MuseData: Ludwig van Beethoven

Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827) brought the symphony, the concerto, and the string quartet to heights not imagined by his musical predecessors or peers. Born in Bonn (Germany), he flourished in Vienna (Austria), where he moved in 1792. Soon famous as a pianist, his compositional style began to change course a decade later, when the first signs of his deafness began to appear. A decade after that (in 1812 and 1813), Beethoven suffered financially from the devaluation of Austrian currency. He also suffered emotionally from the illness of his brother and the resulting prospect (never fully realized) of becoming the guardian of his nephew Karl. Beethoven’s fortunes improved over the next few years, but his hearing continuously declined. The year 1822 saw the completion of what were to be his two final piano sonatas and the Missa Solemnis. The Ninth Symphony was begun in that year. Beethoven remained engaged with writing string quartets almost until his death.

Orchestral Repertory

Symphonies

Beethoven’s works were predominately for instruments, but among them there was immense variety of types and styles, ranging from 29 short piano pieces to his final choral symphony (the Ninth). His orchestral works and string quartets enjoy great currency today. Most of Beethoven’s nine symphonies and seven concertos make stellar contributions to their respective repertories.

Opus	Title	Composition date	Publication date	Data	CCARH Score (PDF)
Op. 21	Symphony No. 1 in C major	1799-1800	1801	sym1	full: 1, 2, 3, 4
Op. 36	Symphony No. 2 in D major	1801-1802	1804	sym2	full: 1, 2, 3, 4
Op. 55	Symphony No. 3 in E♭ major ("Eroica")	1803	1806	sym3	full: 1, 2, 3, 4
Op. 60	Symphony No. 4 in B♭ major	1807	1808	sym4	full: 1, 2, 3, 4
Op. 67	Symphony No. 5 in C minor	1807-1808	1809	sym5	full: 1, 2, 3, 4
Op. 68	Symphony No. 6 in F major	1808	1809	sym6	full: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
Op. 92	Symphony No. 7 in A major	1811-1812	1816	sym7	full: 1, 2, 3, 4
Op. 93	Symphony No. 8 in F major	1812	1817	sym8	full: 1, 2, 3, 4
Op. 125	Symphony No. 9 in D minor	1822-1824	1826	sym9	full: 1, 2, 3, 4

Apart from No. 6, the “Pastoral”, which has five movements, and No. 9, which accumulates nineteen segments in its construction of a pyramid of sounds and textures, the symphonies are four-movement works beginning and ending with movements in relatively fast tempos. The second movement is typically slow and pensive. The third is a minuet or scherzo employing a common highly patterned structure.

For a range of multimedia tools, printable scores, and re-editable musical data, see “The Nine Symphonies of Beethoven: A Digital Edition” at http://www.ccarh.org/publications/beethoven-symphonies/

The first collected edition of the nine symphonies was published in Leipzig by Breitkopf & Härtel between 1862 and 1865. These are downloadable from the Munich Digitalization Center at the links indicated below:

    No. 1     [1]
    No. 2     [2]
    No. 3     [3]
    No. 4     [4]
    No. 5     [5]
    No. 6     [6]
    No. 7     [7]
    No. 8     [8]
    No. 9     [9]

Concertos

Although Beethoven’s concertos were largely composed within a single decade, several are hallmarks of the repertory. Celebrated for their balance of many musical factors in intricate ways and for the uniqueness of each work, they have been popular from Beethoven’s own time (during which he usually appeared in the first performance) to our own. Concentrated though the period of their composition may be, the piano was beginning to become a more robust instrument than its parent, the fortepiano. It was increasingly capable of a dramatic extensions to dynamic contrast and pitch registers. Beethoven exploited these capabilities in both his concertos and his piano sonatas.

Chamber Repertory

String Quartets and Quintets

Beethoven's string quartets have been perennially popular from his time to our own. They fall into four groups. The early quartets (Op. 18) leave give distinct evidence of the composer's promise and already show his originality. The "Rasoumovsky" quartets Op. 59 (nicknamed for their dedicatee) come from one of Beethoven's most fertile and productive periods. Each is a classic in its own right. Collectively they show enormous strides in Beethoven's development and imagination. Opp. 74 and 95 continue in the same directions.

What is surprising is that Beethoven composed so few quartets between 1806 and 1825. He was of course busy composing many other works during the first part of that period. Chamber music was usually written to fulfill a specific commission, and in Beethoven's time typically written to order. The political vicissitudes of Austria, particularly in its battles with Napoleonic France, were periodically inhibiting. Beethoven's personal battle with his progressive hearing difficulties is usually considered the likely explanation for many otherwise inexplicable behaviors.

Opus	Title	Date	CCARH score (PDF)	B&H score (PDF)
Op. 18, No. 1	String Quartet No. 1 in F  Major	1798-1800	full	[10]
Op. 18, No. 2	String Quartet No. 2 in G  Major	1798-1800	full	[11]
Op. 18, No. 3	String Quartet No. 3 in D  Major	1798-1800	full	[12]
Op. 18, No. 4	String Quartet No. 4 in C  Minor	1798-1800	full	[13]
Op. 18, No. 5	String Quartet No. 5 in A  Major	1798-1800	full	[14]
Op. 18, No. 6	String Quartet No. 6 in B♭ Major	1798-1800	full	[15]
Op. 59, No. 1	String Quartet No. 7 in F  Major ("Razumovsky")	1805-6	full	[16]
Op. 59, No. 2	String Quartet No. 8 in E  Minor ("Razumovsky")	1805-6	full	[17]
Op. 59, No. 3	String Quartet No. 9 in C  Major ("Razumovsky")	1805-6	full	[18]
Op. 74	String Quartet in E♭ Major ("The Harp")	1809	[ ]	[19]
Op. 95	String Quartet in F  Minor	1816	[ ]	[20]
Op. 127	String Quartet No. 12 in E♭ Major	1825	full	[21]
Op. 130	String Quartet in B♭ Major	1827	[ ]	[22]
Op. 131	String Quartet in C♯ Minor	1827	[ ]	[23]
Op. 132	String Quartet in A  Minor	1827	[ ]	[24]
Op. 133	Grosse Fuge (to follow No. 130) in B♭ Major	1827	[ ]	[25]
Op. 135	String Quartet in F  Major	1827	[ ]	[26]

Arrangements

Beethoven was a frequent arranger of his own music. Apparently there was more demand for quartets than there were quartets being produced. In 1802 Beethoven arranged his piano sonata Op. 14, No. 1 as a string quartet in F Major for Baroness Josefine von Braun. A third-party arrangement of the piano trio Op. 1, No. 3 (corrected by Beethoven) appeared in Vienna and London in 1819.

Patronage

The quartets enjoyed the support of three highly discriminating patrons--Prince Lobkowitz for Opp. 18 and 74; Count Rasumovsky for Op. 59, and Archduke Rudolf for the Grosse Fuge Op. 133. Remaining patrons were well placed by less well known: Zmeskall von Domanovecz (Op. 95), Prince Nikolay Golitsïn (Opp. 127, 130, 132), Baron Joseph von Stutterheim (Op. 131), and Johann Wolfmayer (Op. 135).

Editions of Beethoven's Quartets

Like Beethoven's symphonies, Beethoven's string quartets were published between 1862 and 1865 by Breitkopf & Härtel in Leipzig. The rightmost column in the table above gives links to the digitized version of these prints.

String Quintets

Beethoven composed only two string quartets--Op. 29 in C Major (1802) and a posthumous works (also in C Major) that was published in Vienna in 1838. The latter survives only tangentially in a piano transcription.