and makes a direct appeal to the listener without undue obscurity. What they produced forms the backbone of a repertoire of music that is recognized and celebrated as some of [...]

Classical Music for Holy Week & Easter

By |2023-04-02T19:21:24-05:00April 2nd, 2023|Categories: Antonio Vivaldi, Audio/Video, Easter, Hector Berlioz, Joseph Haydn, Ludwig van Beethoven, Music, Stephen M. Klugewicz, Timeless Essays|

Though Handel's "Messiah" rightly reigns supreme as the king of music for Easter, there are many other seasonal masterpieces that deserve to be heard more often. Here are ten lesser-known classical works that brilliantly depict the dramatic events of Holy Week and Easter Sunday. 1. "Resurrexit" from the Messe Solennelle, by Hector Berlioz (1824) The [...]

The Top Ten Greatest Violin Concertos

By |2023-03-12T20:34:42-05:00March 12th, 2023|Categories: Audio/Video, Camille Saint-Saëns, Felix Mendelssohn, Jean Sibelius, Johannes Brahms, Ludwig van Beethoven, Music, Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, Stephen M. Klugewicz, Timeless Essays, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart|

The violin concerto as a form of music has endured for some 300 years and remains, alongside the piano concerto, the most popular type of concerto played in modern concert halls and committed to recording. The genre was first developed during the Baroque era, when the concerto was conceived as a tripartite structure, running about fifteen [...]

Immortal Beloved: Musical Love Letters From the Great Composers

By |2023-02-13T20:23:11-06:00February 13th, 2023|Categories: Audio/Video, Gustav Mahler, Hector Berlioz, Love, Ludwig van Beethoven, Music, Richard Wagner, Stephen M. Klugewicz, Timeless Essays, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart|

Love has inspired countless composers, some of whom have written pieces dedicated to, or directly inspired by, their own beloveds. Here are ten of the best musical love letters ever composed. 1.  Wagner: Siegfried Idyll Though his reputation rests on his big, long, and loud mythological operas, Richard Wagner was also capable of composing on a [...]

Beethoven’s Fourth: The Underrated Symphony

By |2023-02-09T19:14:52-06:00February 9th, 2023|Categories: Audio/Video, Ludwig van Beethoven, Michael De Sapio, Music, Senior Contributors|

Beethoven's Fourth Symphony is radiantly joyful music, filled with sunlight, humor, charm, serenity, and contentment. What is Beethoven trying to say in this work? Let us not get mired in the muck of life; let us remember the Paradise we lost and the Heaven to which we are aspiring. In the canon of Ludwig van [...]

Beethoven and the Spirit of Christmas

By |2023-12-16T09:04:27-06:00December 15th, 2022|Categories: Beethoven 250, Christmas, Ludwig van Beethoven, Music, Timeless Essays|

Every time I hear the music of Beethoven, the spirit of Christmas touches my heart. Because Beethoven is bound up with love, Beethoven is bound up with Christ. During Advent, Christians everywhere are reminded of the great testament of Love becoming incarnate. Beethoven keeps pointing us to that reality. Ludwig van Beethoven was born in [...]

Variations on “God Save the King” and “Rule Britannia”

By |2022-09-15T17:23:22-05:00September 15th, 2022|Categories: Audio/Video, England, Ludwig van Beethoven, Music|

Ludwig van Beethoven's Variations on "God save the King" and Variations on "Rule Britannia" for piano were published in 1803. Pianist Angela Hewitt remarks: Concerning the 7 Variations on ‘God save the King’, WoO78, Beethoven made the comment that he wanted to ‘show the English what a blessing they have’ with that tune.... It makes [...]

The Mighty Nine: Reflections on Beethoven’s Symphonies

By |2022-03-25T15:16:35-05:00March 25th, 2022|Categories: Andrew Balio, Beethoven 250, Joseph Pearce, Ludwig van Beethoven, Mark Malvasi, Michael De Sapio, Music, Stephen M. Klugewicz, Timeless Essays|Tags: , , , |

Please enjoy this symposium on the nine symphonies of Ludwig van Beethoven, with contributions from our distinguished panel, including composer Michael Kurek and Principal Trumpet of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, Andrew Balio. Clicking on the CD cover art next to each symphony will guide you to a listening recommendation on Spotify; at the bottom of [...]

Beethoven: The Price of Genius

By |2021-06-08T22:20:14-05:00December 30th, 2020|Categories: Beethoven 250, Ludwig van Beethoven, Mark Malvasi, Music, Senior Contributors|

Beethoven’s eccentricities only enhanced his reputation. They confirmed the divine madness that propelled his creative genius. He was a martyr to his art, a new kind of saint whose agonies and ecstasies brought him neither peace of mind nor purity of soul, but an admixture of public renown and disrepute. Sculpture by Max Klinger [...]

“Name Day” Overture

By |2020-12-26T12:20:05-06:00December 26th, 2020|Categories: Audio/Video, Beethoven 250, Ludwig van Beethoven, Music|

Zur Namensfeier (English: Feastday or Name day), Op. 115, is a symphonic overture in C major by Ludwig van Beethoven completed in 1815, and first performed on Christmas Day 1815. It is dedicated to Polish prince Antoni Radziwiłł, who is remembered for his patronage of the arts. The piece was never one of Beethoven's more [...]

Music for All Time: Reflections on Beethoven’s Legacy to Us

By |2022-12-20T10:28:46-06:00December 15th, 2020|Categories: Beethoven 250, Ludwig van Beethoven, Mark Malvasi, Michael De Sapio, Music, Paul Krause, Stephen M. Klugewicz|Tags: , |

"This wasn't written for you!" Beethoven once stormed at string players who complained that one of his quartets was impossible to play. "It was meant for a later age!" And so all Beethoven's works are. They are, indeed, music for all time. Please enjoy this symposium on Ludwig van Beethoven, with contributions from our distinguished [...]

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