Ludwig van Beethoven

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Biography

Born: 1770, Germany   Died: 1827, Austria   Period: Classical, Romantic
The events of Beethoven's life are the stuff of Romantic legend, evoking images of the solitary creator shaking his fist at Fate and finally overcoming it through a supreme effort of creative will. Born in the small German city of Bonn on or around December 16, 1770, he received his early training from his father and other local musicians. As a teenager, he earned some money as an assistant to his teacher, Christian Gottlob Neefe, then was Read more granted half of his father's salary as court musician from the Electorate of Cologne in order to care for his two younger brothers as his father gave in to alcoholism. Beethoven played viola in various orchestras, becoming friends with other players such as Antoine Reicha, Nikolaus Simrock, and Franz Ries, and began taking on composition commissions. As a member of the court chapel orchestra, he was able to travel some and meet members of the nobility, one of whom, Count Ferdinand Waldstein, would become a great friend and patron to him. Beethoven moved to Vienna in 1792 to study with Haydn; despite the prickliness of their relationship, Haydn's concise humor helped form Beethoven's style. His subsequent teachers in composition were Johann Georg Albrechtsberger and Antonio Salieri. In 1794, he began his career in earnest as a pianist and composer, taking advantage whenever he could of the patronage of others. Around 1800, Beethoven began to notice his gradually encroaching deafness. His growing despondency only intensified his antisocial tendencies. However, the Symphony No. 3, "Eroica," of 1803 began a sustained period of groundbreaking creative triumph. In later years, Beethoven was plagued by personal difficulties, including a series of failed romances and a nasty custody battle over a nephew, Karl. Yet after a long period of comparative compositional inactivity lasting from about 1811 to 1817, his creative imagination triumphed once again over his troubles. Beethoven's late works, especially the last five of his 16 string quartets and the last four of his 32 piano sonatas, have an ecstatic quality in which many have found a mystical significance. Beethoven died in Vienna on March 26, 1827.
Beethoven's epochal career is often divided into early, middle, and late periods, represented, respectively, by works based on Classic-period models, by revolutionary pieces that expanded the vocabulary of music, and by compositions written in a unique, highly personal musical language incorporating elements of contrapuntal and variation writing while approaching large-scale forms with complete freedom. Though certainly subject to debate, these divisions point to the immense depth and multifariousness of Beethoven's creative personality. Beethoven profoundly transformed every genre he touched, and the music of the nineteenth century seems to grow from his compositions as if from a chrysalis. A formidable pianist, he moved the piano sonata from the drawing room to the concert hall with such ambitious and virtuosic middle-period works as the "Waldstein" (No. 21) and "Appassionata" (No. 23) sonatas. His song cycle An die ferne Geliebte of 1816 set the pattern for similar cycles by all the Romantic song composers, from Schubert to Wolf. The Romantic tradition of descriptive or "program" music began with Beethoven's "Pastoral" Symphony No. 6. Even in the second half of the nineteenth century, Beethoven still directly inspired both conservatives (such as Brahms, who, like Beethoven, fundamentally stayed within the confines of Classical form) and radicals (such as Wagner, who viewed the Ninth Symphony as a harbinger of his own vision of a total art work, integrating vocal and instrumental music with the other arts). In many ways revolutionary, Beethoven's music remains universally appealing because of its characteristic humanism and dramatic power. Read less

Featured Ludwig van Beethoven CDs & DVDs:

Beethoven: Symphony No. 5; Schubert: Symphony No. 8 / Maazel, Vienna Philharmonic
Beethoven: Symphony No. 5; Schubert: Symphony No. 8 / Maazel, Vienna Philharmonic
Release Date: 08/28/2015   Label: Sony  
Catalog: 88697712982   Number of Discs: 1
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Beethoven: Symphonies Nos. 4 & 7 / Blunier, Beethoven Orchester Bonn
Beethoven: Symphonies Nos. 4 & 7 / Blunier, Beethoven Orchester Bonn
Release Date: 04/07/2017   Label: Md&g (Dabringhaus & Grimm)  
Catalog: 9371995-6   Number of Discs: 1
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Beethoven: Symphonies Nos. 1 & 5 / Blunier, Beethoven Orchester Bonn
Beethoven: Symphonies Nos. 1 & 5 / Blunier, Beethoven Orchester Bonn
Release Date: 03/12/2013   Label: Md&g (Dabringhaus & Grimm)  
Catalog: 9371756   Number of Discs: 1
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Beethoven: Symphony No. 9 / Blunier, Beethoven Orchester Bonn
Beethoven: Symphony No. 9 / Blunier, Beethoven Orchester Bonn
Release Date: 07/08/2016   Label: Md&g (Dabringhaus & Grimm)  
Catalog: 9371899   Number of Discs: 1
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Beethoven: Symphony No. 3
Beethoven: Symphony No. 3 "Eroica" & Overtures / Blunier, Beethoven Orchester Bonn
Release Date: 11/04/2016   Label: Md&g (Dabringhaus & Grimm)  
Catalog: 9371966   Number of Discs: 1
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Work: Sonata Appassionata

Browse 26-50 of 249 Available Recordings
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  • 26.
    Beethoven: Piano Sonatas, Vol. 3 / Buchbinder [Blu-ray]
    Beethoven: Piano Sonatas, Vol. 3 / Buchbinder [Blu-ray]
    Label: C Major   Catalog: 734604 Release Date: 04/29/2016   Number of Discs: 1
    Composer:  Ludwig van Beethoven
    Performer:  Rudolf Buchbinder
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  • 27.
    Great Moments at Carnegie Hall
    Great Moments at Carnegie Hall
    Label: Sony   Catalog: 503227 Release Date: 04/29/2016   Number of Discs: 43
    Composer:  Ludwig van Beethoven,  Roy Harris,  Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky,  Christoph W. Gluck  ... 
    Performer:  Vladimir Horowitz,  Jussi Björling,  Frederick Schauwecker,  Van Cliburn  ... 
    Conductor:  Arturo Toscanini,  Serge Koussevitzky,  Bruno Walter,  Leonard Bernstein  ... 
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  • 28.
    Sergio Fiorentino: Early Recordings (1953-1966)
    Sergio Fiorentino: Early Recordings (1953-1966)
    Label: Piano Classics   Catalog: 104 Release Date: 04/29/2016   Number of Discs: 10
    Composer:  Ludwig van Beethoven,  Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart,  Frédéric Chopin,  Johann Sebastian Bach  ... 
    Performer:  Sergio Fiorentino
    CD: $48.99
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  • 29.
    The Originals: 8 Legendary Albums
    The Originals: 8 Legendary Albums
    Label: Dg Deutsche Grammophon   Catalog: 002469802 Release Date: 04/08/2016   Number of Discs: 8
    Composer:  Ludwig van Beethoven,  Frédéric Chopin,  Franz Liszt,  Antonín Dvorák  ... 
    Performer:  Wilhelm Kempff,  Martha Argerich,  Mstislav Rostropovich,  Anne-Sophie Mutter  ... 
    Conductor:  Carlos Kleiber,  Claudio Abbado,  Rafael Kubelik,  Herbert von Karajan  ... 
    Orchestra/Ensemble:  Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra,  London Symphony Orchestra,  Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra  ... 
    CD: $27.49
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  • 30.
    Apassionato: Beethoven / Donka Angatschewa
    Apassionato: Beethoven / Donka Angatschewa
    Label: Ars Produktion   Catalog: 38200 Release Date: 03/25/2016   Number of Discs: 1
    Composer:  Ludwig van Beethoven
    Performer:  Donka Angatschewa
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  • 31.
    Deutsche Grammophon: The Mono Era (1948-1957)
    Deutsche Grammophon: The Mono Era (1948-1957)
    Label: Deutsche Grammophon   Catalog: 002457272 Release Date: 03/18/2016   Number of Discs: 51
    Composer:  Franz Schubert,  Dmitri Shostakovich,  Frédéric Chopin,  Johannes Brahms  ... 
    Performer:  Stefan Askenase,  Shura Cherkassky,  Halina Czerny-Stefanska,  Basile Bolotine  ... 
    Conductor:  Karel Ancerl,  Karl Böhm,  Serge Jaroff,  Leopold Ludwig  ... 
    Orchestra/Ensemble:  Amadeus Quartet,  Czech Philharmonic Orchestra,  Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra  ... 
    CD: $145.99
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  • 32.
    Alfred Brendel: Complete Philips Recordings
    Alfred Brendel: Complete Philips Recordings
    Label: Decca   Catalog: 002434302 Release Date: 01/29/2016   Number of Discs: 114
    Composer:  Johann Sebastian Bach,  Franz Joseph Haydn,  Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart,  Ludwig van Beethoven  ... 
    Performer:  Alfred Brendel,  Imogen Cooper,  Sylvia McNair,  Eduard Brunner  ... 
    Conductor:  Sir Neville Marriner,  Sir Charles Mackerras,  Bernard Haitink,  Simon Rattle  ... 
    Orchestra/Ensemble:  Academy of St. Martin in the Fields,  Scottish Chamber Orchestra,  London Philharmonic Orchestra  ... 
    CD: $308.99
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  • 33.
    Emil Gilels - The Complete Recordings on Deutsche Grammophon
    Emil Gilels - The Complete Recordings on Deutsche Grammophon
    Label: Dg Deutsche Grammophon   Catalog: 002436502 Release Date: 01/08/2016   Number of Discs: 24
    Composer:  Ludwig van Beethoven,  Johannes Brahms,  Edvard Grieg,  Frédéric Chopin  ... 
    Performer:  Emil Gilels,  Norbert Brainin,  Peter Schidlof,  Martin Lovett  ... 
    Conductor:  Eugen Jochum,  Karl Böhm,  Dmitri Kabalevsky
    Orchestra/Ensemble:  Amadeus String Quartet members,  Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra,  Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra  ... 
    CD: $76.99
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  • 34.
    111: The Collector's Editions [111 CDs]
    111: The Collector's Editions [111 CDs]
    Label: Dg Deutsche Grammophon   Catalog: 002422702 Release Date: 12/11/2015   Number of Discs: 111
    Composer:  Johannes Brahms,  Ludwig van Beethoven,  Maurice Ravel,  Felix Mendelssohn  ... 
    Performer:  David Oistrakh,  Igor Oistrakh,  Sviatoslav Richter,  Martha Argerich  ... 
    Conductor:  Claudio Abbado,  Daniel Barenboim,  Lorin Maazel,  Franz Konwitschny  ... 
    Orchestra/Ensemble:  Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra,  Amadeus Quartet,  Paris Orchestra  ... 
    CD: $325.49
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  • 35.
    The Florilegium Series - Classical & Early Romantic
    The Florilegium Series - Classical & Early Romantic
    Label: L'oiseau Lyre   Catalog: 002386502 Release Date: 10/15/2015   Number of Discs: 50
    Composer:  Johann Wenzel Stamitz,  Luigi Boccherini,  Franz Joseph Haydn,  Domenico Cimarosa  ... 
    Performer:  Alan Hacker,  Anthony Rolfe Johnson,  Emma Kirkby,  Michael George  ... 
    Conductor:  Christopher Hogwood,  Simon Preston,  Alan Hacker,  Arnold Östman
    Orchestra/Ensemble:  Academy of Ancient Music,  The Music Party,  Oxford New College Choir  ... 
    CD: $148.49
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  • 36.
    Beethoven: Piano Sonatas
    Beethoven: Piano Sonatas "Apassionata", "Moonlight", "Waldstein" / Horowitz
    Label: Sony   Catalog: 88697704492 Release Date: 10/09/2015   Number of Discs: 1
    Composer:  Ludwig van Beethoven
    Performer:  Vladimir Horowitz
    CD: $6.99
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  • 37.
    Beethoven: Diabelli Variations; Sonata
    Beethoven: Diabelli Variations; Sonata "appassionata" / Nick Van Bloss
    Label: Nimbus   Catalog: 6276 Release Date: 06/09/2015   Number of Discs: 1
    Composer:  Ludwig van Beethoven
    Performer:  Nick Van Bloss
    CD: $18.99
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  • 38.
    Beethoven: Eroica / Konstantin Scherbako
    Beethoven: Eroica / Konstantin Scherbako
    Label: Twopianists (Label)   Catalog: 1039190 Release Date: 06/09/2015   Number of Discs: 1
    Composer:  Ludwig van Beethoven
    Performer:  Konstantin Scherbakov
    CD: $17.99
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  • 39.
    Claudio Arrau Plays Beethoven: Sonata No. 23, Schumann: Fantasia, Liszt: Gnomenreigen
    Claudio Arrau Plays Beethoven: Sonata No. 23, Schumann: Fantasia, Liszt: Gnomenreigen
    Label: Idi   Catalog: 6695 Release Date: 05/12/2015   Number of Discs: 1
    Composer:  Ludwig van Beethoven,  Robert Schumann,  Franz Liszt
    Performer:  Claudio Arrau
    CD: $14.99
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  • 40.
    111 - The Piano - Legendary Recordings
    111 - The Piano - Legendary Recordings
    Label: Deutsche Grammophon   Catalog: 002281002 Release Date: 04/21/2015   Number of Discs: 40
    Composer:  Johann Sebastian Bach,  Robert Schumann,  Frédéric Chopin,  Johannes Brahms  ... 
    Performer:  Pierre-Laurent Aimard,  Géza Anda,  Martha Argerich,  Daniel Barenboim  ... 
    CD: $168.99
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  • 41.
    Sviatoslav Richter: The Complete Album Collection
    Sviatoslav Richter: The Complete Album Collection
    Label: Sony   Catalog: 301470 Release Date: 04/14/2015   Number of Discs: 18
    Composer:  Johannes Brahms,  Ludwig van Beethoven,  Franz Schubert,  Robert Schumann  ... 
    Performer:  Sviatoslav Richter,  Robert La Marchina
    Conductor:  Erich Leinsdorf,  Christoph Eschenbach
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  • 42.
    Beethoven: Piano Sonatas Opp. 10, 53 'Waldstein', 54 & 57 'Appassionata'
    Beethoven: Piano Sonatas Opp. 10, 53 'Waldstein', 54 & 57 'Appassionata'
    Label: Ondine   Catalog: 1268 Release Date: 03/10/2015   Number of Discs: 2
    Composer:  Ludwig van Beethoven
    Performer:  Paavali Jumppanen
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  • 43.
    Beethoven: Complete Piano Sonatas / Maurizio Pollini
    Beethoven: Complete Piano Sonatas / Maurizio Pollini
    Label: Deutsche Grammophon   Catalog: 002235002 Release Date: 02/24/2015   Number of Discs: 8
    Composer:  Ludwig van Beethoven
    Performer:  Maurizio Pollini
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  • 44.
    Beethoven: The 32 Piano Sonatas / Daniel-ben Pienaar
    Beethoven: The 32 Piano Sonatas / Daniel-ben Pienaar
    Label: Avie   Catalog: 2320 Release Date: 02/10/2015   Number of Discs: 10
    Composer:  Ludwig van Beethoven
    Performer:  Daniel-Ben Pienaar
    CD: $74.49
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  • 45.
    Beethoven: Piano Sonatas No 13, 14, 23 & 25 / Radoslav Kvapil
    Beethoven: Piano Sonatas No 13, 14, 23 & 25 / Radoslav Kvapil
    Label: Musical Concepts   Catalog: 152 Release Date: 01/20/2015   Number of Discs: 1
    Composer:  Ludwig van Beethoven
    Performer:  Radoslav Kvapil
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  • 46.
    Walter Gieseking Plays All Piano Sonatas By Beethoven, Vol. 2, No. 16-32 (Less No. 22)
    Walter Gieseking Plays All Piano Sonatas By Beethoven, Vol. 2, No. 16-32 (Less No. 22)
    Label: Andromeda   Catalog: 9124 Release Date: 01/13/2015   Number of Discs: 4
    Composer:  Ludwig van Beethoven
    Performer:  Walter Gieseking
    CD: $14.99
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  • 47.
    Sviatoslav Richter - Complete Decca, Philips & DG Recordings
    Sviatoslav Richter - Complete Decca, Philips & DG Recordings
    Label: Decca   Catalog: 002236002 Release Date: 01/06/2015   Number of Discs: 51
    Composer:  Johann Sebastian Bach,  Frédéric Chopin,  Franz Joseph Haydn,  Ludwig van Beethoven  ... 
    Performer:  Sviatoslav Richter,  Mikhail Kopelman,  Valentin Berlinsky,  Mstislav Rostropovich  ... 
    Conductor:  Stanislaw Wislocki,  Kurt Sanderling,  Witold Rowicki,  János Ferencsik  ... 
    Orchestra/Ensemble:  Moragues Woodwind Quintet members,  Borodin String Quartet,  Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra  ... 
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  • 48.
    Ludwig Van Beethoven: Sonaten, Opp. 14/1, 14/2, 56
    Ludwig Van Beethoven: Sonaten, Opp. 14/1, 14/2, 56 "appassionata"
    Label: Telos   Catalog: 189 Release Date: 12/09/2014   Number of Discs: 1
    Composer:  Ludwig van Beethoven
    Performer:  Elena Kolesnitschenko,  Eugéne Mursky
    CD: $17.99
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  • 49.
    Beethoven: Complete Piano Sonatas / Daniel Barenboim [5-DVD Set]
    Beethoven: Complete Piano Sonatas / Daniel Barenboim [5-DVD Set]
    Label: Euroarts   Catalog: 2066427 Release Date: 11/18/2014   Number of Discs: 5
    Composer:  Ludwig van Beethoven
    Performer:  Daniel Barenboim
    DVD: $52.99
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  • 50.
    Beethoven: The Complete Sonatas / Ronald Brautigam
    Beethoven: The Complete Sonatas / Ronald Brautigam
    Label: Bis   Catalog: 2000 Release Date: 11/11/2014   Number of Discs: 9
    Composer:  Ludwig van Beethoven
    Performer:  Ronald Brautigam
    SuperAudio CD: $78.99
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