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Difficulty (Explanation)
Other titles of this difficulty
Piano Piece “Lustig und traurig” WoO 54
3 easy
6 Ecossaises WoO 83
4 medium
Bagatelle (Für Elise) a minor WoO 59
3 easy
Piano Sonata G major op. 49,2
3 easy
Adagio sostenuto from: Sonata c sharp minor (Moonlight) op. 27,2
4 medium
9 Piano Variations on "Quant' è più bello" from La Molinara by Paisiello A major WoO 69
5 medium
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About the Composer

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Ludwig van Beethoven

No composer has had as profound and sustained an influence on immediately following generations to the present day as Beethoven. His instrumental music, especially his symphonies, served as touchstones for symphonic composition throughout the nineteenth century. The extraordinarily high standard of his music and his relative independence as a freelance composer have led to his being characterized as the greatest composer of all time.

1770Baptized in Bonn on December 17, thus probably born on December 16, the son of Johann van Beethoven, a tenor in the court chapel of the prince-elector. First musical instruction from his father.
1778First public performance.
around 1780Musical training with the deputy court organist Christian Gottlob Neefe, who in 1783 presented him in Cramer’s “Magazin der Musik” as a second Mozart.
1782Acquaintance with the Breuning family, where his literary interest is aroused. First publication: Piano Variations in C minor on a March by Dressler, WoO 63.
1783Harpsichordist in the court chapel; 1784 assistant to the court organist.
1787Journey to Vienna. Here he very likely meets Mozart, who probably gives him some lessons. After a short while he must return home to his mother, who is ill with tuberculosis.
1792He travels a second time to Vienna, where he will remain until the end of his life. Count von Waldstein sends him on his way with the famous words: “With steady diligence you will receive Mozart’s spirit from Haydn's hands.” In Vienna he studies with Haydn, Albrechtsberger, Schuppanzigh, and Salieri. As a pupil of Joseph Haydn, he achieves extraordinary recognition among the Viennese nobility and receives financial support. Great demand for his compositions from publishing houses: chamber music and piano sonatas from the Bonn and early Viennese years are issued. His first works printed in Vienna (among them the piano sonatas, Op. 2) already bear the hallmark of his compositional style: a forward-advancing, spirited, process-related character.
1796Concert tours to Prague, Berlin, Leipzig, and Dresden, which cement his fame.
1798Piano Sonata in C Minor, “Pathétique,” Op. 13.
1798–1800String quartets, Op. 18.
1799/1800Symphony No. 1 in C major, Op. 21
1795/1800Piano Concerto No. 1 in C major, Op. 15
1800–01Piano sonatas, Op. 27, “quasi una fantasia,” including the Moonlight Sonata, Op. 27 No. 2.
1801Composition of the Symphony No. 2 in D major, Op. 36 (until 1802). Publication of the Piano Concerto No. 2 in B-flat major, Op. 19.
1801/02Crisis brought on by incipient hearing loss, documented in the “Heiligenstadt Testament.” Thereafter he begins, by his own admission, a “New Path” in his compositions, reflected particularly in the piano sonatas, Op. 31 (including the Tempest Sonata); the piano variations, Op. 34 and 35; and the Symphony No. 3 in E-flat major, “Eroica,” Op. 55: they are characterized by enhanced structural development as well as by the use of Baroque techniques and models from other genres.
1803–10/12Frenzy of creativity; these years are dubbed Beethoven’s “heroic period”. Written during this phase are Symphonies Nos. 3 through 8 (Opp. 55, 60, 67, 68, 92, 93); Piano Concerti Nos. 3 through 5 (Opp. 37, 58, 73); the Violin Concerto in D major, Op. 61; the Triple Concerto, Op. 56; string quartets (the Razumovsky quartets, Op. 59; the Harp Quartet in E-flat major, Op. 74; the String Quartet in F minor, “serioso,” Op. 95); piano trios (among them the “Ghost” Trio, Op. 70); piano sonatas (including the Waldstein Sonata in C major, Op. 53; the Appassionata in F minor, Op. 57; and “Les Adieux” in E-flat major, Op. 81a); songs (including “An die Hoffnung,” Op. 32); the Mass in C major (Op. 86); and the opera “Fidelio” (Op. 72, first version 1804/5).
1808/09Beethoven rejects an offer to become the First Kapellmeister at the court in Kassel because his patrons, Archduke Rudolph, Prince Kinsky, and Prince Lobkowitz, provide him with a comparable yearly salary.
1811/12Travels to the spa at Teplitz, where he meets Goethe. In 1812, the letter to the “immortal beloved,” whose identity (Antonie Brentano or Josephine Deym) is still uncertain.
1814Piano Sonata in E minor, Op. 90; third version of the opera “Fidelio.” Extraordinarily successful concert with Symphonies Nos. 7 and 8. Still, financial crisis brought about by currency devaluation and the absence of yearly stipends from Kinsky and Lobkowitz.
1815Death of his brother Caspar Carl and the beginning of the years-long battle for the guardianship of his nephew Karl.
1816Song cycle “An die ferne Geliebte,” Op. 98; Piano Sonata in A major, Op. 101.
1817–18Hammerklavier Sonata in B-flat major, Op. 106.
1818Beethoven begins keeping conversation books due to increasing hearing loss.
1819–23Missa solemnis, Op. 123.
1819/23Diabelli Variations, Op. 120.
1820 Piano Sonata in E major, Op. 109, marks the beginning of his glorious late period, which is characterized by exceeding the boundaries of forms, by extreme pitch registers, advanced harmonies, and an increased penchant for contrapuntal forms such as fugue; standing in opposition to the propensity for esotericism in his chamber music is the monumentality of Symphony No. 9.
1821/22Piano Sonatas in A-flat major, Op. 110 (with fugue in the final movement), and C minor, Op. 111 (reduction to two movements).
1822–26String quartets, Opp. 127, 130, 131, 132, 135, as well as the Grosse Fuge, Op. 133, which originally formed the final movement of Op. 130.
1823/24Completion of the Symphony No. 9 in D minor, Op. 125, which for the first time in the history of the genre includes voice parts (Schiller’s “Ode to Joy”). It will become the most famous and most frequently played symphony of all time.
1827Death in Vienna on March 26.

© 2003, 2010 Philipp Reclam jun. GmbH & Co. KG, Stuttgart

About the Authors

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Sylvia Hewig-Tröscher (Editor, Fingering)

Sylvia Hewig-Tröscher studied piano at the Hochschule für Musik in Munich under Erik Then-Bergh and Hermann Reutter, as well as under Louis Hiltbrand at the Conservatoire de Musique in Geneva. 1977 she finished the „ Classe de Virtuosité“ in Geneva with the Premier Prix avec distinction and received the Henry Broliet prize as well as being awarded the GEDOK prize. Also organ studies under Lionel Rogg finishing with the „Diplome d’Orgue“. Masterclasses with George Halmos, Klaus Schilde, Karl Seemann and Wilhelm Kempff, followed, as well as with the cembalo player Li StadelmannIn. 1977 the piano trio Orfeo was established.

Since then, as a solo pianist and chamber musician, her concert activities have led her to Germany, Switzerland, France, Italy, Austria, America, Egypt, India, Korea, and Japan. The list of recordings includes Bayerischer Rundfunk and Südwestfunk Freiburg, Baden-Baden, record and CD recordings of (among others) seldom played works of the classical and romantic periods with Musica Bavarica. Further CD recordings including modern music and first performances with Calig, Symicon, Bayer Records, Arts Magnamedia, and Sony, also co-production of the Bayreischer Rundfunk and Deutscher Musikrat.

Masterclasses in Villa Marteau, Marktoberdorf, Hammelburg, Brixen, Castelnuovo di Garfagnana and New York. Today Sylvia Hewig-Tröscher works as a professor of piano and vice president of the Hochschule für Musik and Theater Munich.

Die Texte Hewig-Tröschers sind leicht lesbar, allgemein verständlich und in ihren praktischen Empfehlungen problemlos umzusetzen, etwa wenn sie mit wenigen Worten Empfehlungen gibt, wie eine Oberstimme bei Mehrstimmigkeit in einer Hand hervorgehoben werden kann. Auch der Klavierpädagoge liest die Anmerkungen der Herausgeberin durchaus mit Gewinn für den eigenen Unterricht.

Üben & Musizieren, 2016

De serie houdt rekening met verschillende spelniveaus (...), uithoudingsvermogen (...) en wil twijfelaars niet afschrikken door een te groot gewicht van een volume (...) of een te druk tekstbeeld. Ook aan de portemonnee van de doelgroep is gedacht, want de serie is aantrekkelijk geprijsd. Kortom, alle voorwaarden zijn aanwezig, alle mogelijke duwtjes in de rug gegeven, nu is het de beurt aan de pianist zelf. Er is geen uitstel meer mogelijk.

Piano Bulletin, 2015

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