The City Today, Mödling is the capital of the Austrian district of the same name. It is located approximately 14 km to the South of Vienna. The settlement has history from the New Stone Age and its name has Slavic origin, meaning slowly running water. In Beethoven’s day Mödling was a small market town with some 300 houses. The houses …
Ludwig van Beethoven was not born deaf, but he gradually lost his hearing during the years. Initially, he kept it a secret, he felt shame, but in June 29, 1800, he wrote a letter to his friend Wegeler and reported about his condition for the first time. This letter is the first evidence of his problems, and this document provides …
One day Beethoven was mistaken for a beggar tramp and thrown into jail. How all this happened? This anecdote was told by a certain Höfel, who was a professor in Wiener Neustadt. The story takes place in 1821, late summer or early autumn. One evening he was sitting in the garden of the tavern called Zum Schleifen, with colleagues, friends …
In this article we discover how Rossini met Beethoven, what were his impressions and what did they think about each other and their music. Who was Gioachino Rossini? Gioachino Antonio Rossini, (born February 29, 1792, Pesaro, Italy – died November 13, 1868, Passy, France) was an Italian composer, mostly famous for his operas in the comic genre (opera buffa). …
In our series, after the Schwarzspanierhaus, we cover another important and famous residence of Beethoven, the Pasqualati House. The history of the Pasqualati House Originally, the house was two different buildings and the first written document to list the place is from the 18th century. One building was owned by an imperial captain and engineer, Leander Anguissola. After him, in …
In February 1796 young Beethoven was in Prague. From here, he wrote to his brother about his plan to continue his tour and go to Berlin. This article will cover his stay in Berlin. For Berlin the household name Beethoven was not novel. If not by else, in October 1793 a notice was published in the Berliner Musik-Zeitung, placed by …