Release Date: 07 January 2004
Label: Naxos - Nxc / Naxos Classics
Packaging Type: Jewel Case
No of Units: 1
Barcode: 747313578726
Genres: Classical
Composer/Series: BEETHOVEN
Description
Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827)Works for Cello and Piano, Vol. 3Born in Bonn in 1770, Ludwig van Beethoven was theeldest son of a singer in the musical establishment ofthe Archbishop-Elector of Cologne and grandson of theArchbishop's former Kapellmeister, whose name hetook. The household was not a happy one. Beethoven'sfather became increasingly inadequate both as a singerand as a father and husband, with his wife always readyto draw invidious comparisons between him and hisown father. Beethoven, however, was trained as amusician, however erratically, and duly entered theservice of the Archbishop, serving as an organist and asa string-player in the archiepiscopal orchestra. He wasalready winning some distinction in Bonn, when, in1787, he was first sent to Vienna, to study with Mozart.The illness of his mother forced an early return fromthis venture and her subsequent death left him withresponsibility for his younger brothers, in view of hisfather's domestic and professional failures. In 1792Beethoven was sent once more to Vienna, now to studywith Haydn, whom he had met in Bonn.Beethoven's early career in Vienna was helpedvery considerably by the circumstances of his movethere. The Archbishop was a son of the Empress MariaTheresa and there were introductions to leadingmembers of society in the imperial capital. HereBeethoven was able to establish an early position forhimself as a pianist of remarkable ability, coupled witha clear genius in the necessarily related arts ofimprovisation and composition. The onset of deafnessat the turn of the century seemed an irony of Fate. It ledBeethoven gradually away from a career as a virtuosoperformer and into an area of composition where hewas able to make remarkable changes and extensions ofexisting practice. Deafness tended to accentuate hiseccentricities and paranoia, which became extreme astime went on. At the same time it allowed him todevelop his gifts for counterpoint. He continued torevolutionise forms inherited from his predecessors,notably Haydn and Mozart, expanding these almost tobursting-point, and introducing innovation afterinnovation as he grew older. He died in 1827, his deaththe occasion of public mourning in Vienna.Beethoven's first two cello sonatas were written onthe occasion of his visit in 1796 to the Prussian court atPotsdam. He played them there with the cellist Jean-Pierre Duport, teacher of the cello-playing KingFriedrich Wilhelm II, nephew of Frederick the Great.The sonatas were published in 1797 as Opus 5 with adedication to the King. The same period gave rise totwo sets of variations for cello and piano, one on atheme from Handel's Judas Maccabaeus and the otheron a theme from Mozart's opera of 1791, DieZauberflote. These were published in Vienna in 1797and 1798 respectively. The Handel variations werededicated to Princess Lichnowsky. The cello offers anaccompaniment to the theme and the piano continuesalone with the first variation. The second has tripletfiguration in the piano
Tracklisting
Dariia Lytvishko
Baltimore Symphony Orchestra; Marin Alsop
Alice Di Piazza; Basel Sinfonietta; NDR Bigband; Titus Engel
Anna Alas i Jove; Miquel Villalba
David Childs; Black Dyke Band; Nicholas Childs
Glen Wilson
Gabriel Schwabe/Hellen Weiss
Fritz Kreisler
