They say you should never meet your hero in person. Ignaz Moscheles did and still remained a fan. How did it happen? Who was Ignaz Moscheles? Isaac Ignaz Moscheles (23 May 1794– 10 March 1870) was a composer and piano virtuoso from Bohemia. He was born in Prague into a German speaking Jewish family. His father was a merchant, …
Beethoven was blessed to have many excellent teachers and mentors, but nobody was so influential in his life than Christian Neefe. Who was Christian Gottlob Neefe? Christian Gottlob Neefe (5 February 1748 – 28 January 1798) was a German musician and composer, who also was a writer. Neefe was born in Chemnitz, Saxony, into a poor family. His musical talent …
Beethoven composed his piano trios with the same dedication as he did his string quartets. Many consider them equal to the string masterpieces. This article will summarize the most important aspects of these works. Piano trio is group music, a form of chamber music, with piano and two other instruments, most often violin and cello. Piano trios are usually written …
What is scherzo? It is an Italian word, meaning joke (scherzo /ˈskɛərtsoʊ/, plural scherzos or scherzi). In music execution it can mean a certain way of playing a piece. If in a musical notation scherzando is written by the composer, it means that the music should be played in a playful manner. The other meaning is to describe a complete …
Beethoven was talented, but talent alone was not enough to win the heart of Vienna. He was blessed with dedicated patrons and one of them was Baron van Swieten. Who was Gottfried van Swieten? He was born as Godefridus Bernardus “Godfried” van Swieten (29 October 1733 Leiden – 29 March 1803 Vienna) in Leiden, the Dutch Republic. The family lived …
Who was Franz Clement? Franz Joseph Clement (November 17, 1780 Vienna – November 3, 1842 Vienna) was an Austrian violinist and composer, director and concertmaster of the Theater an der Wien. Young Franz played the violin since the age of four. His main teacher was his father who was a butler for a nobleman and a member of his house …