All Beethoven

Ludwig Van Beethoven Coriolan Overture
Ludwig Van Beethoven Piano Concerto No. 3
Ludwig Van Beethoven Symphony No. 6 "Pastoral"

Coriolan Overture, Op. 62
– Ludwig van Beethoven
Born December 16, 1770 in Bonn; Germany
Died March 26, 1827 in Vienna, Austria

Ludwig van Beethoven’s interest in heroic subjects is no mystery to those familiar with his background. Born in Bonn, a city near Germany’s westernmost border, the young man met many refugees of the French Revolution as they passed through his city. Not yet nineteen years of age when the Revolution began in 1789, he allowed his youthful idealism to embrace the philosophy of their rallying cry – “Liberty, Equality, and Fraternity!” These are the themes that flowed through his music for the rest of his life.

Beethoven’s friend Heinrich Joachim von Collin, a secretary to Vienna’s Imperial Court, reflected this sentiment in his 1802 play Coriolanus. In the drama, Coriolanus achieves a decisive military victory and returns home to become a tyrannical ruler of Rome who is ultimately killed for his actions. To Beethoven, the parallel between Coriolanus and Napoleon was irresistible. Although Beethoven’s 1807 Coriolan Overture was not written for a performance of the play, the music follows the story quite closely. It is, in effect, a musical paraphrase of Collin’s play.

Among the most concise and dramatic of the composer’s works, the Overture begins with alternating sustained octaves and dramatic chords. An undulating and unsettled motif is heard in the strings, never quite growing into a full-scale theme, but perfectly capturing the storminess of the drama. Even the lyrical second theme is anxious in character, largely because of the syncopated cello pattern in the accompaniment. Beethoven maintains the unrest by the use of repeated rhythms (short-long, in this case), much as he did in the Fifth Symphony. Of particular interest is the depiction of Coriolanus’ death as the work ends with a whisper.


Concerto No. 3 in C Minor for Piano and Orchestra, Op. 37
– Ludwig van Beethoven
Born December 16, 1770 in Bonn; Germany
Died March 26, 1827 in Vienna, Austria
When Ludwig van Beethoven left his hometown of Bonn and relocated to the famed musical capital of Vienna in 1792, his entire reputation was at stake. Bonn’s biggest musical fish suddenly found himself engulfed by the sprawling ocean of Vienna. Beethoven felt immense pressure to prove himself if he was ever to become recognized in a town so full of musicians. It seemed natural that his pianistic virtuosity, the most visible of his talents, should be his ticket to success. So it was as a pianist that Beethoven made his first inroads into Viennese society by playing in the homes of aristocrats and at public concerts, often as benefit performances for musical or political causes. It was against this background that the five piano concertos of Beethoven arose as showcases for his skills as pianist and composer.

Ludwig van Beethoven considered his Third Concerto to be one of his finest works. Unlike the first two concerti, this work shows little influence of Haydn and Mozart, but is written in Beethoven’s full-fledged “Heroic” style. Although the first movement is in a Classical sonata form, the contents are blustery and filled with the angst that became Beethoven’s trademark. The soloist does not simply repeat and develop the themes introduced by the orchestra but, instead, reflects upon them with a sense of deep wisdom.

The second movement is a pensive largo, beginning with the piano solo. A cadenza connects to the final movement. A bright and spirited rondo, the third movement is a delightful culmination of Beethoven’s craftsmanship. The first theme, in alla turca style, is first played by the piano and returns, in typical rondo fashion, between contrasting sections.


Symphony No. 6 in F Major, Op. 86, "Pastoral"
– Ludwig van Beethoven
Born December 16, 1770 in Bonn, Germany
Died March 26, 1827 in Vienna, Austria

The town of Heiligenstadt, now a Vienna suburb, was a small country village in Beethoven's day. It was here that he escaped a life of publishing deadlines and the many visitors who distracted him from composition. Beethoven returned to Heiligenstadt quite often, including the summers of 1807 and 1808, when he completed the Fifth and Sixth Symphonies. His happiest moments were spent reveling in the rural locale. Some of this undoubtedly found its way into the Pastoral Symphony – a work in five movements, each of which depicts a scene in the country.

The Pastoral Symphony opens with a movement entitled “Awakening of cheerful feelings on arriving in the country,” conspicuously lacking the propulsion and storminess that characterize most of Beethoven's first movements. "Scene at the Brook" is remarkable in its woodwind quotations of cuckoo, quail, and nightingale calls, while rippling string figurations depict the flowing brook. The final three movements are played without pause. "Merry Gathering of Country Folk" portrays a rustic festival in which the folk dancing becomes increasingly frenzied. Eventually it is interrupted by a “Thunderstorm” as the next movement begins, with timpani providing the thunder and the orchestra portraying blustery wind and lightning strikes. As the weather clears, Beethoven’s finale begins with the translucent sound of the clarinet. “Shepherd's Song, Happy and Thankful Feelings after the Storm” builds gradually as Beethoven's hymn to the simple beauty of rural life comes to a poignant conclusion.

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