Contents:
Ludwig van Beethoven baptized December 17 , - March 26 , was a classical composer. Many people believe Beethoven was the single greatest composer of all time.
He is undoubtedly one of the best known and most loved. His mother was Magdalena Keverich[? They named their son after his grandfather. Beethoven's musical talent manifested itself early, and his father attempted, unsuccessfully, to exploit the boy as a prodigy. Beethoven moved to Vienna when he was 22, where he studied under Franz Joseph Haydn.
In Vienna he earned a reputation as a piano virtuoso and improvisor, and began publishing his own compositions soon after. By the early s he had established his reputation as a great and daring composer.
Beethoven began to lose his hearing at least by He continued composing nonetheless, and his 9th Symphony, amongst many other works, was composed after he had become totally deaf. The cause of his deafness is not known for certain, but has been attributed to syphilis , lead poisoning[? Musical Style and Innovations Beethoven is viewed as a transitional figure between the Classical and Romantic eras of musical history.
He continued a trend towards larger orchestras that has persisted through the history of classical music.
In his 5th Symphony he introduced a striking motif in the very opening bar, which he echoed in various forms in all four movements of the symphony. He also ran the third movement into the fourth without interruption.
It is known that he completed the last of the group no later than March of the latter year. Sketches from are extant for No.
Gottes Macht und Vorsehung, No. 5 from "Six Songs", Op. 48 - Kindle edition by Ludwig van Beethoven. Download it once and read it on your Kindle device, PC, . Lieder und Gesänge mit Begleitung des Pianoforte, Nr Leipzig: . Majestätisch und erhahen (C major); Gottes Macht und Vorsehung. Mit Kraft und Feuer.
Because there are few key relationships among the songs and no other discernible unifying devices, they are not usually regarded as a cycle but as a series or suite of songs, related only by the religious texts of a single writer. Obviously, the religiously ambivalent composer chose serious subject matter here and, not surprisingly, was generally successful in setting the texts. While Beethoven has never been regarded as highly as Schubert in the realm of lieder--and rightly so--his music in the genre is better than it is usually judged to be.
The first song, "Bitten" Plea , is short and makes an appeal to God to hear the prayers of the poet or singer. The mood of the music here is both fervent and solemn, sounding a worshipful entreaty for God's love and protection. In fact, the first five are comparatively brief compositions, while the sixth is nearly as long as the others together. I love God and yet hates his Brother The tempo is again slow, but the atmosphere is brighter, grander, bringing to mind images the opening words evoke, "Heaven praises the Glory of Eternity; its roar proclaims his name.
The fifth entry here, "Gottes Macht und Vorsehung" God's Power and Providence is similar in character to the last but more animated. To many, both these songs will summon the mood of hymns. As mentioned above, the last of the six, "Busslied" Song of Penance , is the longest in the collection. The text, which begins with the words, "Against You alone I have sinned, and have often done evil before you With moderate tempos, Beethoven builds an impassioned song of both confession and penance, offering a most moving close to sum up the music and text of all half-dozen works.
In fact, the character of "Busslied" presents the one strong piece of evidence to view the six songs as a cycle, owing to its grandeur and textual relationships with the others. In the end, this is an important early effort in the vocal realm by Beethoven. This song collection was dedicated to Count von Browne.
AllMusic relies heavily on JavaScript.