Category Archives: Classical Music

The vibration of god

A song of suffering

Posted on September 10, 2010 by Michaela

At the same time Beethoven was at the pinnacle of his creative powers, despite his deafness and failing health, another composer faced disease, poverty and death in the imperial city of Vienna: Franz Schubert (b 1797 d 1828) 1823 was … Continue reading →

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The martyr’s crown

Posted on September 8, 2010 by Michaela

Fidelio is Beethoven’s only opera and he wrote it under considerable  difficulties. In a letter he mentioned that this opera will surely win him a “martyr crown”. Beethoven has been such a teacher on this journey. From the windows of … Continue reading →

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A mass for the spirit

Posted on September 7, 2010 by Michaela

A prayer coming out of absolute of stillness The ‘Missa solemnis’ is considered to be one of Beethoven’s most profound creations. Composed only a few years before his death, approximately around the time of the 9th symphony, Beethoven himself considered … Continue reading →

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Enlightened moments

Posted on September 6, 2010 by Michaela

Ready for the masterpiece. Daniel Barenboim rehearsing Beethoven’s 9th symphony.  

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I am lost to the world

Posted on September 3, 2010 by Michaela

During the summers of 1901 and 1902, Gustav Mahler set to music five poems by the German Romantic poet Friedrich Rückert. Mahler identified strongly with the poem, saying that it expressed his very self.

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Immortal Beloved

Posted on August 30, 2010 by Michaela

When he lodged in Heiligenstadt, during the summer of 1802, Beethoven did not only have to come to terms with losing his hearing and related to this, his career as a highly sought after conductor – he also lost the … Continue reading →

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Of Agony and Surrender

Posted on August 29, 2010 by Michaela

The Heiligenstadt Testament When Beethoven was 26 years old  he was already a very successful composer and piano virtuoso.  At this time he began to suffer from buzzing noises and other sounds in his ears, and two years later deafness broke out. In 1802 … Continue reading →

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The Old and the New Testament

Posted on August 27, 2010 by Michaela

Johann Sebastian Bach’s Well-Tempered Clavier is considered the ‘Old Testament’ of the pianist as opposed to the ‘New Testament’ – the 32 piano sonatas of Ludwig van Beethoven. The Well-Tempered Clavier is characterized by a technical and compositional mastery which … Continue reading →

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All good things..

Posted on August 24, 2010 by Michaela

…come by three. The third composition of the summer of 1803 is the “Triple Concerto”. Beethoven may very well have “heard” it, walking through these vinyards… Beethoven’s Triple Concerto by Daniel Barenboim, Itzhak Perlman and Yo-Yo Ma ( Part 2 )

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Late summer

Posted on August 23, 2010 by Michaela

Beethoven wrote another piece in the summer of 1803, while he lodged in the “Eroica House”, only a few blocks from where I live.

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