Classical 5: Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony

(A) Introduction

Ah, the ol’ Ludwig Van.  I got that phrase – “the ol’ Ludwig Van” – from A Clockwork Orange.  In the movie version, our protagonist Alex tends to like committing all sorts of heinous, violent acts to the soundtrack of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony.  Later on in the movie, that same symphony makes him sick – an effect of his having undergone a brainwashing program in prison.

 

Is this the way Beethoven wanted his last symphony to be remembered?  “Hey, that’s that crazy Clockwork Orange music!  Remember when in the end of the movie Alex is dreaming about screwing in the snow surrounded by people cheering him on because he was cured from that brainwashing stuff?  Good times, man, good times.”

Classical 4: Beethoven’s Violin Concerto

(A) Introduction 

I mentioned my classical music studies to a friend who’s far more versed in this than I am, and explained how I was working my way through Paganini’s violin concertos.

At one point he said to me: “you should listen to the Beethoven violin concerto, or Brahms”.  Sure, why not!  I tracked down the ol’ Ludwig Van’s violin concerto and queued it up.

Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827) is one of the giants of classical music.  A veritable Beatles of classical music: he’s on top of the heap, and no one can touch him.

According to the Naxos website, “Beethoven did much to enlarge the possibilities of music and widen the horizons of later generations of composers. To his contemporaries he was sometimes a controversial figure, making heavy demands on listeners both by the length and by the complexity of his writing, as he explored new fields of music.”

Uh-oh.  I’m not so sure I should be getting into this so early into the project.  But, here I am, so I’m going to take a whack at his violin concerto.  He only wrote one, which should help limit my scope of inquiry.

Classical 3: Paganini’s Violin Concertos – Pt. 2

(A) Introduction 

Let’s listen to some more Paganini goodness!

(B) Violin Concerto No. 3 in E major (1826)

Paganini was on a roll in 1826, writing his 2^nd and 3^rd violin concertos in that year.  I can’t find an opus number for this one, so I don’t know what else he wrote (if anything) between the 2^nd and 3^rd concerto.

 

The 3^rd concerto seems busier than the previous two.  Paganini is throwing in more stuff into each movement.  It’s more densely packed, as can be seen in the movement titles.

Classical 2: Paganini’s Violin Concertos – Pt. 1

(A) Introduction 

The University of Toronto has a pretty cool feature for students: free access to the Naxos music online catalogue.  Naxos has taken its entire collection and put it online for you to listen to.  Sweet!

I do a search for Paganini and find his violin concertos.

 

(B) The Composer: Nicolò Paganini (1782-1840)

Paganini was the greatest violinist of his time.  His virtuosity was mind-blowing; he was so good that there were rumours that he had sold his soul to the devil for musical genius.  I read somewhere that he’d purposefully break the strings on his violin and keep playing, just to show how much of a badass he was.  He was a gambler and a lover, and the audiences loved him.  Composers like Schumann, Schubert, Berlioz, Chopin and Liszt were fans.

 

He developed new techniques for playing the violin – sort of like what Eddie Van Halen did for the electric guitar.  In fact, the guitar was his second-favourite instrument.  But what he’s really known for is the violin.