Dedications: Sonata No. 9, Ludwig van Beethoven

-

Beethoven's Violin Sonata No. 9 is a sonata for violin and piano, known for its technical difficulty and unusual length. The sonata was originally dedicated to the virtuoso violinist George Bridgetower. 

George Bridgetower, virtuoso violinist born to a Polish mother and West Indian father. Lived in England for much of his life. (1778-1860)
Image source


Shortly after the completion, the work was premiered by Bridgetower and Beethoven on 24 May 1803 at the Augarten Theatre at a concert that started at the unusually early hour of 8am. Allegedly, Bridgetower sight-read the sonata, having never seen the work before since there had been no time for any rehearsal. In bar 35 of the first movement, Beethoven had written a huge run just for piano, spanning several octaves. After Beethoven executed the run, Bridgetower imitated it on the violin. Beethoven looked up from the piano in astonishment, ran across the stage, embraced Bridgetower, ran back to the piano and continued playing. 

Listen to the sonata here, with the score:

DHM YouTube

Live performance:

DHM YouTube

The performance was a triumph. At celebrations afterwards, Beethoven announced he was dedicating the new Violin Sonata to Bridgetower. Things quickly turned sour, however: the two men were drinking and Bridgetower apparently insulted the morals of a woman whom Beethoven cherished. They fell out. Beethoven subsequently removed the dedication of the piece and instead dedicated it to the violinist and composer Rodolphe Kreutzer. Unfortunately, Kreutzer thoroughly disliked the piece, refusing to play it.  

Rodolphe Kreutzer (1766-1831). French Violinist And ...
Rodolphe Kreutzer (1766 - 1831) 
Image source


This blog is intended to be educational and to share knowledge about music. Daily Hit of Music does not claim to own anything contained in this post and declares its sources openly. 
The following sources were used for this blog post: Wikipedia, Classic FM, houstonpublicmedia.org.
Image sources can be found in the image captions. 
Recordings can be found on YouTube by clicking the 'DHM YouTube Playlist' links

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

O-Daiko

-
Image
Daily Hit of Music's 100th post! Thank you for reading our posts on Daily Hit of Music. We hope you're enjoying them and here's to the next 100! Eitetsu Hayashi is an acclaimed Japanese musician best known for his solo performance work in taiko. Taiko are a broad rang of Japanese percussion instruments. In Japanese, the term refers to any kind of drum, but outside of Japan, it is used specifically to refer to any of the various Japanese drums called wadaiko . The process of constructing taiko varies between manufacturers, and the preparation of both the drum body and skin can take several years depending on the method.  Eitetsu Hayashi performing in 2001 Image source   In feudal Japan, taiko were often used to motivate troops, call out orders or announcements, and set a marching pace; marches usually being set to six paces per beat of the drum.  Watch Ei-tetsu Hayashi's exhilarating performance on a huge o-daiku barrel drum. He performs alongside the Shamisen master, Sh...
Read more

Vivaldi: Vedrò con mio diletto

-
Image
As well as being the prototype of the modern violin virtuoso - expanding the technical possibilities of the instrument - Antonio Vivaldi also wrote some beautiful vocal music.  Antonio Vivaldi (1678 - 1741) Image source The aria "Vedrò con mio diletto", has became a famous concert piece to sing, especially for countertenors, but was originally intended to be sung by the character  Anastasio in Vivaldi's opera 'Giustino'.  Listen to it here: DHM YouTube Italian (original) Text: Vedrò con mio diletto L'alma dell'alma mia Il core del mio cor pien di contento. E se dal caro oggetto lungi convien che sia Sospirero penando ogni momento... Text translation:  I will see with joy, the soul of my soul heart of my heart full of content. And if from my dear object I be far away I will sigh, suffering every moment...  This blog is intended to be educational and to share knowledge about music. Daily Hit of Music does not claim to own anything contained in this post and ...
Read more

Fugue

-
Image
In music, 'fugue' is a compositional procedure characterised by the systematic imitation of a principal theme (the subject). Over time, these imitations sound in simultaneous melodic lines (counterpoint).  Johann Sebastian Bach (1685 - 1750) The works of J.S. Bach stand at the very pinnacle of the history of the fugue: Bach's fugues remain unsurpassed in their extraordinary variety and no other composer produced so many examples of fugues for every musical medium available to him at the time. Watch Inside the Score 's quick introduction to the concept of the 'fugue': DHM YouTube Now listen to the complete fugue from Bach's C minor Prelude & Fugue (No.2) as performed by the renowned interpreter of Bach's keyboard music, Glenn Gould:  DHM YouTube For a performance with the score, watch this (2:28 for Fuga): This blog is intended to be educational and to share knowledge about music. Daily Hit of Music does not claim to own anything contained in this pos...
Read more