Dedications: Sonata No. 9, Ludwig van Beethoven

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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

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