No other city has such rich history in music like Vienna does! What was the city like when Beethoven arrived as a young man? How could a musician make a living? Let’s find out! At the end of the 18th century opera was the main attraction in Vienna. After the death of Joseph II. who was a great …
In this article we take a short journey in the history of opera discovering the roots and the development of this art form. Opera in Italy The word opera comes from the Italian phrase opera in musica – work in music. The name represents all the efforts that build up an opera. The text (libretto, booklet), the music itself, …
Apart from Neefe probably it was Georg Albrechtsberger, who was the most influential music teacher in Beethoven’s life. In this article we discover who Albrechtsberger was and his influence on Beethoven. Johann Georg Albrechtsberger (1736-1809) was an Austrian musician, a composer and organist. As a young man he had learned music and philosophy what he later combined in music theory. …
In previous articles we revealed at what age Beethoven started playing keyboard and on what piano brands did he play in his adult life. There was one brand and one piano in particular that he cherished, his beloved Broadwood. In this article we learn about the history of this piano. In his life Beethoven played many piano brands. This shallow …
Beethoven had and played many pianos from different brands. In the background of this shallow brand loyalty there are two main reasons. For once, pianos were not that enduring in those times, and second Beethoven was always in search for a better sounding piano suitable for his brave compositions. Despite being an Italian invention by Beethoven’s time there were three …
Ludwig van Beethoven started playing the keyboard very early, at age 5. His first instructor was his own father, but his most influential early teacher was Christian Gottlob Neefe. At that time piano was not yet fully developed and most probably Beethoven started his pianist life on a harpsichord. Beethoven was born into a musician family. His grandfather (also called …