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A Glance to the Future

Having found his feet in Vienna, Beethoven welcomes his brother to the city and considers settling down, maybe even finding a wife. That might be more challenging than he expects.

Having found his feet in Vienna, Beethoven welcomes his brother to the city and thinks about settling down, maybe even finding a wife. That might be more challenging than he expects.

This week, Donald Macleod鈥檚 focus is on Beethoven鈥檚 first months and years in Vienna, following his move there from his home town of Bonn. The young composer was still in his early twenties, low on cash, and had only a handful of works to his name. He was going to have to work hard to find success in the imperial capital, where audiences had grown up on the music of Mozart and Haydn.

All through 2020, Donald Macleod takes an unprecedented deep dive into the compelling story and extraordinary music of Ludwig van Beethoven. In this uniquely ambitious series, told across 125 episodes of Composer of the Week, Donald puts us inside Beethoven鈥檚 world and explores his hopes, struggles and perseverance in all the colourful detail this amazing narrative deserves. Alongside this in-depth biography, Donald will also be meeting and talking to Beethoven enthusiasts and experts from across the world to discover how his music continues to speak to us in the 21st century. Through story and sound, the series builds into a vivid new portrait of this composer, born 250 years ago this year, who made art that changed how people saw themselves and understood the world.

Piano Sonata No 3 in C, Op 2 No 3 (3rd movement)
Sviatoslav Richter, piano

Piano Sonata No 1, Op 2 No 1 (final movement)
Alexander Slobodyanik, piano

Violin Sonata, Op 30 No 2 (3rd movement)
Jennifer Pike, violin
Daniel Tong, piano

鈥楢delaide鈥, Op 46
Robin Tritschler, tenor
Julius Drake, piano

String Trio Op 3 in E flat major (4th, 5th and 6th movements)
Leopold Trio

Produced by Chris Taylor for 大象传媒 Wales

59 minutes

Music Played

  • Ludwig van Beethoven

    Piano Sonata in C major, Op 2 No 3 (3rd movement)

    Performer: Sviatoslav Richter.
    • 大象传媒 Legends 大象传媒L 4052-2.
    • 大象传媒 Legends.
    • 3.
  • Ludwig van Beethoven

    Piano Sonata in F minor, Op 2 No 1

    Performer: Alexander Slobodyanik.
  • Ludwig van Beethoven

    Violin Sonata in C minor, Op 30 No 2 (3rd movement)

    Performer: Jennifer Pike. Performer: Daniel Tong.
  • Ludwig van Beethoven

    Adelaide Op 46

    Performer: Graham Johnson. Singer: Benjamin Appl.
  • Bruno Giuranna, Anne鈥怱ophie Mutter & Mstislav Rostropovich

    String Trio in E flat, Op 3 (4th, 5th and 6th movements)

    • DG 4276872.
    • DG.
    • 1.

Broadcast

  • Thu 27 Feb 2020 12:00

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