When Bach plays, even God is listening! That was the saying among the lucky ones who had the privilege to hear Bach playing. Many decades later there was a composer who was listening still and listening very carefully. In this article we explore how Bach influenced Beethoven and his musical development and eventually his style. Strangely enough in Beethoven’s time …
As we continue our studies on friends and influencers in Beethoven’s life, we focus this time on the kind and noble Lichnowsky-family, in Vienna. One of Beethoven’s earliest Vienna friends was Prince Lichnowsky and his family. The Prince was a noble man, a gentleman and not least a music lover. He was the pupil of non-other than Mozart himself! Both …
Antonio Salieri was a very, very talented musician and composer! It was his bad luck that he was living in the same period and in the same city as Haydn, Mozart or Beethoven. History was not kind to him and designated Salieri to be in the shadow of these Masters. This article will uncover how Salieri influenced Beethoven. As we …
We all know the stories how Haydn and Mozart influenced Beethoven’s composing and taste, but before Vienna, he was a teenager in Bonn with some very important influencers in his life. This article will discover who these people were and how they formed this genius in his youth. No man is an island! – the saying goes. Parents influence is …
Turkish style music has a long and rich history in Europe. Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Rossini just to name a few, who composed music with so called Turkish sections. What is Turkish in classical music and how it became so popular? While it is impossible to track back its first appearance in the European continent, a formal, first major event should …
After the piano we continue our studies on musical instruments. Next in line is the violin. This popular, sensitive and wonderfully singing instrument is fundamentally important in the history of music. Great-great-grandfather of any violin is the lira. The lira is a pearl shaped bowed instrument with three or five strings. This device is still alive and kicking, as in …