This Week in Classical Music: December 13, 2021.Beethoven and more.This time last year we were celebrating the 250th anniversary of ’s birth.Or at least we were supposed to, because actual celebrations made about as much of a splash as the 500th anniversary of Columbus’s voyage in 1992 or the 400th anniversary of the first Thanksgiving this year, which is to say not too much.The reason is obvious: Beethoven was a dead white male – not a big surprise, as he was known to be as such for about 200 years – but last year we were in the throes of the EDI and being white, male and dead didn’t fit the image of a person to be celebrated.Especially considering that for some, like the musicologist Philip Ewell, Beethoven was just “above average” and not more (Ewell titled his article “Beethoven Was an Above Average Composer—Let’s Leave It at That”).Europe didn’t fall under the EDI spell to the extent we in the US did, but even there, celebrations were muted by Covid.So today, on the eve of the 251st anniversary of his birth, we want to restate the obvious: Beethoven was one of the greatest composes of classical music and one of the greatest geniuses in the history of modern Western culture.
We have most but not all of Beethoven’s piano sonatas in our library.One that we were missing so far was no. 16, op 31 no. 1.This sonata was written between 1801 and 1802 and is one of the more optimistic (and in parts funny) of Beethoven’s pianos compositions.This is quite incredible considering that during that time Beethoven’s hearing problems had worsened , and he was often depressed.Beethoven had first noticed problems in 1798, and from that time on his hearing had started todecline.Worse still was that the deafness was accompanied by severe tinnitus.It had gotten so bad that in October of 1802 Beethoven wrote a letter to his brothers, which we know as the Heiligenstadt Testament, in which he confessed to contemplating suicide.And at the same time, he wrote this joyful piece.Here it is, brilliantly performed by Stephen Kovacevich.
There are several more anniversaries this week: Zoltan Kodály, a wonderful Hungarian composer and a lifelong friend of another very talented Hungarian, Béla Bartók, was born on December 16th of 1882.Rosalyn Tureck, an American pianist and harpsichordist, an excellent interpreter of the music of Bach, was born in Chicago on December 14th of 1913.And speaking of Chicago, Fritz Reiner, who directed the Chicago Symphony from 1953 to 1962, was born on December 19th of 1888, in Budapest, Hungary.
Beethoven 2021
This Week in Classical Music: December 13, 2021. Beethoven and more. This time last year we were celebrating the 250th anniversary of
’s birth. Or at least we were supposed to, because actual celebrations made about as much of a splash as the 500th anniversary of Columbus’s voyage in 1992 or the 400th anniversary of the first Thanksgiving this year, which is to say not too much. The reason is obvious: Beethoven was a dead white male – not a big surprise, as he was known to be as such for about 200 years – but last year we were in the throes of the EDI and being white, male and dead didn’t fit the image of a person to be celebrated. Especially considering that for some, like the musicologist Philip Ewell, Beethoven was just “above average” and not more (Ewell titled his article “Beethoven Was an Above Average Composer—Let’s Leave It at That”). Europe didn’t fall under the EDI spell to the extent we in the US did, but even there, celebrations were muted by Covid. So today, on the eve of the 251st anniversary of his birth, we want to restate the obvious: Beethoven was one of the greatest composes of classical music and one of the greatest geniuses in the history of modern Western culture.
We have most but not all of Beethoven’s piano sonatas in our library. One that we were missing so far was no. 16, op 31 no. 1. This sonata was written between 1801 and 1802 and is one of the more optimistic (and in parts funny) of Beethoven’s pianos compositions. This is quite incredible considering that during that time Beethoven’s hearing problems had worsened , and he was often depressed. Beethoven had first noticed problems in 1798, and from that time on his hearing had started todecline. Worse still was that the deafness was accompanied by severe tinnitus. It had gotten so bad that in October of 1802 Beethoven wrote a letter to his brothers, which we know as the Heiligenstadt Testament, in which he confessed to contemplating suicide. And at the same time, he wrote this joyful piece. Here it is, brilliantly performed by Stephen Kovacevich.
There are several more anniversaries this week: Zoltan Kodály, a wonderful Hungarian composer and a lifelong friend of another very talented Hungarian, Béla Bartók, was born on December 16th of 1882. Rosalyn Tureck, an American pianist and harpsichordist, an excellent interpreter of the music of Bach, was born in Chicago on December 14th of 1913. And speaking of Chicago, Fritz Reiner, who directed the Chicago Symphony from 1953 to 1962, was born on December 19th of 1888, in Budapest, Hungary.