Beethoven in 1803

Ludwig van Beethoven was possibly born on 16 December 1770, certainly baptised on 17 December, worthy to be celebrated any day.

Lifetime[edit]

• ... that the Redoute in Bad Godesberg, which opened in 1792 when Beethoven played in the orchestra, was used for receptions of the President of Germany? (28 Aug 2019)
• ... that singer Elise Barensfeld is a possible dedicatee of Ludwig van Beethoven's Für Elise? (23 Sep 2018)
• ... that violinst Ignaz Schuppanzigh founded the Schuppanzigh Quartet, which played the premieres of several string quartets by Ludwig van Beethoven? (17 April 2014)
• ... that Beethoven improvised for an hour on piano to comfort Dorothea von Ertmann, his student and possible Immortal Beloved, over the death of her son? (8 May 2013)
• ... that when Nikolaus Simrock (pictured) founded music publisher N. Simrock in 1793, his earliest publications included piano variations by his friend Beethoven, a former orchestra colleague in Bonn? (7 May 2012)

• ... that Beethoven composed two symphonies during the eight years he lived in the Pasqualati House (pictured) in Vienna? (14 Mar 2019)
• ... that Ludwig van Beethoven once directed a four-hour concert that featured the public premières of his Symphony No. 5, Symphony No. 6, Piano Concerto No. 4 and Choral Fantasy? (15 Jun 2015)
• ... that soprano Josepha Duschek, who premiered Ah! perfido, advertised it as "an Italian scena written by Beethoven for Mad. Duschek"? (7 June 2014)
• ... that Beethoven's only opera, Fidelio, was a failure in its original form, but was revised partly at the behest of Carl Weinmüller, who then appeared in the premiere in the bass role of Rocco? (12 Dec 2019)
• ... that tenor Carl Demmer was possibly Beethoven's first Florestan at the Vienna Court Opera, but failed to please the composer? (2 Jan 2020)

Compositions[edit]

Beethoven at age 13

• ... that Ernst Christoph Dressler, an 18th-century operatic tenor, violinist, composer, and music theorist, composed a march on which Beethoven based his earliest published work? (23 June 2019)
• ... that Beethoven (pictured) composed three Piano Quartets at age 15, which were published only after his death? (1 Jul 2018)
• ... that Christian Schreiber, a church administrator, philosopher and poet, wrote a German version of the Latin Mass for the publication, alongside the original, of Beethoven's Mass in C major?
• ... that Ludwig van Beethoven dedicated his second piano sonata quasi una fantasia, widely known as the Moonlight Sonata, to his pupil, Countess Giulietta Guicciardi? (8 Mar 2020)
• ... that "Die Himmel rühmen!" ('The heavens praise'), which begins an 1803 lieder collection by Beethoven setting Gellert's paraphrase of Psalm 19 to music, is also the title of a concert series by pop singer Heino? (2 Feb 2020)
• ... that Prince Nikolaus Esterházy, who commissioned Beethoven's Mass in C major for his wife's name day, found it "unbearably ridiculous and detestable"? (17 Jul 2015)

Beethoven c. 1805

• ... that Beethoven's Third Cello Sonata, first performed in 1809, has been described as the first sonata for piano and cello to treat the instruments as equal partners? (16 Dec 2020)
• ... that the finale of Beethoven's Piano Sonata No. 31 sees a gradual "return to life" and ends with a "passionate" and "heroic" coda? (23 Aug 2021)

Performers[edit]

• ... that Marie Lehmann, one of the Rhinemaidens (pictured) at the first Bayreuth Festival in 1876, sang the soprano solo in Beethoven's Ninth Symphony for the groundbreaking of the Bayreuth Festival Theatre?
• ... that soprano Irma Beilke appeared as Marzelline in Beethoven's Fidelio on 4 September 1945 in the first opera performance in Berlin after World War II? (22 Dec 2019)
• ... that the soprano Margot Guilleaume recorded the part of Marzelline in Beethoven's Fidelio in a complete live recording without dialogue in 1948? (27 May 2017)
• ... that Willi Brokmeier, who participated in the world premiere of Die Soldaten at the Cologne Opera, appeared as Beethoven's Jaquino on a tour to Japan? (22 Sep 2021)
• ... that Heinz Imdahl, a baritone at the Bavarian State Opera, appeared as Beethoven's Pizarro at the Teatro dell'Opera di Roma and as Wagner's Hans Sachs at the Philadelphia Opera? (24 Apr 2020)
• ... that Joseph Merk, principal cellist at the Vienna Court Opera, helped to bring Beethoven's Triple Concerto out of obscurity? (12 Mar 2013)
• ... that when Johannes Chum, a tenor in operatic roles from Nerone to Lohengrin, performed in Harnoncourt's recording of Beethoven's Missa solemnis, a reviewer described his singing as "seraphic"?
• ... that the NDR Chor performed in Beethoven's Ninth Symphony for the opening of the Elbphilharmonie? (28 Apr 2017)
• ... that Wiebke Lehmkuhl was the alto soloist in Beethoven's Ninth Symphony at the 2017 opening of the Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg? (19 Oct 2020)

• ... that Carsten Koch conducted all Beethoven symphonies at the historic Unionskirche, and shared Bach's Christmas Oratorio there in an ecumenical project (performance pictured)? (13 Aug 2018)
• ... that the Philharmonia Quartet Berlin, formed by principal players of the Berlin Philharmonic, celebrated its 30th anniversary with a recording of all of Beethoven's string quartets? (23 Oct 2020)
• ... that pianist Katharina Sellheim and two other women played piano trios by Beethoven, Waterhouse, and Mendelssohn at the Beethovenfest? (10 Mar 2018)
• ... that a reviewer from The Guardian noted after a concert at The Proms that Jonathon Heyward led Beethoven's Third Symphony "from memory – a fast and fearless performance"? (24 Nov 2021)

Legacy[edit]

Bust of Beethoven by Franz Klein

• ... that the first of many monuments to Ludwig van Beethoven is a bust (pictured) created in 1812 by Franz Klein during the composer's lifetime?
• ... that when the Beethoven Orchester Bonn was founded as a professional orchestra in Beethoven's hometown in 1907, Richard Strauss conducted his own works? (25 Mar 2017)
• ... that Gustav Classens, music director in Bonn from 1933, performed Beethoven's Choral Fantasy, Missa solemnis, and Ninth Symphony during his first two seasons, offering the Ninth in both?
• ... that Nike Wagner removed Beethoven's Ninth Symphony from the program of the festival Beethovenfest? (4 Nov 2016)
• ... that Artur Schnabel's recordings of Beethoven's piano sonatas were the first complete recordings ever made of all of the composer's 32 piano sonatas? (21 Mar 2019)
• ... that Hermann Deiters translated Alexander Wheelock Thayer's Life of Beethoven and published it in German before it appeared in English? (24 Sep 2020)
• ... that the fragments of Beethoven's music in the soundtrack of Kagel's film Ludwig van are modified to imitate the way the deaf composer heard his own work? (8 Aug 2012)
• ... that Peanuts Gallery, a 1997 piano concerto by Ellen Taaffe Zwilich, portrays Peanuts characters in movements such as "Schroeder's Beethoven Fantasy" and "Snoopy Does the Samba"? (18 Sep 2020)